Original subtitles

Whoo!

-Are you good? -I see the bottom.

Heather?

On this episode of "Expedition X,"

Phil and Heather continue their terrifying investigation

in the Czech Republic at Houska Castle.

-N-Z. -N-Z -- Nazi?

Legend says it was built over a literal portal to hell,

where the Nazis were rumored to

harness malevolent, occult power.

All right, let's go.

Then, the sinister trail of the Third Reich will

take the team to Poland.

Hitler wanted to have strange underground ceremonies.

Come look at this.

It opens up.

Where SS rituals are said to have

unleashed dark forces.

-What the hell is that?

What are we going to find back there?

And a vast network of secret tunnels reportedly hides

Nazi super weapons.

But first, the team must make sense of

the disturbing bruises on Heather's arm...

Agh!

is that?

...that appeared immediately after she conducted a ritual

at Houska's purported portal to hell.

I stepped out of the circle, and then it was like,

, just a cramp.

-Here, let's sit down. -What just happened?

-Those were not there? -Those were not there.

-Are you sure? -Yes, I'm sure, yes.

Did you run into anything else tonight?

No, I didn't.

OK, deep breaths.

Um, I don't know what just happened to your arm.

It really gives a sense that there are some powerful forces

at work here.

I don't know what the Nazis may have unleashed here,

but at this point, I feel like I have

more questions than answers,

and we need to get out of here.

-I agree. -OK.

-Let's go. -I'll blow out

the candles, you grab the gear.

After two very active nights investigating Houska,

it's becoming clear to me the castle is consumed

by dark forces,

and I seem to have the bruises to prove it.

The next morning, we reconnect with Josh

about where our investigation

into the occult activities of the Nazis goes from here.

Hey, guys.

Heather, I heard what happened to you.

-How are you holding up? -I'm OK.

But it was an unsettling experience, to say the least.

Heather, if you need to, you could step back

from this investigation. -No way.

We have to keep going.

There's no doubt in my mind that the Nazis were messing

with powerful forces at Houska.

We need to learn more about their occult practices

to see if, God forbid, their evil plans

are still wreaking havoc today.

Well, look, if you really don't want to take a time out,

I will say that Houska is not the only place that

the Nazis were messing with supernatural forces.

There is a place just across the Czech northern border

in Poland that I visited years ago,

known as the Totenburg Mausoleum,

where the Third Reich reportedly held occult rituals,

and it now really would be the time to investigate there.

Look at this report of recent paranormal activity

at the site.

The witness claims that the apparition of an SS officer

attacked his friend.

And what's more, due to reports like this

and all of the dark history surrounding this mausoleum,

there are stories that the entire site

might be demolished by the government soon.

So this might be anyone's last chance to investigate it.

OK, first, I want to track down that witness

and hear their story.

And Heather, I can link you up with

an old friend of mine, Joanna Lamparska.

She is one of Poland's top experts on what the Nazis were

doing in this area.

If you want to investigate the link between

the Third Reich and occultism, she's your woman.

Perfect. Thanks, Gates.

And look, this might all sound like an "Indiana Jones" movie,

but we are talking about some seriously dark history here

and some dark connections to the supernatural,

so be careful.

OK, we'll keep you posted, Josh.

It's a two-and-a-half- hour drive from Houska Castle

to the Polish border, then 30 minutes into Poland

to the town of Walbrzych.

Phil visits the Totenburg Mausoleum,

a former Nazi site where Rafal Holubowski claims he had

a recent paranormal experience.

I'm Phil.

Heather, meanwhile, heads seven miles north

to Ksiaz Castle to meet historian, Joanna Lamparska.

-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you, too.

A forensic archaeologist, Joanna is one of

the foremost authorities on the Nazis' occult activities

during World War II. -Welcome to Ksiaz Castle.

That is beautiful.

One of the largest castles in Poland, and the only one castle

in the world, which is situated on a huge underground.

You're sitting on a huge tunnel.

There are a few entrances to these tunnels, and they were

built by prisoners during Second World War.

-What did they build it for? -For Hitler, of course.

Ksiaz was a part of the huge German project named, "Riese,"

which means, "giant," and it was huge underground.

Six complexes, and the seventh was under the castle.

We don't know the real purpose of it.

Some people say they wanted to establish

underground military factories.

Some say that Hitler wanted to have underground darkness to do

some strange ceremonies.

But there are also legends about wonder weapon,

"Wunderwaffe" in German,

something supernatural, you know.

So they were trying to create some type of super weapon

or supernatural weapon? -Yes.

How important was the occult to the Nazis?

It was so important that they collected artifacts

from all over Europe, and some of these things were

hidden in Riese tunnels.

So the Nazis potentially stored treasure,

maybe something supernatural, in these tunnels?

Many people believe it. It is still a great mystery.

If you want to know more, if you want to feel it,

this is very important, feel it, you should visit two places,

My teammate, Phil, is already over there.

I'm going to meet with him later.

There are pictures of SS officer

holding pagan rituals.

There are hidden tunnels underneath the corridors.

Some people believe that tunnels are connected with

tunnels in Riese. It is just a belief.

We didn't find this tunnel, but if we find it --

So that's the find of a lifetime.

Yeah.

So this is Totenburg, and right here is where you had

your strange experience?

Rafal Holubowki is a local tourist who visited

Totenburg Mausoleum with a group of friends

and had a terrifying encounter.

-I came here with three of my friends.

We had always been curious about this place.

It was built back in the 1930s as a memorial for World War I,

but the Nazis soon took it over and used it as a place

to hold meetings and ceremonies.

So you're here to learn a bit more about

the history of this place?

Yes, and soon after we arrived, we all felt this odd presence,

like something was right behind us,

breathing on the back of our necks.

Eventually, I turned around and saw the apparition

of an SS officer, but I was the only one

in my group to see it.

So you think you're seeing an SS soldier here?

What did it look like?

He was in full uniform, tall,

lighter hair, but he had a huge scar on his face,

like he was wounded in battle.

I could sense right away that he was not happy we were here,

and he quickly told us to get out.

And did you?

At first, none of my friends believed me,

but they could tell that something was off

after I kept insisting that we leave.

The window was our closest exit.

We all jumped out, one by one.

After I jumped out, I heard a loud noise behind me,

as if someone had been thrown to the ground.

I turned and saw my friend laying there, unconscious.

Hold on, something threw him to the ground?

Yes, I believe the ghost of the officer

was the one who threw him.

Wow. Was he OK?

He was out for like a minute, but he finally woke up

and only had a couple of bruises.

None of us have been back here since,

and I don't think they'll ever come back.

This is a dark and dangerous place.

Totenburg has earned a number of disturbing nicknames

over the years, including "Hitler's Last Temple"

and "Hitler's Stonehenge."

Although it was once set to be Hitler's home, there's been

no paranormal activity reported at Ksiaz Castle.

So Heather and I decide to next investigate

the Totenburg Mausoleum. -Look at that.

That's incredible.

We'll be there at the exact same time of night

Rafal had his horrifying encounter.

How is this still standing?

Wait 'til you see the inside.

Feels a lot different at night in here.

Tell you that.

Take a look around, Heather.

Yeah, you can still see some of the original tiles up top.

-Yeah. -Otherwise, this place is in ruins.

I have pictures of what it actually looked like

in its heyday. -You do?

Yeah.

Need to see these.

OK, so look at this.

-Wow. -Mm-hmm.

That is a photograph taken during an actual ceremony.

What we're looking at is the eternal flame that

would have been in the center of the courtyard, right there.

So this would have been an eternal flame?

Yes. Yes, and that represented

power, strength, winning the war.

What's crazy is behind that column is the window where

my witness had his experience.

So I think I want to start my investigation tonight

over there to just try to get a sense of what might have

actually happened that night.

I want to start right here in the courtyard, because I think

there could be some residual energy left over here.

Let's keep in touch and stay on walkie.

You got it.

So obviously, there's a lot of texture

all over this entire place.

So, I've seen this before,

that when people are in these very terrifying locations

with horrible histories, just like this, the mind

starts racing, it gets excited, and it can start to connect dots

that aren't really there.

It's this thing called pareidolia,

where you see something, you see a hint of the pattern,

and your brain fills in that pattern.

So if you think you see a little bit of eyes,

then in your mind, you literally think you are seeing a face.

But you're not, it's all in your head.

And I'm gonna try to get something like that on camera.

Start here.

I'm laying out the EMF trip wire in the center

of the mausoleum courtyard, where a column and a so-called

eternal flame once stood.

SS soldiers would reportedly conduct occult rituals here

during World War II.

I want to see if there's any kind of paranormal imprint

left over from those ceremonies.

OK.

I'm gonna use the SLS to see

if I can get any figures on it,

anything I can't see with my human eye.

If there's anyone here with me,

you can use this trip wire to communicate.

All you have to do is touch one of the sensors.

You can use this SLS camera. It will show you.

Is there anyone here?

There's like a tapping back there.

Did you hear that?

What the hell is that?

Is there anyone over here?

I know that Phil is on the opposite side of the mausoleum.

I just heard tapping in multiple places.

What is this?

It's warm.

There is no reason why it should be this warm.

Oh my god.

What the hell is that? Look at this.

There, nothing, change the light angle...

That...

...looks like a face.

Looks like two eyes, gaping mouth.

I mean, does this look like a full Nazi in uniform

with a scar on his face?

Not necessarily, but I still fully believe that something

like this entering the mind under the right conditions,

can make your brain fill in the gaps and create that figure

in your mind's eye.

There's a hole outside.

There's a hole in the ceiling and the wall.

There is no reason it should be so warm in here.

What the hell was that?

Trying to draw me in here?

I am hot right now, and there is open sky.

It's 65 degrees outside.

There is no reason why it should be this warm.

So, this is where Rafal said his friend got attacked.

Let's see.

OK.

Jumping out the window, a lot of things

you could step on, twist your ankle out here.

Let's see.

Jumping off this...

All right, look at that.

Look at that. Catch your toe here, here, here.

You could easily catch your toe on any of these.

The way I see it, if everyone is terrified because they think

a Nazi ghost has told them to leave, they're running.

They're probably not looking back immediately,

so if it was the last person to leave,

which in this case it was, who fell,

the chances that people actually witnessed

this person fall is pretty slim.

And actually, Rafal himself said he only heard it.

He didn't see it.

They probably moved a little bit too quickly,

tripped, and fell and became unconscious that way,

not because some kind of paranormal spirit

forced them down.

The mind plays tricks when it's terrified.

And this place is terrifying.

I feel like something is trying to

communicate with me.

I wanna do a call-and-response session.

Is there anyone here with me right now?

What is the purpose of this place?

That was a deep boom.

Did you hear that? There's a tap over there.

Oh, look at this.

Look at this.

Heather!

Phil?

Heather, over here.

Look at this.

Heather? Hey, hey.

-Hey. -Check it out.

-. -Yeah.

That's a tunnel.

I think we gotta get down there.

We definitely have to get down there.

Joanna said there are tunnels all over this countryside that

potentially connect to each other. -OK.

-Hold my light? -Yeah.

Going in, OK, OK.

-Careful. -Oooh!

Many historians, like Joanna, believe the tunnels

under Totenburg were used for SS initiation rituals,

inducting new recruits into their evil regime during

World War II. You seeing anything?

-It keeps going! -No way!

Come on, let's go down.

But there's also speculation these tunnels might

potentially connect to the larger Project Riese Tunnel System,

where secret Nazi occult rituals took place,

and where occult artifacts might still be hidden today.

Thanks.

Ugh, that is a breeze coming through there.

Oh my god.

It's so crazy down here.

Oh yeah, look how far it goes.

Wow.

-It could connect to the Riese tunnels. -Yeah.

I think I should try the Ovilus down here to see

if we can get anything. -OK.

All right...

Ovilus.

Is there anyone here with us?

Hunting.

-What the hell was that?

-You heard that, yeah? -Yeah, that was a splash.

-Phil, come look at this. -What do you got?

Look at this.

What is that?

Wow.

It ends.

-Yeah...yeah. -Right?

That looks like a cave-in.

Yeah, an intentional cave in.

There's this giant rubble pile on the outside.

It seems like they were actively digging it out,

and then caved it in.

Tell you what, where do you think that could lead?

It could connect to Riese tunnels, the epicenter of

their occult activities.

Joanna said if we wanted to understand what the Nazis were

doing, we had to come here and Riese tunnels.

Well, we're not getting to Riese tunnels through this way.

No, we're not.

With secret tunnels under Totenburg confirmed,

we need to investigate where they lead.

Could they have connected all the way to

the sinister Riese Project complex?

And what might be hidden at Riese?

Whoa. Look at that.

To get answers, our contact, Joanna, has set

a meeting for us with the head of the Riese Tunnel

Recovery Operation. -Hello.

Hey.

-Very nice to meet you. My name is Phil. -Krzysztof.

Krzysztof Szpakowski is a local miner and landowner

who's excavated the Riese tunnels for 20 years.

So this must be one of the Riese tunnels?

Yes, this is one of the bigger entrances to the Riese Project.

Just how deep do the tunnels go? Are we talking miles?

This section in particular is about 250 meters long

and 800 meters wide, and there are four major corridors.

But all the tunnels in the entire project stretch

about five and a half miles.

There are seven different sections that we know of,

and they were all meant to be interconnected,

but the project was never finished.

Project Riese relied heavily on forced labor to carve out these tunnels --

mostly Jews, and roughly 5,000 of them are believed to have

perished down in the tunnels.

It was quite literally a death sentence.

Many laborers were simply not allowed to

leave this place alive, because the Nazis were

working on something so secretive.

What was the big secret in there?

Some believe it was a new headquarters for Hitler,

but I think they were designing an underground weapons factory.

At some point, Hitler realized that he could not win the war

with conventional weapons.

So I believe the Nazis were trying to build a "wonder weapon"

that Hitler would have unleashed on the entire world.

What is this wonder weapon?

Nobody really knows.

Some think it was a high-tech chemical weapon.

Others speculate it was more about

trying to harness quantum physics.

Some even believe it was supernatural,

because these tunnels were supposedly also

used by the Nazis for occult purposes.

The longer I spent down here over the years,

I've become more and more convinced that was the case,

with all the reports of paranormal activity.

People often come to me with claims of seeing phantom eyes

or hearing disembodied voices.

Do you think there's a chance that there could be some

physical evidence inside these tunnels of this occult practice

that the Nazis may have been doing?

Yes.

I am sure that within the entire Riese tunnel system,

there are Nazi occult artifacts waiting to be discovered.

Where do we start? Where should we be looking?

You won't find much evidence here at this gate,

but there is a very secluded entry point that is

not accessible to the public.

The problem is it's a little treacherous to get to

and requires a dangerous rappel down into it of about 50 meters.

But it leads to some of the most

underexplored areas of the tunnels.

When you get down there, follow the water.

The tunnels get flooded in that section, but it is believed

that there is a secret room beyond the flooded tunnels that

might have evidence of the Nazi occult.

So, rappel down the shaft, follow the water.

-Sounds easy enough, right? -We gotta grab some gear.

Yeah. Can we get the coordinates of that location?

Krzysztof's coordinates lead to an entry point for the tunnels

about five miles away.

Down in those catacombs is where the Nazis are said to

have weaponized dark occult forces, just like

they seemingly did at Houska and Totenburg.

I want to see if anything they might have attempted to

conjure up still lingers within the depths.

But to get there, we'll need a special set of wheels.

All right, let's go!

Whoo!

Whoa.

So, coordinates say it's down there.

-Oh, let's grab our gear and go. -OK.

-Lead the way. -Let's try this way.

Let me check...

so, we're basically at Krzysztof's coordinates.

-Should be here. -It's not.

-I don't see anything. -Gotta be close.

-You wanna check that way? I'll check this way. -Yeah, spread out.

I'm very aware right now that there could be a gaping hole

around me, 50 meters deep. Treading carefully.

Heather, you see anything?

Wait, I think I do. There's something over here.

-You got something? -Look at this.

OK, coming.

-What you got -- Oh. -Check it out.

This is great.

Whoa.

-What's it look like down there? -Oh, that's it.

-This is it? -This is it.

Ready? One, two, three.

Pull, pull, pull, pull!

-One, two, three. -Ah!

Three, two, one.

. That's deep.

That is so much deeper than I thought.

You sure you wanna go down there?

-Absolutely. -All right, you're going first.

-All right. -Let's grab our gear.

Krzysztof said the descent here

into the Riese tunnels is 165 feet.

That's basically a 17-story building,

easily the deepest rappel I've ever done.

Wish me luck.

OK, here I go.

-How's it feel? -Feels like I'm hanging over a pit.

Yeah, at least not a pit to hell this time.

See you at the bottom.

How does it feel in there?

Pretty heavy. I mean, it's dark.

I mean, it literally looks like an endless pit down there.

Cannot see the bottom.

It is horrific knowing that I am actually in a Nazi tunnel.

Whoo!

Are you good?

I see the bottom.

Heather?

Heather, you there?

Copy. I am at the bottom.

All right, Heather, I'm gonna lower the bags.

Clear.

Krzysztof told us that Nazi occult artifacts may reside

in a room beyond the flooded tunnels.

So, we brought a lot of extra gear with us,

including an inflatable kayak, in case we do end up in

deep water, figuratively and literally.

Got it.

All right, Phil, you're up.

OK, going down.

Whoa.

Oh, I just looked down. I shouldn't have looked down.

All of this was built

from forced labor.

Wow.

-A lot of water. -Yep.

Hopefully, that means these flooded tunnels are close.

Almost there.

Oh. All right.

It's not raining up there, so this is all groundwater,

which must be flooding these tunnels over time.

This is a dead end.

I already checked it out, so we gotta go that way.

Let's leave our bags here until we find the water.

OK.

The Nazis were doing occult rituals to harness

dark energy in these tunnels,

and if they were even remotely successful, who knows

what could be down here? -Yeah.

OK, so, first junction...

...just goes that way.

-Oh my god. -Look how deep that goes.

It just keeps going and going.

I'm gonna leave a glowstick down to mark our way.

So, thick end is where we came from, narrow end is

where we're going. -All right, let's go.

-You heard that? -Yes.

It sounded like a cry.

It sounded like it came from down there.

Hello?

There should be no animals alive down here

that could make any sound like that.

Just look down there.

It looks like water.

What, what, what?

What's in there? Did you see that?

No. What did you see?

Something just went across the passageway down there.

-No way. -I'm not lying to you.

-It was light. -It wasn't a shadow?

-It was not a shadow, it was actually -- -Was it a reflection?

No. It was not a reflection. It was something light.

Something light crossing the tunnel,

like all the way at the end,

as far as you can see.

Hello?

Is something there?

We have to follow it.

OK.

And we got more water on the ground here.

Looks like it opens up.

Yeah.

Looks like another intersection.

-It just keeps going. -Yeah.

So what do you wanna do? Go right, straight?

-Ooh! -Is that water?

-That's water. -Is that it?

-That's a flooded tunnel. -I think we found it.

-We did it. -This has gotta be it.

What are we gonna find back there?

Nazi occult artifacts?

Occult objects were not the only thing said to be

hidden in the tunnels of Project Riese.

They reportedly housed a lab for creating Wunderwaffe,

or a miracle weapon.

Alongside prototypes of helicopters,

planes, and missiles,

the Nazis allegedly experimented with

inventing things straight out of sci-fi.

Death rays, flying saucers, interdimensional portals.

Perhaps the most mysterious was said to be "Die Glocke,"

German for "the bell." Described as possessing

rotating rings filled with radioactive fluid, there are

wild theories as to what this monstrous machinery was

designed to do, from an anti-gravity device

to an actual time machine.

In the end, the development of many Nazi inventions served

only to burn through the Reich's resources

in the deciding days of the war.

And since none of the prototypes were successful,

these wonder weapons proved to be

little more than wonder waste.

Look at that.

I can't believe we found it.

We need to go grab our gear, get that boat ready,

and I need to get ready to get in the water.

-Sounds like a plan. -OK.

There's no telling how deep this water

could be -- or how cold.

OK, you get started with the boat.

-I'll get changed. -OK, sounds good.

So, while Heather inflates the kayak, I put on

a wetsuit, in case we see any artifacts in the water

that we need to check out.

All right, boat's looking good.

All right, here we go.

Oh, jeez.

If the Nazis left occult artifacts down here,

who knows what type of energy is emanating from them?

It's getting really deep here.

Watch your head.

Look right here. Right here.

I think there's a passage back there.

-No way. -Yeah.

I'm gonna get out and meet you.

Yeah...

-...it opens up. -Really?

Yeah.

Squeeze through.

Looks like it was a cave-in.

I really don't want to touch any of these walls.

Oof!

That's my head.

Phil?

Hang on.

Please don't tell me that's what I think it is.

What do you see?

Oh my god.

-I found bones. -You found what?

Bones.

Human bones?

I don't know what else it would be.

It's a horrifying thought that these could be human bones.

Oh my god.

We're so deep underground that these bones could

date back decades.

They may even be human remains from the forced labor the Nazis

used to build these tunnels. -OK, I'm heading back.

So, we leave them undisturbed, and press on in search of

the possible occult room Krzysztof told us about.

This is a whole cavern back here.

What the hell was that?

It sounded like, like a humming, a chanting.

Well, something drew us here, so I'm going to bring out

the REM Pod and see if we can get any activity.

Here.

-Put this REM Pod on the front of the kayak.

Let me take out the recorder.

I'll just make sure...

OK.

Looks like no boat movement is gonna set it off.

OK, is there anyone here with us?

Whoa.

That was quick.

Did you hear that?

-It sounded like two women talking. -Yes.

-Did you hear that? -Yes.

Is there anyone there?

Do these tunnels still hold artifacts?

Heather, I think there could be artifacts right below us.

Look around this place, I think this could be our spot.

Krzysztof said that we should be looking for a room

beyond the water. -Look around, look where we are.

I mean, maybe he's got it wrong.

Like, maybe this is the room.

-I think I should get in the water here. -OK.

Let's go on.

What'd you find?

Look at that.

-Oh my God. -Look at that.

-Are you kidding me? -That's a shovel head.

That's a shovel head. Here, grab that.

Wow, it's literally falling apart.

Oh my god, Heather,

this would be one of the shovels that was used

to build this place. This is a tool of...

-...slavery. -This is a death sentence.

The horrific history of these tunnels.

OK.

This water is freezing, but I'm convinced

there's more down here.

Metal detector.

-I got more -You've got more?

Not what I was expecting to find down here.

Looks like some part of a machine.

-Maybe a drill. -Yeah.

Looks like it's been resting in here for decades.

A flooded room of the Riese tunnels?

Did you want us to find this room?

Did you want us to find these artifacts?

Is this the secret you wanted us to find?

I know one thing's for sure --

whether we were guided here by something or not,

the people who died in here

will not be forgotten.

Heather continued her EVP session in the depths of

Riese tunnels through the night.

The tunnels were deathly quiet, but days later, as she analyzed

the audio files recorded,

she uncovered something shocking.

She's certain the word "secret" is heard, perhaps

a disturbing promise that more is hidden somewhere

in the Nazis' labyrinth.

Who are you?

N-Z

N-Z, Nazi?

Given what else the team discovered

during their unprecedented investigation into the Nazis'

occult activities, more secrets would certainly

not be a surprise.

-What the hell was that?

At Houska Castle in the Czech Republic,

said to hide a portal to hell,

Phil's discovery using GPR was stunning.

Something is definitely going down.

-We have a void. -Wow.

Further analysis of the results by geophysicists

confirms at least some of the legend is true.

There is indeed a mysterious void under Houska's chapel,

right where the gateway to hell was fabled to be.

However, not everything at Houska was hellish.

What?

-Oh yeah, we got scratches. -You're getting scratches?

Phil's geophone recordings of the strange scratchings in

the castle's basement were determined to be

nothing more than the resident rodents.

But there were further grim discoveries to come.

Oh my god.

The bones Phil found in the Riese tunnels were confirmed

to be human.

We can't know who they were or how they died,

but there's certainly few worse places to meet your end than

in the bowels of a secret Nazi stronghold.

We notified the authorities of their location to receive

proper collection and burial.

But the most shocking evidence of all seems less a discovery

and more an attack.

Agh!

After Heather conducted a ritual at Houska to reach out

to occult energies, she felt intense pain

and discovered a mysterious bruise.

-What -- is that?

The injury was examined at a local hospital,

and the doctors concluded what seems impossible --

the bruise appears as if her arm had been

aggressively gripped by a human hand.

Are the terrible rumors real?

Did the Nazis unleash occult forces during their war

of world domination?

Whatever the truth, one particular adage does

come to mind -- "Evil begets evil."