All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S06E03.End.Times.on.Lake.Michigan.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.en

Narrator: An astonishing
treasure trove of trains

Hidden in the heart of africa...

Bell: It's like a train
graveyard with shrubs and earth

Gradually burying the remains.

Narrator: ...A mystical complex
of structures

Shrouded in intrigue...

Selwood: Skulls have been found
at this site,

But they're not
to do with burials.

It's believed these
were taken as trophies.

Narrator: ...And vast relics
of industry

Rusting in the american midwest.

This is just a small part
of what was here,

Shows you the scale
of this facility.

♪

Narrator: Decaying relics,

Ruins of lost worlds,

Forged through years of toil,

Now haunted by the past,

Their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

On the peaceful shores
of lake michigan,

In the heart
of the american midwest,

Stands a series of sites
with an intriguing past.

Meigs: There's not much left
in the way of clues

To tell you what it was for.

Clearly, when the site was
abandoned, it was stripped bare.

This place has
a top secret feel to it.

You know, you see the remains of
fencing topped with barbed wire.

You see control towers
of some kind.

Why do we have plinths and
platforms with nothing on them?

Wawro: And that, in turn, begs
the question,

So what were these things for?

Narrator: A scope of
the surrounding area

Reveals something
more perplexing -- the remnants

Of a second related site
lie covered in undergrowth.

This site is, if anything,
even more mysterious.

You just have
this large concrete pad,

And then these steel doors open
to something underground,

But you can't see what.

Narrator: What was so deadly
that it was kept underground

At this disturbing site
in indiana.

And what links
these two compounds

To one of the most perilous
periods of american history?

Local entrepreneur
virgil frey is keen to preserve

The long forgotten buildings
of this cryptic site.

Vestiges of a barrack suggest

It was some kind of military
center back in the 1950s.

This is the part
of the property that housed

Over 90 men
when it was an active base.

We have 17 full buildings.

The admin building.

That's where the commander
would have been.

We have two full
barracks buildings.

We have a mess hall.

We have a generator room
to produce power for the base.

Narrator:
The true purpose of this place

Was a well-guarded secret.

All 23 acres
were surrounded by barbed wire.

There were dogs or kennels

And extra security
that would be here.

The general public knew
very little about the property

And what went on here
at the time.

Narrator: One building
on this site

Explains this level of security.

Frey: So this is
the communications building.

So this building would
have housed racks

And racks of computers.

Narrator: This provides a clue
to what would have once

Topped the site's
five looming towers.

So each one of these
towers housed

A different set of radar.

When the base was active,

There was dishes
along the top of that tower.

The key elements of the property

Were really gathering
the information from the towers,

Putting that together
in the communications room.

Wawro: So the towers themselves
are essentially platforms

For radar arrays
and communication systems.

Narrator: But what was this
highly sophisticated

Surveillance system
designed to detect?

The answer can be found
almost a mile away

At a second, more remote site

With its ominous-looking doors
in the ground.

Meigs: What we're looking at
here is the command

And control center
for an installation

Of very sophisticated
antiaircraft missiles.

Narrator: This pair of derelict
sites worked in tandem.

The first site was a listening
station and control center.

Wawro: The radar sets will relay
the coordinates over

To the launch site where
the missiles will be prepared.

There's three of them
behind these steel doors.

Narrator: The missiles launched
from the second site

Were interceptors designed

To take out
invading enemy aircraft.

But why would anyone want
to attack the american midwest?

A clue sits 10 miles away
from the missile sites

In a vast industrial wasteland.

These two areas of
abandoned infrastructure

Are linked in history.

This whole region
is full of this kind of

Abandoned infrastructure
on a very large scale.

It looks like some
post-apocalyptic vision.

What is the connection
between these sites?

And did the same thing
destroy all of them?

Narrator: The answer lies in the
history of this derelict place.

50 years ago,
it was a hive of activity.

This was really the beating
heart of american industry,

This whole new industrial zone
created along the shores

Of lake michigan near chicago.

Narrator: And this is the town
of gary, indiana,

Once dubbed the city
of the century.

The colossal scale of this place

Was born out of one hugely
prized product -- steel.

Meigs:
When u.S. Steel set up shop

On the banks
of lake michigan in 1906,

That was really the start
of gary's rise

To being an industrial
powerhouse and a region

Of enormous strategic importance
to the country.

It was vitally important
for the military, as well.

Wawro: And in world war ii,
the steelworks at gary

Are producing all the steel
needed for, you know, ships,

Planes, tanks, and all
the, you know, armaments of war.

Gary is chosen as an industrial
site for many reasons.

One of them is that it's immune
to enemy attack

Because it's so far inland.

Nusbacher: You could not
fly a plane

From germany or japan
or russia to bomb

Gary, indiana.

Narrator: But after
the second world war,

Tensions between the u.S.
And the soviet union

Drove a fast-paced race

For a technological
and military supremacy.

And the u.S.S.R.
Soon came up with

A long-range high-flying bomber.

Nusbacher: If the soviets had
ordered an attack on america,

Big soviet bomber aircraft
filled with nuclear weapons,

Escorted by regiment after
regiment of fighter aircraft,

Would have crossed north
over the pole

And moved south towards
the american heartland.

It starts to become possible
to nuke gary.

Narrator:
The launch and control sites

Now sinking
into the indiana shrubland

Date back to that time when
150 million americans

Were suddenly
living within range

Of soviet nuclear warheads.

The u.S. Military

Had to defend
the american heartland,

But did these overgrown sites
live up to the job?

♪

Narrator: In the 1950s,
this pair of dilapidated sites

Concealed the capability
to blast

State-of-the-art
soviet bombers out of the sky.

These are the remains
of the nike missile project.

Wawro: These nike missiles
were regarded

As the ultimate
defensive measure

Against the ultimate
soviet weapon at the time,

The heavy bomber
coming in over the north pole.

Narrator: There were more than
20 paired nike missile sites

In the lake michigan area.

This pair is nike c-47.

Together, they were designed
to defend gary, indiana,

And the dilapidated
communication room

Was mission control.

So, should the decision
have been made

To actually launch a missile,

This is where it would have
happened from.

The missile that they would have
been firing obviously needs

To strike that target,

Or a lot of people's lives
are on the line.

I couldn't imagine
how it must have felt

To have to actually
make those decisions.

I'm sure it would have
been tense at that moment.

If you were a missile operator,

A radar operator at
an installation like this,

You really just get
one shot at it.

And if they were asleep
at the switch, people could die.

Narrator: But the advance of
the cold war technology race

Meant that the missiles
of nike's c-47

Were never called into action.

Even as they were being built,

The technology was changing
and the threat was changing.

In the 1960s,
the soviet union

Develops intercontinental
ballistic missiles.

Meigs: There was no real defense

Against an intercontinental
ballistic missile.

That warhead would be coming in
from space at supersonic speeds.

Wawro: Suddenly, this
cutting-edge defensive weapon

Is no longer useful.

And so what we see here
in the land around gary

Is just a moment
in that history.

Narrator:
And in the coming decades,

The industry of gary, indiana,

Would also be rendered obsolete.

Not at the hands of communism,
but capitalist markets.

Nusbacher: Nobody had to blow it
up with a nuclear weapon.

The realities of economics
and politics changed gary

Into the rubble
we see there today.

These missile bases

Were very much part
of the story of gary, indiana,

Just as much
as those big factories.

♪

Narrator: Today, beyond
the industrial wasteland,

Encroaching undergrowth engulfs

The once-cutting-edge
defense system.

The place is a real monument

To the pace of technological
change during the cold war.

♪

Narrator:
In the north of England,

A collection
of crumbling structures

Once marked the edge
of the known world.

♪

Selwood:
Britain represented something
that was unknown, barbaric.

It was a place of myth
and speculation and mystery.

Meigs: Here and there you see

The remnants of stone
foundations.

It suggests something
significant was built here.

Jerram: This site is located
amongst a sort of network

Of streams and waterways.

Could have sustained quite
a lot of people living there.

Narrator: But any trace of those
who walked these stone pathways

Has long since vanished.

Whoever built this put a lot
of engineering ingenuity

And craftsmanship
into building this.

You have a commanding view
of the whole region,

Which suggests
that it had military importance.

We're less than a mile from
a major defensive structure.

Selwood: The vast wall was
designed to protect those

In the south from the people
to the north,

But the question this poses is

Who was these people
to the north of the wall?

Narrator: Evidence suggests
that beyond this wall

Lived a feared painted people.

Jerram: This is really venturing
into the dark and mysterious.

And you could imagine that it
would have been both exciting,

But also quite scary.

Narrator: Further excavation
reveals oppression

And treachery
were at play here.

Skulls have been found
at this site,

But they're not
to do with burials.

It's believed
these were taken as trophies.

These foundations
are just the surface.

Underneath is an epic
and bloody history.

Narrator: What links
the monumental wall

That cuts through the wilds
of northern England

To this eerie abandoned place?

♪

This ancient site
is known as vindolanda.

Archaeologist andrew birley
has spent his life

Figuring out what went on here,

Like his father
and grandfather before him.

Birley: It's given up a huge
number of its secrets.

Most secrets have changed
our perceptions.

The more and more work we do,
the more we start to understand

About what happened here
almost two thousand years ago.

Narrator: Relics of walls,

Broken steps, and remnants
of strange foundations

Provide the barest outline
of what once stood here.

This building here has got about
20 rooms on the ground floor.

Really,
really impressive.

Digging deep between
these desolate ruins,

Andrew's father unearthed
an incredible clue

As to who lived here.

We found the remains
of a bonfire site,

And included on that bonfire
was something like 320 or 330

Letters, documents.

Narrator: Who carved out these
ancient words two millennia ago?

And why did they vanish?

♪

Narrator: On a windy outcrop
in northern England,

The ancient ruins of vindolanda
are giving up

Tantalizing secrets
from the past.

The biggest indication
as to who built this site lies

Not within it,
but scattered all around.

Nearby, you've got this long,

Straight road running
from east to west,

And that might give us
an indication

As to who built this and why.

Narrator: Back then, the only
people to build roads like this

Where the romans.

Birley: I'm standing here on
one of the major roman roads.

On either side of me,
solid walls of stone,

Solid pavement of stone, and a
very big door at the far end.

Narrator:
In the location of vindolanda

Indicates a military purpose.

Vindolanda sits on the border
between England and scotland,

At the northern edge
of the roman empire,

Which once spread from northern
britain to the middle east.

So vindolanda was
a frontier conquest fort.

So when the roman army conquered
this part of the landscape,

They put a fort down here

As part of something
called the roman frontier.

So wherever you go inside
this fort,

You're reminded of structure,
rank, status,

And the huge impact of rome.

For the romans, britain was
beyond the known world.

It was a land of mystery.

It was a land
where things were unknown.

It was a place
where they speculated

About myth and mystery.

Narrator: They were especially
terrified of the warring

Barbarians of the north.

Selwood: The romans called
the people north of the wall

"the painted people," picti,

From where we get
the word "picts."

They thought they were
deeply uncivilized

But respected them as great
and fearsome warriors.

Narrator: Evidence of how
the romans tried to control

The northern tribes
lies within sight of vindolanda.

Jerram: As you sort of rise up
and look into the distance,

You can see the walls
snaking along the landscape,

Using every sort of nook
and cranny of the landscape

To help fortify its protection.

Selwood: The vast wall
runs across the whole

Of northern britain
from coast to coast.

Narrator: This extraordinary
73-mile long construction

Is hadrian's wall.

It was built by one of rome's
most ruthless emperors.

Hadrian was
a volatile character.

It's said that his boyfriend
jumped into the river,

But many also said that
it was hadrian who pushed him.

And when hadrian came
to britain in 122 a.D.,

He was determined that
the northern tribes

Would not get the better of him.

Birley: So here we are at
hadrian's wall,

Created by 15,000 roman soldiers
in a decade of hard work,

Sweat, and tears, separating
out people on this side --

Part of the roman empire --
for the other side,

The barbarians to the north.

Jerram: Large parts of it are
built using the landscape

As part of the defense.

There's a big structure
along large parts of the wall

Called the whin sill.

So you've not only got
hadrian's wall to contend with.

You've got this cliff of rock.

What a formidable thing
to try and get past.

Narrator: The configuration of
the site reveals how

Hadrian's wall was designed to
subjugate the rebellious picts.

What we're looking at here is
the power of the roman empire

To impose its will
on a landscape, on a people.

Imagine this twice
the height

With a walkway,
crenellations across the top.

And even at nighttime,

This would be so visible
in the landscape.

Would also be a wall of light.

The soldiers with their torches
would run across the top,

Giving you this contrast between
what's inside the roman empire

And what's outside.

Selwood: For those people who
were looking at it

From the north,
on seeing this cutting-edge

Roman military fortification,

It must have been the most
awe-inspiring sight,

Unlike anything
they'd ever seen.

Narrator: Hadrian's wall
was the most

Unconquerable defense system
in the world at the time.

Birley: So every mile,
you get two towers,

Which command tremendous views
right across as far as the eye

Can see to the north,
30, 40 miles in some places.

Nothing can get under
the roman radar.

Narrator: The romans built 16
defensive forts along the wall

To keep the northern
hordes at bay.

But the stone ruins at
vindolanda don't fit this story.

The sprawling fortress sits
a mile away from hadrian's wall.

So was the unprecedented wall
strong enough

To protect the ancient
letter writers who lived here,

Or did they fall victim
to the marauding picts?

♪

Narrator: Ruins of the roman
fort of vindolanda

In northern England

Show that 2,000 years ago
this place was thriving.

Birley: The population numbers
alone at this site range

From 2,500 to 6,000
or 7,000 people.

You had people
from what is today belgium,

People from modern germany,
people from switzerland,

Even north africa living
and patrolling this area.

Narrator: Rubble at the site
reveals that vindolanda

Was actually split
into two parts,

The fort itself
and a bustling roman town.

In their downtime, the soldiers
manning hadrian's wall

Retreated to vindolanda.

Meigs: This was more
like a small city.

People were there with their
wives and their children,

And they were involved
in farming and hunting

And all kinds of activities.

So it was more like a community
than simply a military facility.

Narrator: By the fourth century,

The romans were
severely overstretched

And no longer had the appetite
for faraway wars.

Their vast empire declined
and so did vindolanda.

The ancient letters found here

Were hastily destroyed
by the romans as they retreated.

Birley: They lit the bonfire.

The rain had come along
and put the bonfire out

And made it impossible to burn,
and then, 2,000 years later,

We find the site
of that bonfire,

And all the letters are still
sitting there in a heap.

What they talk about
is just sensational.

Everything from demands for beer
to birthday party invitations.

They give the color
and the detail,

The shades of gray
to life at vindolanda.

Narrator: Today, vindolanda
and hadrian's wall

Stand as a reminder
of the hubris and ambition

Of the roman empire.

Birley: You can look at it
as an incredible monument

To military architecture,
the will of an empire.

But, also, you can see it
as a monument to failure,

A monument to the fact
that the roman army

Never finished the job.

They couldn't quite beat
everybody in britain.

♪

Narrator: In the horn of africa,
in eastern ethiopia,

The city of dire dawa harbors
is a site

Crowded with relics that have
hit the end of the line.

It's a ghostly site that was
clearly once full of life

But is now abandoned,
with all the people

That were here
mysteriously missing.

There's something really
quite spooky about it.

Narrator: A closer inspection of
this corroding place

Reveals european fingerprints
all over it.

Barratt: We're in ethiopia,

But we've got
french signs hanging up.

We've got locomotives abandoned,

We've got bits of
rolling stock and lines.

Bell: A giant tooling shed,
musty with dust and oil,

Brimming with 50-year-old lathes

And a brightly colored
painted ticket office,

Now empty.

The once-vibrant paint
peeling from its walls.

Narrator: If this place was once
part of a railroad,

It was clearly the epicenter
of a significant network.

Barratt: Looking at the scale
of this place,

A huge amount of capital
was invested.

And now we see
it covered in grime.

It's a place where
train enthusiasts

Would love to explore.

There are the trains,
there are the signs.

There's just a sense of history.

Bell: Usually, when a rail line
is decommissioned,

The cars and equipment
are sold off.

But this harbor's remained,
and the trains left abandoned.

So what's their story?

♪

Narrator: The story of this
train graveyard

Can be traced back
to the end of the 19th century

To the vision of one man,

Emperor menelik ii
of ethiopia.

Barratt: Ethiopia is
a landlocked, barren state,

But it has huge amounts
of natural resources.

But they were only
going to help the people

If they can be exploited.

And at the turn of
the 20th century,

The emperor looked around
and thought,

How are other countries
succeeding in moving forward?

If you look at britain
or america in the 19th century,

What was the game changer?

It was all about urbanization
and industrialization,

And at the heart of that
were the railways.

Mitchell: Emperor menelik
really wanted to put ethiopia

On the map with an impressive
engineering project,

And that was the railroad.

Narrator: Menelik's railroad

Would connect the ethiopian
capital, addis ababa,

And other major trading centers
to the red sea port of djibouti.

This provided a direct link
to the coast

Where goods could be exported.

Narrator: This site is
the remains

Of the dire dawa
railway terminus,

Once pivotal to
emperor menelik's

Ethio-djibouti railway,
but whoever built this place

Left behind a distinctly
european feel.

67-year-old basha ali omer

Has worked here all his life.

He knows how to decode the
mysteries of this junkyard site.

His ability to speak french
provides the first clue.

[ speaking native language ]

Interpreter: Once we'd learned
that language,

We could come here
and get a job.

We could work here then.

Because everything the company
did was done in french.

♪

So here we have
the accounting office...

Case office...

And an inspector bureau.

All of these
are written in french.

Narrator: Back when menelik ii

Conceived
the ethio-djibouti railway,

European powers vied
for control of africa,

Menelik had just seen off
an italian-attempted invasion,

So decided to grant
the concession

To build his railroad
to the french.

The french came in
to set up ethiopia's railways,

And in 1897,
they made a great start.

The terminus at dire dawa
opened in 1984

And the city began to grow.

[ speaking native language ]

Interpreter: Dire dawa was
founded because of this railway.

Which carried both freight
and passengers through here.

They transported commodities
like cereals from addis ababa

And delivered them to dire dawa.

Then it went back to djibouti

And transported goods back
to the port.

Mitchell: Dire dawa had been
a backwater.

What the railroad does is
it transforms it

Into a hub that goods
and people are going through.

Barratt: What we see here
has been repeated

All across the world.

You get a small village,
but in the right place,

And you put a railway
through it,

And suddenly, that village
becomes bigger and bigger

Until you got a bustling town
supporting not only the railway

But driving business,
driving the economy.

Narrator: When the line
was finally completed,

Four years after
menelik's death,

A once treacherous journey
of many weeks

Could now be made safely
in 36 hours.

Barratt: Took a while,
but by 1917,

Ethiopia had a bustling,

Thriving railway network
ready to be exploited

By people and goods.

At its peak, nearly 4,000
passengers and 1,250 tons

Of cargo would pass through
this station every single day.

Bell: Racial segregation
that was commonplace

In many countries at the time
wasn't tolerated in ethiopia.

And so you had
europeans and africans

Sharing common areas
on the passenger train.

Hundreds of people,
black and white,

Traveling from here
every day all together.

♪

Narrator: Menelik's vision for
ethiopia was ahead of its time,

But the skeletons
in this train graveyard

Suggest that the emperor's plan
did not turn out as he dreamed.

♪

Narrator: Deep in
the heart of ethiopia

Lies the remains of
the dire dawa railroad station.

100 years ago,
it was a thriving transport hub.

So where did it all go wrong?

Barratt: World war ii truly
was a global war,

And ethiopia didn't escape.

The railway and the country were
overtaken by italian fascists,

And they used the railway
network to transport people,

Goods, and weapons,

Including tanks,
using the railway system.

Narrator: In 1941, ethiopia was
liberated by the allied forces,

But the railroad
still didn't revive.

The end of world war ii
triggered a global recession.

The railway line, in particular,
fell into disrepair,

It limped along,
but there was no reinvestment.

Bell: The railway suffered
another blow in 1977.

As somali troops
invaded ethiopia,

They took control of the railway
and dire dawa station.

They blew up large portions
of the railway,

Meaning operations
were again cut in half.

Narrator: To add to this,
in 1985,

A terrible accident
shook ethiopia.

Barratt: A train was crossing
a river

On a curved bridge and derailed,

And out of the 1,000 people
on board, 400 people died.

This is the worst rail accident
that africa has ever suffered,

And it's had a major effect
on the network.

Narrator: Today,
a brand-new line

Runs alongside the old railroad

And the station at dire dawa
is no longer needed.

♪

The ethio-djibouti railway
represents a national dream

Which may yet be revived.

Bell: Plans are now afoot

To reinvigorate
ethiopia's rail network,

Which the government hopes will
kick-start industrialization,

Transforming a poor
agricultural nation

Of nearly
a 100,000,000 people

Into a middle-income
country by 2025.

♪

Narrator: In eastern europe,
in the heart of lithuania

Lies a ring of ruins
that, at first sight,

Seems to make little sense.

♪

Somara: If you were to be
dropped into the middle

Of this space,
because of its vastness,

It wouldn't really make sense
as to what it actually is.

Auerbach: This is one
of those structures

That you get a better idea
from the air.

You can see angular shapes,

You can see
the outlines of buildings.

Narrator: On the ground,

A series of mysterious
features emerge.

Auerbach: It's overgrown,
there are plants everywhere,

And there are these concrete
mounds with large openings,

But it's not clear
where they lead to.

Corum: You see long tunnels,
many of them sloping

And going in
different directions.

You see something
of a dark interior maze.

Somara: It's thick, black,

And the smell
is kind of damp and mossy,

And it's actually
a really spooky place.

Narrator: Signs of
violent struggle

Linger ominously all around.

This place clearly suffered
from a major attack.

The sense of damage
and devastation is obvious.

Somara: There are holes
in the ceilings,

Holes in the walls,
and just debris everywhere.

Auerbach: When you find out
what really happened here,

It just sends a chill
down your spine.

♪

Narrator: The origins of this
vast ruin date

To a turbulent and bloody period
of european history.

What happened in this place
was very, very significant

And helped push the downfall
of a great empire.

Narrator: In the late 1800s,

The area where this site is
located was under russian rule.

As the end of the century
approached,

Tensions between europe's
superpowers were mounting,

And this borderland region
was the first to feel the heat.

Germany, which had always
been separated

Into smaller kingdoms
and states,

Finally unified in 1871 and, for
the first time in its history,

The russian empire now had
a single, powerful nation

On its western border.

Narrator: And when germany got
a new emperor in 1888,

He was no longer interested
in the old alliance with russia.

In anticipation of war,

The russians built this --
the fortress of kaunas.

The russian czar
likes fortifications,

So this idea of fortress cities
comes into being and russia

Will pour in a lot
of its military wealth.

Narrator: In 1882,
construction began.

Valdas rakutis is
a local historian

Fascinated by this structure's
gory past.

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This was the golden age
of fortress building.

This is really the last time
you see wide-scale,

Large-scale building
of fortresses.

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Auerbach: Basically,
all roads lead to the city.

You couldn't go around it.

But the most important thing
was that it was a rail nexus,

And rail
was the way to move troops

And supplies
in this period of warfare.

Narrator: Kaunas was so vital,

The russians didn't stop
at one fort -- they built nine.

Auerbach: You need to set up
your fortifications

So there's no safe approaches,

So that every direction

Is covered.

Corum: When they were built,

They were pretty much
state of the art,

But the state of the art
in the late 1890s

Was changing very rapidly.

Somara: Every couple of years,
this fortress had to be updated

Because, within that short
space of time,

Technology was progressing,
artillery was changing,

And the threats were becoming
more and more dangerous.

Auerbach: Pretty soon, new
weapons, airplanes, tanks --

They're gonna make fixed
fortifications largely obsolete.

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Narrator: And when the first
world war broke out

Across europe, the 20th
century's new weapons of war

Would put the imperious fort
to the test.

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Narrator:
In the first world war,

The bitter conflict between two
of europe's great superpowers

Was focused on the lithuanian
fortress town of kaunas.

The germans put all their might
behind conquering

The coveted fortress.

Corum: The germans poured
reinforcements into

The northern part
of their flank,

And they moved down,
and by August of 1915,

They're now at the gates
of kaunas.

Auerbach: For 10 days,
hell rained down

On forts 1, 2, and 3.

But fort 4 was supposed
to be the toughest,

Really the hardest nut to crack,

And the russians were hoping
the germans would focus

Their efforts there,
but they didn't.

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Narrator: With
the german army bearing down

And supported
by superior weaponry,

The weaker sections of the
fortress didn't stand a chance.

Auerbach: The most terrifying
of these new weapons

Was an artillery piece
called "big bertha."

And it fired a 17-inch artillery
shell -- 17 inches!

It was the largest artillery
piece ever built.

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Somara: Once that breach
was made,

The germans flooded into
the city and then took over.

What is absolutely incredible

Is that all those years
of planning and construction

Was not able to withstand a few
days of concentrated attack.

Narrator: The germans held
much of lithuania

Until the war's bitter
conclusion.

But even after german
withdrawal,

The suffering didn't end.

Auerbach: When they left,
there was a power vacuum,

And you had to have
three civil wars

As lithuania finally established
itself as a separate nation.

But as much as there
was violence and horror there,

The darkest days of the fortress
were yet to come.

Narrator: As hitler's nazi war
machine trampled its enemies,

This site bore witness
to unspeakable horrors.

Auerbach: The forts are
a perfect location

For the perpetration of the
worst of the german war crimes,

Particularly those
against civilians.

They're out of the way.
They're hidden.

Somara: And that's exactly
what made it, sadly,

An ideal place
for mass execution.

Narrator: And lithuania's
jewish population

Suffered the greatest cruelty.

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Narrator: In a single day,
over 1,800 jews were shot here.

Tragically, this genocide

Was echoed in the other
forts around kaunas.

Auerbach: Fort number 9
saw the worst

Of these crimes against
humanity.

Tens of thousands were murdered
in and around the fort.

Narrator: As the end of the war
drew closer, for one final time,

The forts would be used
for their intended purpose.

Here, the nazis attempted
to make a last stand

Against the advancing forces
of stalin's russia.

Corum: These forts were useless

Against
a massive soviet tank force,

And in fact, these fortresses
that held out

For 11 days in world war I
fell in 45 minutes.

Auerbach: And then the germans
are driven out,

But lithuania isn't going
to find the independence

It struggled so hard
to achieve before the war.

Instead, they're going to be
facing a new occupation,

That of the soviets,

And that's gonna last
for another half century.

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Narrator: In 1990,
after the iron curtain fell,

Lithuania finally became
an independent nation.

Now the abandoned forts serve
as a reminder

Of this resilient nation's
tumultuous past.

What can we find
on this site today

Besides the remnants
of these fortifications?

We find a memorial
to all the lives

That were lost there
under the german occupation.

♪