All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S03E05.Americas.Doomsday.Town.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

Narrator: the towering remains
Of a mountainside structure

Built to withstand
A colossal force.

What is it?
What happened to it?

What caused it to explode?

Narrator: a sprawling cityscape
That's been deserted

And left to the elements.

It's like a giant been
Brought to its knees,

But by what?

Narrator: and strange
Military platforms

That harbor secrets
Of an underwater war.

That harbor secrets
Of an underwater war.

Talvik:
Suddenly, 200 meters from us...

Dook, dook, dook, dook.

We were really like,
"Ah, what is this?"

Narrator: once, they were some
Of the most advanced structures

And facilities on the planet,

At the cutting edge
Of design and construction.

Today, they stand abandoned,
Contaminated,

And sometimes deadly.

But who built them?
And how?

But who built them?
And how?

And why were they abandoned?

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

*

*

In europe, high up in
The mountainous region

Of the central italian alps

Stands a large cathedral-like
Structure.

Stands a large cathedral-like
Structure.

*

Bell: towering 140 feet
Above the valley floor,

This structure looks almost
Alien in the landscape.

*

It's like a fortress
From "Lord of the rings"

That's been brought to life.

The eerie gray concrete

Alongside
The windswept mountains

Alongside
The windswept mountains

Makes you shiver inside.

Gough: this huge structure

Is set in this glorious
Natural setting.

There's mountains,
There's lakes.

As you move around
The side of it, you look and go,

"Uh-oh, what happened here?"

If it were complete,
It would stretch

From one side of the valley
Right across to the other.

But there's a massive
Gap in the middle.

But there's a massive
Gap in the middle.

Narrator: years ago,
The central section

Of this great wall
Was ripped out.

Gough: was it bombed?
Was there an earthquake?

This would've been
An event that caused

A whole lot of
Disruption and death.

How could something
That appears so solid

Have failed so spectacularly?

Narrator: so what happened?

And is new evidence
Challenging our understanding

And is new evidence
Challenging our understanding

Of it's catastrophic demise?

The story unfolded
In the unstable years

Around the first world war,

When italy was
Struggling to catch up

With the industrialized
Powers of europe.

To energize the growth
Of new factories,

Rich capitalists invested in
Hydroelectric power stations

In the mountainous
Region of the alps.

These are the remains of
One of those projects,

The gleno dam.

But it was built
In troubled times

When anarchists were
Staging occupations

Of factories nearby
And even planting bombs

At targeted sights.

Italy in the north was a place
Of great political unrest.

You had the capitalists
Who were effectively

You had the capitalists
Who were effectively

Under siege from
A communist movement

That had a whole different
Direction in mind.

Turmoil and violence, those
Were a day-to-day occurrence.

Bell: the man who financed
The project

Was from the vigano family,

A family of wealthy
Industrialists from milan.

Vigano constantly
Criticized the local workers

That he did employ.

His preference was to
Use milanese workers

His preference was to
Use milanese workers

Instead of local workers,
Which caused a lot

Of bad feeling.

So, if the people that
Are trying

To put this structure together
Are not working together

In unison, then you are
Gonna get a problem

In the actual end product.

Narrator:
Construction began in 1917

With the first world war
In full flow.

But a few years into
The job, the costs soared.

The design was
Changed drastically,

The design was
Changed drastically,

And the vigano
Family cut corners

By using cheaper,
Lower grade materials.

Bell: construction of the dam
Used poor quality concrete,

Reinforced with first world war
Anti-grenade netting.

Neither of which
Were appropriate

For this kind of structure.

Whenever any of those
Workers complained

About those materials,
They were immediately fired.

Agrawal: foundations are
Critical to all structures.

Agrawal: foundations are
Critical to all structures.

If you start to
Put in scrap metals,

You don't really know
What the composition

Of those metals are.

They may have rusted, and so,
Then, when you're pouring

Concrete around that,
You might not get

A very good bind between
The metal and the concrete,

And that is really,
Really important

To maintain the strength
Of the structure.

Narrator: so was this a disaster
Waiting to happen?

In october 1923,
With the dam built,

The reservoir was filled to
Capacity for the first time,

But problems had already
Begun to surface.

Gough:
In the autumn of the year,

There was
An extremely heavy rainfall,

And this caused some
Minor leaks in the dam

That should've
Served as a warning,

But in fact, they
Were regarded as,

"Mm, that's not a problem."

Narrator:
As the downpours continued,

The water level soon crept

The water level soon crept

Above the maximum
Permitted depth,

Testing the dam's structural
Integrity to the limit.

By december 1st, it seemed to
Have reached breaking point.

It was just another day
When the caretaker

Was carrying out his
Routine checks on the dam,

And then he felt a tremor.

45 minutes later,
The whole dam burst.

Bell: according to news
Reports at the time,

There was a violent
Blast of air.

Then water rushed down
Into the valley below.

Narrator:
Over a billion gallons of water

Suddenly forced its
Way through the opening

At a speed of 45 miles per hour.

Carnage was inevitable.

The water would've been
Like a giant tidal wave,

A tsunami with debris

A tsunami with debris

Just rushing through
The valley below,

Causing devastation
Wherever it went.

Bell: the flood wave took about
45 minutes to crash its way

Along down the valley.

The flood destroyed
Three villages,

Five power stations,
And countless numbers

Of isolated buildings
And factories along the valley.

Narrator: by the time
The waters had settled,

Over 350 people had been killed.

The blame was directed
Towards the vigano family

And the dam's engineers,

But they protested
Their innocence.

In the court case that followed,

Inconsistencies between
The findings of the prosecution

And defense meant that,
On appeal,

The defendants were acquitted.

For almost a century, this was
How the story was laid to rest.

For almost a century, this was
How the story was laid to rest.

But it would begin
To be rewritten

When benedetto bonomo,

The current mayor of one
Of those destroyed towns,

Uncovered some new evidence.

[ bonomo speaking italian ]

Interpreter: just after
The collapse of the dam,

In the prison of
The city of cremona,

An inmate made
A very important claim,

Saying that he was the head
Of a group of subversives

Who were putting
Bombs everywhere

In what was the rising
Industrial area.

In what was the rising
Industrial area.

*

Narrator:
Was there a cover-up that took

Almost 90 years to unearth?

Could everything be
Pointing to what seems to be

A terrorist attack?

*

Narrator: high in the mountains
Of northern italy,

The collapse of
The gleno dam in 1923

Sent a wave of destruction
Hurtling through the villages

In the valley below.

Once believed to
Have been caused

By poor construction
Techniques and materials,

A recently uncovered court
Document from the trial

Shows the failure came
From a targeted attack.

Shows the failure came
From a targeted attack.

[ speaking italian ]

Interpreter: I quickly found
The document that says

The judge had actually
Asked the most renowned

Experts in the world
To do a survey...

Which showed that
A bomb had exploded there.

*

Narrator: the survey proved

That water pressure alone

Could never have
Caused the collapse.

Then it was revealed that
75 kilograms of dynamite

Had recently been stolen
From the construction site.

Had recently been stolen
From the construction site.

It seems that sabotage
Was the only explanation.

Because of this
Lack of integrity

Between the materials
And the foundations,

It's possible that these
Explosives actually caused

A much bigger event
Than, you know,

The saboteurs actually intended.

Gough: it could've been
A disgruntled worker

Who wanted revenge
For the vigano family.

Or it could have
Been an anarchist,

Or it could have
Been an anarchist,

Because they were blowing up
Sort of power stations

And power plants all
Around the north of italy

At that time.

Narrator: but a final theory
Suggests total destruction

May not have been
The intention at all.

The idea could've been
Just to create a small leak

And thereby force
The dam to be decommissioned.

So no one knows for sure,
But all we do know

Is an explosion of that kind

Should not have had
The devastating effect

Should not have had
The devastating effect

That it did.

Narrator: the cover-up had aimed
To protect the government

From embarrassment after
A spate of bombings

In the area meant they
Should've been guarding the dam.

Interpreter: telling the truth
95 years later,

It's something that hurts.

People looked death in the eyes.

A whole district was
Completely swept away.

Whole families were erased.

The whole story of a small
Village was buried forever.

The whole story of a small
Village was buried forever.

*

Narrator: talk of repairs
And putting the dam

Back into use has
Never been far off.

But without the financial
Backing necessary,

The gleno dam has remained
In its failed state

Ever since its explosive end.

*

Near the center of
Detroit, michigan,

Near the center of
Detroit, michigan,

Is a sprawling landscape
Of deserted buildings

Left to disintegrate
Over decades.

*

Towering above abandoned
Streets,

This line of structures
Stretches across

Around half a mile.

Bell: what's most striking
About this structure

Is its size.

It seems to go on forever.

It looks like some kind
Of industrial metropolis.

A relic from a world
That's long been forgotten.

Wisdom:
It is complete devastation.

Block after block after block.

Roofs have fallen in,

Water is flowing on the floor,

There is no glass in
Any of the windows.

Nature has taken its course.

Dickrell: something big
Happened here.

Dickrell: something big
Happened here.

Almost out of a horror movie.

Narrator: inside are vast,
Desolate open spaces,

Their remains having been
Ripped apart by the elements.

Bell: there's something about
These cavernous, empty rooms.

It's like a film set
From "Blade runner"

Or "The walking dead."

Wisdom:
It is an incredible place

And clearly has really
Suffered over the years.

And clearly has really
Suffered over the years.

Narrator: but what was this
Series of buildings used for?

And what caused this
Devastation and downfall?

*

The answer lies in
The history of a product

That changed the face of
The united states forever --

The motor car.

Bell: in the early 20th century

The american automotive
Industry was very much

The american automotive
Industry was very much

In its infancy.

Only one in every 10,000
Americans owned a car,

And most of those
Were powered by steam.

With it's vast land area

And scattered,
Isolated settlements

The u.S. Needed cars
More than anyone.

Narrator: the problem, though,

Was how to manufacture
Enough cars.

Previously, factories were
Cramped, dingy,

And dirty places.

And dirty places.

It's hard to believe now,
But this facility

Was the start of something new.

Agrawal: this design complexity
Revolutionized

The space in which
You could actually

Manufacture the cars.

The workers had
Better conditions,

And actually,
It improved their morale

And also their productivity.

Dickrell: the u.S. Led
The way in production

In terms of number
And volumes of automobiles

In terms of number
And volumes of automobiles

Largely because of
The factory improvements

And the ability to crank out

Lots of cars in
A short amount of time.

Narrator: the pioneering company
Leading the charge was packard.

Look to packard for the easiest
Handling car ever built.

This brilliant new packard
All but drives itself

Thanks to packard
Power steering,

Ultramatic drive,
And packard power breaks.

America's new choice
In the fine car field.

Narrator: this was packard's
Automotive plant.

Construction began in 1903,

And it soon grew
Beyond all expectation.

The packard car plant
Was the most advanced

Auto factory in the world.

It was built over
35 acres of land

And had over three and a half
Million square feet of space.

And had over three and a half
Million square feet of space.

It became the gold standard
For car factory design

Throughout the u.S.,

And production
Rates skyrocketed.

Narrator: and the secret
To its success

Was the use of
Reinforced concrete.

This material
Transformed how a factory

Could be laid out.

As local tour guide
Jacob jones explains.

Jones: we are on the ground

Where the packard assembly
Line would've been.

Moved through this entire
Space here at its peak

Going up to the floor above us

As well as the two floors below.

The blend of the steel
And the concrete

Added that extra
Support of strength.

It was nearly unbreakable.

This is where some of
The finest luxury cars

In modern history were built.

The ones that al capone and
Franklin roosevelt drove.

The ones that al capone and
Franklin roosevelt drove.

They came off of this stretch

Of concrete
And steel right here.

Narrator: but there was
A problem -- the price.

A packard car could
Cost over $3,000,

When a ford cost just $850.

So how could packard compete?

Once again, it was down to
The design of the plant.

With a focus on high standards

With a focus on high standards

To justify the high price tags,

Practically every
Part of every packard

Was built somewhere
On this site.

Jones: the 80 skilled
Trade departments --

An absolutely massive number.

Everything was so
Compact here at packard

That it was really easy
To move parts, people,

And cars, really,
From place to place.

Bell: at it's peak, the complex
Employed up to 40,000 workers.

Bell: at it's peak, the complex
Employed up to 40,000 workers.

The company became known
As producing some of

The highest quality luxury
Vehicles in the u.S.

Created what was called
The gray wolf,

The first race car that
Was commercially available

In the united states,

And ultimately became
A symbol of packard's success.

Narrator: in the early decades,
Packard went

From strength to strength,

But the market changed in 1929
When the wall street crash

But the market changed in 1929
When the wall street crash

Shattered the economy.

Suddenly, the money
Was drying up.

*

So could this site
Be adapted to compete

With the likes of ford?

Or did this spell the beginning
Of the end for packard?

*

Narrator: in detroit,
The packard automotive plant

Was known as a beacon
Of luxury car design,

But in the 1930s, packard
Began to try their hand

At the production
Of cheaper cars.

Then, suddenly, the outbreak
Of the second world war

Put the whole industry on hold.

Bell: in 1942, like other
Car factories,

It stopped producing cars

And instead focused
On manufacturing

Rolls-royce aircraft
And naval engines

For the u.S. And its allies.

Jones: these automotive
Factories shut down

Car production for a few years,
Building just over 100 cars

During world war ii
Throughout the entire country.

Dickrell: in many ways,
The packard car plant

And other factories like it

Were very, very key and integral

Into winning that
Conflict for the allies.

Into winning that
Conflict for the allies.

Narrator: the postwar years were
Highly competitive.

The big three -- ford,
General motors, and chrysler

Still dominated the mass market,

But the designs of luxury
Cars were rapidly changing

And packard was
Being left behind.

Popularity of packard
Cars slowly declined

Due to its ability
To not compete

With other luxury
Car manufacturers.

With other luxury
Car manufacturers.

They started to get
A bit of a reputation

For their cars not
Being as attractive

As perhaps they could be.

Some were called
"Pregnant elephants,"

Some were described as bathtubs.

The cars were not popular
With the public now.

Narrator: with falling sales
And their reputation

Taking a beating,

A desperate bid for
Survival in the mid-1950s

Saw packard move off
This site for good.

This towering facility that
Had overseen their rise

This towering facility that
Had overseen their rise

Was left abandoned,
And the company soon folded.

Ultimately ford's style
And price had won out

Against packard's
More expensive models.

From what remains today,
It's hard to imagine

This facility forever changed
The way cars were built.

Wisdom: you look at what
Its become now

And it really is a shadow
Of the world it once knew.

And it really is a shadow
Of the world it once knew.

It's a good example of how
The mighty can easily fall.

*

Narrator: in eastern europe,

Just over 30 miles from
Tallinn, estonia's capital,

Is a bizarre construction lying
In wait just off the coast.

Stretching out across the water

Is a set of long
Concrete platforms.

Is a set of long
Concrete platforms.

Bell: tucked away in a secluded
Corner of the world

No one really knew
What went on there.

It was all very top secret.

Talvik: when we were young
Playing on a beach,

And suddenly,
200 meters from us...

Dook, dook, dook, dook, dook,
Dook, dook.

We were really like,
"Ah, what is this?"

Narrator: almost no clues
Remained

To indicate what this
Strange structure

To indicate what this
Strange structure

On the edge of the sea once was.

It's like a carcass
Been stripped bare

By the harsh baltic winds.

Caldwell-evans:
Something fairly serious,

Something fairly major
Was installed there.

This wasn't just your typical
Industrial, commercial port.

I don't know exactly what
Was the building's meaning,

But it goes three
Floors under the water.

But it goes three
Floors under the water.

Narrator: but why is this place

Still shrouded in secrecy?

And what finally caused
It to be abandoned?

The answers are linked to
The tension-filled years

Of the cold war.

In 1962, as the cuban
Missile crisis unfolded,

The soviets deployed submarines,

Some armed with
Nuclear missiles,

To hold tactical positions
In the atlantic ocean.

To hold tactical positions
In the atlantic ocean.

*

One of the hottest parts
Of the whole cold war

Was the undersea war,
The submarine war.

[ sonar pinging ]

The submarine is one of
The original stealth weapons.

In fact, by going underwater,
It can remain invisible

And get very close
To an enemy shoreline

Enemy naval base,
Launch some kind of attack.

Narrator:
The world was teetering

On the brink of
All-out nuclear war,

On the brink of
All-out nuclear war,

But the water around cuba
Wasn't the only arena

Feeling the heat.

Almost 5,000 miles away,
In the baltic sea

The action was
Already well underway.

The baltic was still a really
Intense area of activity.

Corum: the russians needed
This baltic area

To train up and practice
With their submarines

And to develop better submarines
And better techniques.

And to develop better submarines
And better techniques.

Narrator:
In soviet-occupied estonia,

The russians built this site

To advance the capabilities
Of their fleet.

This was hara submarine base.

Completed in the late 1950s,

It was once a state-of-the-art
Top secret facility.

But what was its unique purpose?

But what was its unique purpose?

And how could it give
The soviets the edge in the war

Under the sea?

*

Narrator: during the cold war,
Just off the coast

Of formerly occupied estonia,

The soviets were aiming
To radically advance

Their submarines' capabilities.

But the battle in the baltic
Was not focused on firepower.

It was all about
Secrecy and strategy.

Unlike a surface vessel,
Where you design that

Unlike a surface vessel,
Where you design that

For speed and efficiency,

A submarine you
Design for silence.

Caldwell-evans: the baltic
Was the forefront

Of intelligence gathering.

Submarines were
Creeping along the coast

Morning, noon, and night to spy
On the military capabilities,

To tap into communications.

They were both equipped
With missiles

That could be used
To target land sites,

Plus they had torpedoes
For attacking warships.

But I think their spying
Role was probably critical.

But I think their spying
Role was probably critical.

Narrator: today, the site is
A shell of its former self,

But local politician
Artur talvic

Can still picture what
It used to look like.

Everything here
Was full of cables.

Those two quays were
United by bridges.

Special cranes moved
Here back and forth

Special cranes moved
Here back and forth

To cover the ships
With, say, cables.

Narrator: hanging huge
Quantities of cables

Across the submarines
Is an unusual practice.

This is not part of standard
Repair and maintenance work.

So what was going on here?

And how did this base help
With spying in the baltic?

The whole thing
About a submarine

Is making it difficult to find.

Is making it difficult to find.

Caldwell-evans: the problem is
It's made of steel,

And any steel object
Moving through the water

Is gonna generate
A magnetic signature,

And that can be detected.

Narrator: hara was built to
Solve this issue.

Caldwell-evans: it's essentially
A base that demagnetizes,

That reduces the magnetic
Signature of soviet submarines

So that it can
Sneak up quite close

To nato naval bases and still
Remain effectively invisible.

Corum: the actual demagnetizing

Is actually a pretty quick
And efficient process.

Is actually a pretty quick
And efficient process.

Getting the submarine into
The lock and lifted up

That takes all the effort.

So the submarines came in here,

And then they were checked --

What is the magnetic
Field situation?

Caldwell-evans: you establish
Your cable system around it,

You run the current
Through that, and that will

Lower the magnetic
Signature of the submarine

Which can then go
On its merry way.

Narrator:
With this process completed,

The submarine would now
Be much harder to track.

The submarine would now
Be much harder to track.

But this wasn't only to
Help them avoid detection

By the enemy.

These waters contained other
Deadly threats, as well.

Talvik: the first need for
The base like this

Was because of
The magnetic mines.

Not far away from here,
1941 was one of the biggest

Sea battles in all history,
Called juminda mine battle.

Sea battles in all history,
Called juminda mine battle.

Narrator: it's estimated
That during

The second world war,
Almost 70,000 mines

And other explosive obstacles

Were laid in the nearby
Area of the baltic sea.

And a number of
The magnetic versions

Were likely still there.

A magnetic mine can
Sit there dormant

Not being affected by anything

Until a ship comes.

Its trigger mechanism
Is set to respond

Its trigger mechanism
Is set to respond

To the magnetic
Signature of a vessel

Coming within range,
And this detonates.

Narrator: but demagnetization
Only lasted so long

Before the signature
Built up again

And the process
Had to be repeated.

So could this one base really
Cope with the soviets' needs?

Or is there more to this site
Than first meets the eye?

The demagnetization
Doesn't happen only here

The demagnetization
Doesn't happen only here

In the quay but also
In the bay area.

There were 18 kilometers
Of cables here.

They spent maybe
A week or even more

Just moving back and forth,

And then they came
Into the harbor

And measured, is the ship
Enough demagnetized or not.

Narrator:
As the cold war progressed,

Narrator:
As the cold war progressed,

Hara likely played a key role

In the secretive battle for
Position and information

That took place beneath
The waves of the baltic.

But why has it been
Stripped of almost all signs

Of that former life?

And could it have
Done more than just

Demagnetize submarines?

*

Narrator: on the north coast
Of estonia,

A country formerly occupied
By communist russia,

Lies hara submarine base.

During the cold war, this
Was a top secret facility.

But today, with the collapse
Of the soviet union

Over 25 years in the past,

Why is there still an air of
Mystery surrounding the site?

The russians were quite
Paranoid about anybody

Finding out about
Their submarines.

No foreigners were allowed
Within any distance of this.

Caldwell-evans: no one was
Supposed to see what's going on.

The fact that it was
Doing this crucial role

In trying to reduce
The magnetic signature,

Make submarines
Harder to detect,

Meant that it really had to be
A very top secret installation.

Narrator: but these concerns
Didn't end with the cold war.

Narrator: but these concerns
Didn't end with the cold war.

As the russians withdrew

And the occupation
Of estonia ended,

Bases like this were
Stripped of their assets

To prevent the leak
Of military secrets.

With the little that
Remains at hara today,

Offering only a glimpse
Into the past life

Of this facility,

Full story of this submarine
Base and its capabilities

Will continue to
Remain a mystery.

*

*

In central europe,
In the northeast of poland,

Is a giant concrete
Structure hidden from view

By the surrounding woodland.

*

Deep in the rural hinterland,

This decaying object sits
Frozen to the ground.

Dickrell: you'd be very confused
If you came across it.

It'd be very incongruous,

This almost alien
Structure plopped down

This almost alien
Structure plopped down

In the middle of the woods.

Nusbacher: you've got all of
That green countryside...

You've got that
Beautiful still water.

Why is there this enormous
Block sitting on top of it?

Narrator: whatever was once
Trapped inside here

Wasn't getting out.

Wisdom: when you look
At it from above,

You realize one thing --
It's a mystery.

The center is
Effectively a vast pool.

Is it some kind of cooling tank?

Is it some kind
Of power station?

Outside is a water
Course running up to it.

That might be a clue.

Narrator: so why build this
Heavy weight structure

Out here in
The polish countryside?

Out here in
The polish countryside?

And why was it left in the
Woods, abandoned and forgotten?

The first clue to
Solving this mystery

Can be found carved into
The face of the concrete.

Wisdom: when you're looking
At the structure,

You see the concrete's
Been bleached by time.

But in the middle of it is
The outline of an eagle.

Now that could only
Mean one thing.

This building is
From the third reich.

This building is
From the third reich.

It's a nazi eagle.

Narrator: in 1934,

The nazis had taken
Control of germany.

And hitler had begun to
Build his new empire.

The agricultural
Region of east prussia

Soon became a focus.

But marooned on its own,

The nazis recognized
Its vulnerability

As tensions across
The continent began to rise.

When hitler decides that
He wants his new empire

When hitler decides that
He wants his new empire

To be self-sufficient,

Suddenly it becomes
Really important

To grow a lot of
Grain in east prussia.

But east prussia is
The part of germany

That's closest to russia.

Narrator: this land was
The place where those two sides

Had gone head to head
Around two decades earlier.

Dickrell: it was a very intense
Area of conflict

And a very fought after
And sought after region.

And a very fought after
And sought after region.

If germany is going to
Control its own food supply

In time of war,

It has to be able to
Defend this territory.

Narrator: but the inland areas
Barely had enough people

To work the land,
Let alone defend it.

Despite the wishes of
The germans to have this

Big population in east prussia,

Population didn't
Want to live there.

Population didn't
Want to live there.

A lot of them were moving
Out and moving away.

It was a depressed farming area.

So how do you populate an area?

Well, you build
An infrastructure.

And I suppose, if you
Build it, they will come.

*

Narrator: so was this hulking
Concrete structure

Part of a new nazi
Defensive line?

Or could it hold
The answer to transforming

Or could it hold
The answer to transforming

The fortunes of east prussia?

*

Narrator: in the lead up to
The second world war,

In former east prussia,

The nazis hoped to
Develop this region

Through new major
Infrastructure projects.

But how could this series
Of concrete blocks and walls

Help with this aim?

It was part of a grand plan
To kick-start the process,

It was part of a grand plan
To kick-start the process,

As local historian
Bartek plebanczyk knows well.

Nusbacher: east prussia needs
Transport infrastructure...

To get industrial farm
Machinery and fodder in

To get industrial farm
Machinery and fodder in

And agricultural produce out.

Narrator: this mass of concrete
Was to be a lock

On the new masurian canal.

These are the remains of
Lesniewo górne.

The canal was planned
To run along a distance

Of 30 miles from the lake
Mamry to the lyna river.

But there was a huge
Difference in height

But there was a huge
Difference in height

Between those two points,

So locks like this
One were needed.

There's ten total
Locks along the canal.

And they could handle
Craft up to 25 feet wide,

Being raised and lowered
As the craft would move

Through the canal.

Wisdom: the remarkable thing
About the lock system here

Is that it rises up 300 feet.

When you think about that,
That is a boat going up a hill

And over the top
And down the other side.

And over the top
And down the other side.

That is what locks give us --

The ability to traverse
Geographical obstacles

That water wouldn't
Normally be able to flow on.

Narrator: of all the locks
Along the route,

This was the largest
With a level difference

Of over 50 feet.

The lesniewo górne lock
Works like this --

We have two different
Heights of water.

I think the boat goes
Through into the lock,

The gates are closed,

Water is then
Flooded into the lock,

Water is then
Flooded into the lock,

Raising the level of
The boat to the next passage,

And then the gate is opened

And the boat passes through,
Proceeding along the canal.

Narrator: but today, there only
Appears to be water

On one side of the lock.

So were the nazis ever
Able to complete the route?

It turns out they weren't
The first to attempt it.

People first tried
To build a canal

Connecting east prussia
To the baltic sea

In the 1800s,

In the 1800s,

But it's never economically
Feasible,

And there's never
Enough government money

To make it work.

Narrator: picking up where the
Previous efforts had left off,

The construction also
Helped solve another

Of the region's problems.

Corum: it's really
A works project.

This is probably a scheme
That's going to work

This is probably a scheme
That's going to work

For all of those farm laborers

That were really living
On the subsistence level.

Narrator:
But even with an army of workers

Already busy on the project,

The outbreak of war in 1939

Amplified hitler's ambitions
To a whole new level.

Hitler's vision goes from
Making germany self-sufficient

To building
A continent-wide empire

So swiftly that the impetus
To keep building a canal

So swiftly that the impetus
To keep building a canal

In east prussia is wiped out.

The masurian canal
Is just left behind.

*

Narrator: a few years later,
In december 1944,

When the tide of war had turned,

The soviet army was
Pushing the germans back.

In a desperate bid to slow
The approaching enemy,

In a desperate bid to slow
The approaching enemy,

The nazis started
Blowing up the bridges

Over the unfinished canal.

The masurian canal is
Meant to be a piece

Of transport infrastructure.

It never becomes that.

Instead, for a very short while,

It just becomes a barrier
Against the red army.

Not a very good one.

Narrator: today,
This abandoned structure

Is hidden amongst the trees
Deep in the polish countryside.

Is hidden amongst the trees
Deep in the polish countryside.

But with the outline of
The nazi eagle still carved

Above the entrance,

The memory of those dark
Years is ever present.

Hitler's ambition to impose
His concrete

Industrial will on the world
Failed.

I am seeing
An attempt to dominate

The green countryside of
Poland turned to ruins.

The green countryside of
Poland turned to ruins.

Hitler's thousand-year empire

Didn't even last long
Enough to finish a canal.