All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S08E06.Hollywood.vs.Nazis.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

[narrator] Italian ruins
that brought war

to the big screen.

[Lynette]
And the fear must've been

reeking out
of everybody's pores,

they weren't
in Hollywood anymore.

[narrator] A striking relic

hidden in a Scottish forest.

[Jim] You come upon

this, kind of, mind blowing
set of buildings

that don't look like anything
you would expect to see here.

that don't look like anything
you would expect to see here.

[narrator] And an isolated
desert town in Chile

where progress
turned to horror.

[Alicia]
Over time that isolation

was mobilized for different

and more sinister purposes.

[intense music playing]

[narrator] Decaying relics.

Ruins of lost worlds.

Sights haunted by the past,

Sights haunted by the past,

their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

Hidden deep within
a Scottish forest

is an enchanting structure
with uncertain origins.

[tense music playing]

[Sascha] As you approach
through the forest

and across this old bridge,

and across this old bridge,

you start to catch glimpses

of something massive
and stark.

[Rob]
And then out of the foliage

emerges something
almost otherworldly.

[narrator] It's bold design
and strange mix of spaces

seems to defy explanation.

[Jim] With its stacks
of concrete floors,

part of it looked
a little bit

like a high-tech
parking garage

like a high-tech
parking garage

but maybe one that survived
a neutron bomb.

[Sascha]
These semi-dome structures

looked like fingers
pointing upwards,

almost as if their hands

cradling the structure
from each side.

[Rob] At the end of this
large open hall,

with a dappled light
beaming in,

it really does feel like

a magical spiritual space.

[Diane] The architects wants
it to become a work of art

[Diane] The architects wants
it to become a work of art

rather than just
a utilitarian structure.

[narrator] But was it cursed
right from the start?

[Sascha] This was a place
of great hope

but it barely lasted
a blink of an eye

before it was abandoned.

[ominous music playing]

[narrator] Today,
this place is known to many

as nothing more
than a spellbinding ruin.

Architectural historian
Diane Watters

has spent 25 years uncovering
its lost story.

[Diane] What it is now

is so unrelated
to what it originally was.

It has become like a mythical
romantic ruin

of international status

and it's become
a focus of artist,

and writers, and historians.

[Rob] This is one of, if not,

the most famous modern
buildings in Scotland,

the most famous modern
buildings in Scotland,

yet a few people even know

what it was used for.

[narrator] Amongst all
the angular concrete

and cavernous interiors,

there were something here
that feels out of place.

[Sascha] Right at the back
of the main structure

are these foundations
of what looks to have been

quite a grand building

but they seemed strangely
close together.

but they seemed strangely
close together.

[Diane] You know,
I first came here in 1994

while this building
was still standing.

Then after 1994
it was actually

burnt down completely.

And then,
once this building had gone,

the design rationale
for the whole extension

had disappeared

and then modern extension
stands on its own.

[narrator] These two
disparate structures

were linked
by a great belief.

Well, this is where the story

of St. Peter's Cardross began
in 1948

of St. Peter's Cardross began
in 1948

when it was the first home
of the training of the priests

for the Catholic Church.

[narrator]
After the Second World War,

the number of young men
signing up

to a life in the church
was on the rise.

[Jim] It was decided
that they needed

a new bigger school

for all the people
they expected

to be training
for the priesthood.

[Sascha] And there was
an immense sense

of optimism amongst
church officers.

of optimism amongst
church officers.

And this structure
was meant to be

the physical embodiment
of that future.

[narrator]
Construction began in 1961

but behind this
futuristic design

lies an ancient concept.

The layout is actually based
on the historic building.

So the idea was
to create a cloister,

uh, kind of
Medieval-like cloister

around the historic
building.

This function seems
almost ancient and monastic

This function seems
almost ancient and monastic

and its architectural forms

are stunningly modern.

So this just kind of contrast

between the style

and the function
of the building.

[Sascha] The main building
is a key element

that forms a courtyard

with the wings
angling off of it.

And all the different parts
of the college

were supposed to interact
with this original building.

[narrator]
The first trainee priests

[narrator]
The first trainee priests

arrived here in 1966.

Much of their time
was focused

on contemplation and prayer.

[Diane] These are what are
commonly called the fingers

but actually
they are site chapels

for the trainee priests

to have private prayer.

[narrator]
And this cavernous space

at the heart of the complex

was devoted
to the main service,

mass.

[solemn music playing]

[solemn music playing]

[Diane]
Here we are in the middle

of what was the chapel,
the main chapel,

what the architects called
"The Colonel"

of the whole complex.

The sites here, we would have
the trainee priests

sitting in pews along here

with the focus
on the main altar.

[solemn music playing]

[Jim] And that's the most
dramatic space in the complex

highlighted by these
remarkable stone altars.

highlighted by these
remarkable stone altars.

[narrator]
But with its striking form

came a problem.

[Rob]
The building looks incredible

and almost space-age in style

but practically speaking

it was in many ways
a disaster.

[solemn music playing]

[Diane]
Those fantastic accounts

in the student magazine
of coming down

and this whole
central area of the...

of the chapel
being underwater.

of the chapel
being underwater.

[Jim] What you also see here
is something that

isn't that uncommon with
groundbreaking architecture,

they still had a few bugs
to work out.

The heat didn't work
that well,

the windows were cold
and drafty,

there were leaks, it was damp,
kind of moldy.

[narrator]
Yet it wasn't design flaws

that spelled disaster here.

As if cursed
from the very beginning,

a once in a millennium
decision

would bring it all
crashing down.

would bring it all
crashing down.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] In Scotland,

a bold relic
with a holy history.

[Rob] This was a priest
training center,

a sanctuary where
trainee priests could live,

study, and worship
secure from the outside world.

[narrator]
But a momentous decision

made over a thousand
miles away,

doomed St. Peter's Seminary

doomed St. Peter's Seminary

before it even opened
its doors

and it came
from the very top.

[Sascha] During the Second
Vatican Council

which ran from 1962 to 1965,

it was determined
that the training of priests

would be more a visible part
of the community.

[Jim] They decided they should
be learning among the people

they would ultimately serve
as priest.

So St. Peter's Seminary
didn't really reflect that.

So St. Peter's Seminary
didn't really reflect that.

[narrator]
As vast cultural changes

swept across Europe
in the 1960s,

the Catholic Church moved
to bring themselves

more in line
with the modern world.

But with construction
already underway,

St. Peter's
would be left behind.

[Jim] It was here
out in the woods,

in this beautiful
quiet setting

but it certainly wasn't

part of the community

part of the community

and engaged in public life,

the way that priest
were now expected to be.

[Diane] I interviewed priests
who taught here

and what they said from
the very beginning is that

there were far
too many altars,

the ideas from
the Second Vatican Council

had been that you were
to preach together

with the community
and groups of priests

rather than solitary praying.

So they almost
became redundant

So they almost
became redundant

from the very beginning.

[Rob] By the time
it was finished,

it was already out of date

and basically
doomed to failure.

[narrator]
St. Peter's limped on

as a seminary
for only 14 years.

After it was abandoned

and the old house
at its heart burned down,

it became
its best known self,

the beguiling ruins
in the forest.

[Rob] It attracts visitors
from all over the world

[Rob] It attracts visitors
from all over the world

curious about
its original purpose

and it has a cult status
among architects

and urban explorers alike.

[ominous music playing]

[narrator] Today,
after years of campaigning

to preserve this
iconic structure,

hope is on the horizon.

[Jim] What do you do

about a work of architecture

about a work of architecture

that was really
groundbreaking

and important in its time

but never really delivered
its purpose,

do you repurpose it?
Do you save it?

Do you turn it
into something new?

Not every ambitious building
succeeds

in its initial purpose

but that doesn't mean
they all need to be torn down.

[Rob] Currently
a charitable trust

is trying to develop
a new vision

with education at its core.

[narrator]
In the Italian mountains

is a quiet town made famous

on the silver screen.

[tense music playing]

[Jim] It all looks exactly
like what you'd expect

central Italy
would look like,

olive groves,
rolling hills, mountains,

and beautiful old
historic villages.

[Geoff] Except for this
Italian village

it is a ghost town,

we see the remains
of a battle-scarred church,

we see the remains
of a battle-scarred church,

and we see a sort of
tumbled down homes and shops

along these
old winding lanes.

[Lynette]
As you move to the village

you can see that
the old stone houses

have been absolutely smashed.

You can still see fragments

of what must have been
roof beams,

or furniture,

everything has become
a sort of chaotic ruin.

everything has become
a sort of chaotic ruin.

[narrator]
The story of this place

is tied to a man
who came here

80 years ago.

[Lynette]
He was used to bending

other people to his will.

He was the ruler
of the crew

and assaulted
the surrounding mountains.

[narrator]
This chaotic village

and its hard-nosed visitor
set the stage

for an audacious deception,

one that would cement
this place

one that would cement
this place

in history forever.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Historian,
Gaetano De Angelis Curtis

has come to tell the story
of this place

he knows so well.

[Gaetano]
This place is so famous.

Everyone in the region
knows it.

And I heard about it
from the elders in the family

And I heard about it
from the elders in the family

and others
since I was a child.

It was a story
that gripped me

because it was about
the region I am from.

[narrator]
This place that captured

Gaetano's imagination

is the site
of a fierce battle,

one that was witnessed
by millions

through a groundbreaking
documentary.

[classical music playing]

[classical music playing]

[man]
From the end of October 1943

until the middle of December,

San Pietro
and the surrounding grounds

was the scene of some
of the bitterest fighting

on our 5th Army flank.

[Jim] Nothing like this
had really been seen.

This kind of combat footage,

you know,
raw and honest including

the death and destruction.

No one had really seen
anything quite like this.

[Geoff] And the film
was, uh, replete with,

you know, scenes of heroism

you know, scenes of heroism

and it showed, you know,
gritty American GIs

struggling against
heavy German fire.

[Lynette] So for Americans,
this was a good story

because they saw
American boys

succeeding in defeating
the Nazis in Europe.

And for Italians,

this was a story
of getting back

their national self-respect.

[narrator]
The movie was praised

[narrator]
The movie was praised

by Hollywood's best.

But this documentary...

was a lie.

Two years earlier,

an American serviceman
came to Italy

with a very special
assignment.

His name...

was John Houston.

[Geoff] John Houston was an
interesting figure, you know.

He was a guy who had been
working in Hollywood

after drifting around America

as a boxer,
a painter, an actor

but then he really finds
his metier in Hollywood.

but then he really finds
his metier in Hollywood.

[narrator] Houston's first
movies had been a success.

So in 1943,

he was deployed to Italy
to make documentaries

of the Allied victory.

[Geoff] Though Houston says,

"I'm gonna go up
into the mountains.

I got to go to a place
like San Pietro

where the fighting
is heaviest

and I'm gonna film
the battle there

for the American home front.

But he missed it.

[narrator] When Houston
arrived at San Pietro

his crew were bombarded
by German shelling.

his crew were bombarded
by German shelling.

[Geoff] The Germans
have already withdrawn

but it's a careful
tactical withdraw

just to the northern rim
of hills beyond the village.

So there's still firing
on San Pietro,

German artilleries
still in position.

[narrator] His crew took cover

with the sheltering
residence.

[Gaetano] When John Houston
sought refuge

from the American and German
bombings in San Pietro,

he and his crew went
into a shelter

with some of the civilians.

Inside he realized that one
of his cameramen was in shock.

He was shaking,

so he tried to talk to him
and calm him.

But the intensity
of the bombings

only increased
the cameraman's fear.

[narrator]
After several long hours,

[narrator]
After several long hours,

the bombing stopped.

[dramatic music playing]

[Lynette] So once the Germans
have covered their retreat

to their next defensive line,

the German artilleries
switches off.

And at that point,

the villagers of San Pietro

are able to move back
out into the fresh air

and John Houston and his crew

are able to move out
with them.

[narrator] The Battle
of San Pietro was over.

Houston had missed
his moment.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] In 1943,

Director John Houston was
ordered to make a documentary

of the Battle of San Pietro.

But when he arrived,

the battle was already over.

[Geoff]
so Houston has the idea,

"Okay. I've got all these
GIs milling around

that have been through
the battle

that they remember
what it was like

and the experience
is fresh in their minds."

and the experience
is fresh in their minds."

"Okay. I'm gonna recreate
the Battle of San Pietro."

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator]
Armed with a stock of film

and a cast of soldiers,

Houston's cameras
started rolling

on a reconstruction

of the Battle of San Pietro.

[Geoff] So they're firing
their weapons,

they're taking cover
from incoming German fire,

they're fleeing grenades.

He took care that, you know,
it was concussion grenades,

not fragmentation grenades

but the viewer can't tell
the difference.

but the viewer can't tell
the difference.

And he kinda recreates the
harrowing mood of the place.

He instructs these GIs
to occasionally turn

and look directly
at the camera

so as to, like, communicate
the stress they're under,

the strain of battle.

And it gives it a really
immediate effect,

all of which become
trademarks of this,

you know, award-winning
Battle of San Pietro film.

[man] Some 200 yards forward,

they encountered mines

and automatic fire
from pill boxes.

[Lynette]
In the heat of battle,

[Lynette]
In the heat of battle,

the camera pans,

an Allied soldier is shot,

he falls,

everyone in the cinema
is shocked.

They have just watched

the extinction
of a human life.

And then Houston shouts,
"Cut."

And the guy
gets back up again.

[narrator] But not everything
that Houston captured

at San Pietro was fake.

[Lynette] The grim toll

of The Battle of San Pietro

was caught on film.

And real soldiers

being wrapped up

and eventually shipped home.

That was part
of the reality of war

being communicated

to Americans back home.

[Jim] The military brass
initially didn't like that.

They kept pushing him
to change it, to soften it.

They kept pushing him
to change it, to soften it.

They didn't want
the people back home

or the troops
in training to see

these images
of young Americans

who had been cut down
in this battle.

[narrator]
And there was something else

that Houston captured
for real.

[dramatic music playing]

[Geoff] An aspect of this film
is not staged,

it's the relief
of the survivors.

You see these children
and adults

coming out of hiding where
they've been in the caves

to avoid the Allied
and German bombardments

to avoid the Allied
and German bombardments

and they come into
their shattered town

and they're kind of
milling around in the rubble

of their old homes,
and shops, and church.

But they're beaming,
they're happy

because for them at least

the war is really over.

[Gaetano] This spot
in the city of San Pietro

is important.

Because when John Houston
was filming

his documentary here,

he filmed this very road,

this very spot

this very spot

as it was being freed
of the rubble.

And people were attempting
to get back

to some kind
of pseudo-normality.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator]
At the end of the war,

Houston's San Pietro
was shown

across the United States
and Italy.

Praised for his depiction
of a fight to the death

between good and evil.

But John Houston

kept the secret
of his documentary

kept the secret
of his documentary

to the end of his life.

[Jim] A lot of people
criticized Houston

later when it came out.

How little of the film
had really been shot

documentary style.

And about his dishonesty
and how he portrayed the film

but Director Martin Scorsese
later said that

he was working in the service
of a greater truth,

a harder truth.

[narrator] In Eastern Germany,

on the outskirts of Berlin,

is an entire village
that's fallen silent.

[Rob] The trees do a pretty
good job of hiding

just how extensive
this site is.

[Geoff] It is a major facility
of some kind

surrounded by a great wall.

surrounded by a great wall.

[Lynette] What I see here is

a lot of utilitarian
buildings.

Almost as though
there are big sheds

up close to each other.

[narrator] And the outside
walls are littered

with revealing details.

[Rob] Some of the walls
have plaques

or stone carvings
on the outside

which hinted how this place
might have been used.

[Geoff] You have these
beautiful murals

on the various buildings

on the various buildings

all relating
to the animal kingdom.

There might be
some kind of zoo

or animal husbandry function

to this sprawling facility.

[narrator] So who or what
was this site built to house?

[tense music playing]

[narrator] In a German
forest near Berlin

lies a decaying compound.

The story
of what happened here

has not traveled far
even to this day.

It's secrets remain only

in the hands
of a few keen locals.

Brigitte Baumann
is one of them.

[Brigitte in German]

[narrator] And it's the grand
nature of this place

that makes it so intriguing.

[Rob] These buildings
are really starting

to fall apart inside

but they still maintain
a sense of grandeur.

[Lynette] We've got gorgeous,
lavish rooms

clearly built
to impress people.

And when you look
at them empty,

they made me feel chilly.

they made me feel chilly.

[Brigitte in German]

[narrator] This was once

the Grand Krampnitz
Cavalry School.

[Brigitte in German]

[Geoff] A lot of really famous
German generals

come through Krampnitz
to complete their training.

In the 1936 Olympics,

the Germans get gold
and silver medals in events

like show humping
and dressage.

like show humping
and dressage.

So there's this real cavalry
tradition in Germany.

[Brigitte in German]

[narrator]
But this luxurious world

would soon be tipped
upside down.

With the arrival
of the Second World War,

the old traditions here

were supplanted
by new technologies.

were supplanted
by new technologies.

[Lynette] There needs to be
a place to train people

to do the old
horse cavalry tasks.

And that's going to be done
now by soldiers

in fast-moving reconnaissance
vehicles and light tanks

instead of horses.

[narrator]
The age of the German tank

known as the Panzer
had arrived.

Krampnitz quickly
developed to prioritize

Krampnitz quickly
developed to prioritize

the training of these
new armored vehicles.

[Geoff] In a way the Panzers
are attacking in the...

in the style
of the old shock cavalry

where you'd have
this heavy cavalry

with steel breast plates
galloping at the enemy.

[Rob] They could cross ditches

and crush barbed wire.

There was no denying it,

toe-to-toe with a horse,

the Panzer was by far

the meaner beast
on the battlefield.

[narrator] These vehicles
would play the key role

in a revolutionary new tactic

called Blitzkrieg
or lightning war.

[engines revving]

[Lynette] The armor forces
in the German army

are not just tanks.

They're fast moving tanks
with radios.

That means that
a German tank commander

handles his tanks

differently
from everybody else.

[Geoff] These armored
spearheads that'll

rip through the enemy line

and be followed
by infantry

that will come in
quickly behind

to consolidate the victory.

[narrator] At first,
this achieved great success

but when Hitler turned
his tanks

towards the vast expanses
of Russia.

Their fatal flaw
would be revealed.

[Geoff]
Panzers are only as good

as the logistical train
that's following them.

The fuel trucks,

The fuel trucks,

the motorized infantry
that has to be to be able

to keep up with the Panzers

so they don't get surrounded,
and isolated,

and picked apart
by anti-tank weapons.

[Rob]
The freezing temperatures

also played havoc
with all the German vehicles.

The engines just gave up

and turned whatever
they were powering

into huge roadblocks.

[narrator] To keep
their armies progressing,

the German's relied
on some unlikely heroes

to save the day

and many were trained here
at Krampnitz.

and many were trained here
at Krampnitz.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] In Germany
are the ruins of the vast

Krampnitz Cavalry School.

Here an outdated technology
was replaced

with a fearsome new weapon,

one that concealed
a catastrophic truth.

[Geoff] The German Army
in World War II

it's really a great illusion
in any respects.

It looks imposing
from outside

but if you get right down
to it,

but if you get right down
to it,

it has these kind of
gleaming armored spearheads.

But the rest of it's a...

It's really
a 19th Century army.

[narrator]
And as Hitler's tanks

known as Panzers

were struggling
on the Eastern front in 1942,

it became clear
that they would have to rely

on an old kind of power.

[Brigitte in German]

[dramatic music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

[Lynette]
A horse could carry on

as long as you put good shoes
on them

they can get on through mud.

A horse didn't need

to have its fuel delivered

from Romania or Germany.

A horse could eat the local
grain, the local farm.

[narrator] Despite the Nazi's
grand ambitions

for mechanized superiority,

in reality,
their armies depended heavily

on horses.

[tense music playing]

[tense music playing]

[Geoff] And one
of the greatest ironies

of the war of course
is that, you know,

the Panzer gets
all the credit

and yet at the end
of this long supply lines

the Panzers are often being
kept in the field

by long lines of horse
drawn fuel trucks.

[narrator] Over 80%
of the German combat strength

was pulled by
this beasts of burden,

but despite the best efforts

of the 625,000 pack horses

of the 625,000 pack horses

active on the Eastern front.

The Nazi's advance crumbled,

leaving 300,000 soldiers
trapped

behind enemy lines
at Stalingrad.

[Lynette] The German soldiers

were unable to look after
themselves

never mind their animals,

they couldn't keep shoes
on their feet

and food in their bellies.

[Rob] So without food

many of the Nazi's
soldiers ate

the only things
that were available to them.

They ate rats

They ate rats

and of course before that

they ate the horses.

[narrator] Eventually,

the Soviets would push
the Nazi forces

all the way back
to within 15 miles of here

capturing Berlin
and ending the war.

While the common soldier was
left to fend for themselves,

the prized horses
and trophies at Krampnitz

were handed over
to American troops.

Though it was Hitler

who ordered the Nazi armies
onto the eastern front

it was not he
who suffered there.

[Lynette] Not only did
the German soldier die

in the service
of their insane Fuhrer

that meant
that the German horse

innocently died

in the service
of their insane Fuhrer.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] Deep within
the Atacama Desert,

isolated from
the modern world

sets a time capsule
of Chile's past.

[dramatic music playing]

[Alicia] From the dust
of this expansive desert

suddenly,
there's this sprawling town.

[Dougal]
The whole place is derelict

as far as the eye can see.

[Lynette] There's an
industrial section,

there is retail,

there is residential.

This is or at least this was

a proper community.

[narrator]
Set in one of the most

inhospitable places on Earth,

why would anyone choose
to make this their home?

[Lynette] There's a real
feeling of utter isolation,

in this town

no one can hear you scream.

no one can hear you scream.

[tense music playing]

[Dougal] There has to be
a reason for being there

and these reasons
usually revolve

around some sort of resource.

[narrator] This explains
the industrial machinery

but there are
some things here

that don't add up.

[Lynette] When you look
around the perimeter

you see that people took
the trouble

to put minefields down.

[Alicia]
This place was designed

[Alicia]
This place was designed

with a utopian vision
of the future

but by the end,
it became a nightmare.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Local researcher
Luis Enrique Silva Guerrero

knows the difficulties
of living

in this harsh climate.

[Luis] Looking to the horizon,

the north, south,
east, and west

the only thing
you see is dryness.

the only thing
you see is dryness.

It's very hostile.

[narrator] But if you know
what to look for,

the reason for
Chacabuco's existence

is in plain view.

Over there, you can see

the deposits of nitrates.

[narrator]
In the early 19th Century

it was discovered
that nitrates,

known as saltpeter

known as saltpeter

were a miracle fertilizer.

[Dougal] Here,

the concentration
of saltpeter

was actually at the surface,

so it was very,
very easy to mine.

[Luis] The raw material

went through those tunnels

into the crushing machine

and once it was crushed

in fine pieces

it was transported

to that building over there.

to that building over there.

[Dougal] All of these pipes
and networks, and so on,

are part of this process

by which you're able to try
and purify the ore.

[narrator]
With a global intensification

in agriculture,

the demand for saltpeter
sky rocketed.

Chacabuco became a boom town.

And it wasn't just
the industry here

that was revolutionary.

[Alicia] This town was
created with a sort of

[Alicia] This town was
created with a sort of

corporate welfare vision.

That if we can pull
the worker away

from cramp living conditions
in the city

and provide them

with clean
living arrangements

and leisure time

then they might be
better workers

and they might be healthier.

[Lynette] They were provided
for, they were looked after,

they had lovely houses,

they had shops,
they had a church,

they had a community center,

they had a theater.

[narrator] But there is
evidence that life here

was not entirely Utopian.

was not entirely Utopian.

[Alicia] What's interesting
about the layout of this town

is that it seems,
like it's almost designed

to surveil the people there,

that at the center
of this community,

you have the tallest buildings

with the tallest rooftops
and from there

they can almost see
the inner workings

of everything going on
in their community.

[Lynette] We now know
that the people

who lived in this community

were being watched

and we have records
of people's

intimate lives
being surveilled

intimate lives
being surveilled

by company security.

[narrator]
But corporate surveillance

was nothing

compared to what came next.

[Lynette] Before too long

this community became

something very different,

a darker place.

[ominous music playing]

[narrator] Chacabuco Chile,

a once flourishing mining
town in the Atacama Desert

that seems to have
another story to tell.

[Dougal] The last kind
of vestiges of life

that you can see
in and around the buildings

is the graffiti.

And this is graffiti
of a very political nature.

[Alicia] It's really
just tragic to see

[Alicia] It's really
just tragic to see

this vision of prosperity
descend and decline

into this tragic circumstance.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] In 1938,

the industry here
ground to a halt.

And the town was left
to the elements.

But in 1973,

everything changed.

Allegedly with support
from the CIA,

a right-wing group
launched a coupe,

a right-wing group
launched a coupe,

their leader...

Augusto Pinochet.

[Lynette]
Augusto Pinochet was a...

ruthless dictator.

He controlled Chile

in a way that was brutal,

it was repressive.

[narrator] Anyone that
disagreed with the new gente

quickly vanished.

And where better
to make people disappear

than in the middle
of a desert.

than in the middle
of a desert.

[Dougal] So not only where
the buildings already there

but you didn't have to go far
from the buildings

and you were in the harshest,

driest desert on the planet,

that became the ideal place
to lock people away,

away from prying eyes.

[Alicia] And these homes that
used to belong to individuals

suddenly became great cells
for prisoners.

[narrator] Roberto Sepulveda

is part of the organization

that now preserves Chacabuco.

that now preserves Chacabuco.

[Roberto]
I had the opportunity

to walk around this place

back in 1973.

It was exactly like we see

the German concentration camps
in the movies.

With electrified fences,

trained dogs,

guard towers

surrounded with minefields,

and tanks and planes

flying over it to prevent
prisoners from escaping.

flying over it to prevent
prisoners from escaping.

[narrator] From the moment
the inmates arrived,

conditions were brutal.

[Roberto]
As soon as they got here,

they would have them undressed

and what was later
a football pitch,

make them empty their bags,

and have them stand naked
in the sun.

[dramatic music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

[Alicia] Most of the prisoners
faced harassment

and few had enough rations

to barely keep them alive.

[narrator] At its height

over a thousand people
were held here.

Most of them... innocent

but their spirit
of resistance

is etched into the walls.

[Roberto] In places
where the prisoners lived,

they left multiple testimonies
on the walls,

if you look in other houses

if you look in other houses

you will find many of them.

[narrator] The concentration
camp at Chacabuco was closed

after only two years

and the authorities quickly
tried to cover up

what they did here.

[dramatic music playing]

[Lynette] They stripped away

a lot of the evidence

and they tried
to purify this place.

[Roberto] All the references

of the assault
to human dignity,

of the assault
to human dignity,

to the physical and
psychological torture

that were left here,

soldiers erased
all the testimonies.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] Today,

Chacabuco lies derelict

but its history of
pioneering industry

and cruel repression

leaves a complicated legacy.

[Alicia]
It's important to remember

some of the unsavory
elements of history

some of the unsavory
elements of history

so that we can continue
to learn from them,

that we can see warning signs

of authoritarianism

when we see them again.

[Roberto] This is a place
that holds lots of emotions.

We want this to be remembered,

we want people to come here,

societies who forget
their history

are doomed to repeat it.

[dramatic music playing]