All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S06E04.Hell.on.Blood.Island.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.en

Narrator:
A grand yet battered mansion

That paints
a confusing picture...

Inside, it's like
stepping into another world.

Above, you have what's clearly
a medical facility,

But down below, it really
feels more like a prison.

Narrator: ...A mighty, rusting
complex that found itself

At the heart of a revolution.

It's like you're being
shrunk down

And put into the inside of a car
because you're just surrounded

By towering pipes
and chimneys and chambers.

♪

Narrator: ...And a mediterranean
island with a vast,

Crumbling infrastructure
and mysterious past life.

This is a full-on ghost town,

Or probably more accurately,
ghost island.

♪

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

♪

In the south
of the united kingdom

On the shore
of the english channel

Sits an imposing site
with a bloody past.

♪

Selwood: Looking at the style
of the architecture,

It's clearly
several hundred years old,

And from the scale, a vast
amount of money went into this.

The main building is incredibly
impressive from the front,

But as you come around the back,
it's complete destruction.

Narrator: Upon entering, that
tale of contrasts continues.

Upstairs, you have what's
clearly a medical facility,

But down below, it really
feels more like a prison.

The windows are barred.
The ceilings are low.

Bell: Some rooms, covered
in filth, smashed old equipment,

Areas barricaded off --
total destruction.

This is a place that constricts
and suffocates the soul.

What happened here at the end
just isn't clear.

Narrator: So, who was
locked inside those dark rooms,

And how would this old facility

End up playing a vital role
in the second world war?

♪

Beyond the wall in the
southwest corner of the grounds

Is an empty area of grassland.

On the surface,
it reveals little,

But it, in fact, holds a clue to
the deadly nature of the site.

Eric birbeck, a local historian,

Has spent years researching
the story of this place.

Beneath my feet,
there lies thousands of bodies.

It is said that there's
over 20,000 bodies here.

Narrator: An archaeological dig
at this site in 2005

Revealed gruesome details
of the burial practices

Here centuries ago.

Nusbacher: We can see
that some of them lost limbs.

Some of them were twisted
by disease, by syphilis,

And some of these people died
in ways we can only imagine.

The factor is that
they're not just one level,

They're buried on top
of each other.

We actually found a series
of coffins

Where there were five bodies
virtually collapsed

On top of each other.

Narrator: This mass
of human remains holds the key

To understanding
what these buildings were.

Buried here were all sorts --
women and children,

Even a number of russian bodies,
and that tells you something,

But the real clue
is that the vast majority

Of this mass of bodies
were british serviceman.

Narrator: This is
the royal hospital haslar,

A naval facility
completed in 1762.

Bell: When it was built,
it was absolutely enormous,

The largest brick building
anywhere in europe,

And that scale gives you
an idea of the desperate need

For something
like this at the time.

Almost everything in the royal
navy was powered by humans.

If people were needed
to power the fleet,

Then there had to be
a place to fix people

When they were broken
or when they were sick.

Narrator: But all around the
site are features that suggest

This wasn't an ordinary hospital
for ordinary patients.

It's the kind of place
that feels like

It's a very good
defensive position,

But, actually, that also
makes it incredibly useful

For keeping people in.

There's water on three sides,

Which stops people
from leaving it.

There are also watchtowers
all around it.

The royal navy was filled with
people who were conscripted,

And it wasn't a draft

That brought them
into the royal navy.

It was five guys and some
sticks, who would go out,

Hit them over the head, and drag
them onto his majesty's ships.

Narrator: Known as being
press-ganged into service,

For those wishing to flee
this life at sea,

Their best opportunity
was found back on shore.

Bell:
Escape attempts were common.

They'd crawl through the sewers,
climb the fences,

Try and smuggle their way out.

Every possible exit
would've been tested out

By those desperate
to escape this place

And escape from the navy.

Narrator:
But for most new arrivals,

Escape was still
a distant thought.

Survival was the priority.

There's even
a very famous phrase

That is supposed to have
come from this place.

The way people
were brought in is

They were rowed up a creek
into the building,

And if they didn't
have a paddle

And they were the ones
who were being brought here,

They were clearly
in a bad way.

They were up the creek
without a paddle.

Narrator: Just a few decades
after the hospital opened,

The bloody battles
of the napoleonic wars,

Like trafalgar and waterloo,

Tested the royal navy
to its limits.

Injured sailors were no longer
arriving here

Slowly along the creek,

But in their droves
directly from the docks.

Birbeck: When passengers arrived
in great numbers,

They would be
brought into here,

And they would just
literally occupy

The space
on the stone flags.

They would be propped up
against the wall,

Some lying and, obviously,
some in great pain and groaning.

In fact, we have written
evidence of the fact

That on one day alone,

There was some 88 bodies
wanting burial,

As well as the casualties
who were here.

It must have been
absolutely bedlam.

♪

People were wounded
by cannonball

That could took off a leg.

They were wounded by huge
razor-sharp chunks of wood

Blown off the side of ships.

There was blood.

There was sick.

There were guts.

And it was all a harsh,
difficult place to be.

Narrator: At the time, there was
no triage system in place.

No matter the urgency
of your ailment,

This was a
first-come-first-serve facility.

And here we have the receiving
room, where, as a casualty,

You would be lifted off
the flagstones and brought in,

Assessed by the surgeon,
hospital mate.

Treatment here in those days
was quite brutal, actually --

Amputation,
treating major wounds,

Fractures and such like,
no anesthetic,

And not even a tot of rum.

Narrator: For those ending up
inside haslar,

Survival was
far from guaranteed.

For the next 100 years,

The sick and injured
continued to pour in,

Yet haslar was to go through
an extraordinary transformation.

What part would it play
in one of the most ambitious,

Top-secret campaigns
in history?

♪

Narrator:
During the second world war,

Staff at
the royal hospital haslar

Received a strange directive
from the powers that be --

Every patient must leave.

All of a sudden,
the wards became empty

And had a strange atmosphere.

Many of the staff report
about being almost sort of eerie

That there was no patients
on the wards,

And yet all the staff
were beginning to gather

For they did not know what.

Narrator: To add
to the unnerving atmosphere,

In portsmouth harbor
just outside,

Huge numbers of ships
and troops were amassing.

An event like no other
was about to take place.

This was part of the build-up
for the normandy landings,

D-day, operational overlord,

The most important military
mission of the second world war.

Narrator: On June 6th,
over 150,000 men landed

On the northern shores
of France.

Allied planners for d-day
expected 50%

Of the people who hit the beach
to be killed or wounded.

The ones who were wounded
would have to be pulled

Right back across the channel to
be looked after and patched up.

For those fortunate enough
to survive that day,

Many of them wound up passing
through the doors of haslar.

Thankfully, by that stage,
the medical standards

Were infinitely better than
when this place first opened.

This is the cellar area
that was designated

For use as operating theaters,

And there were
three tables here --

One here, one there,
and one there,

So that they could undertake
three operations

All at the same time and
therefore clear more casualties.

Narrator: A second operating
theater was set up nearby,

And staff worked around
the clock

In 8-hour shifts
in stifling conditions.

They were very fortunate
in having haslar

Because of its design and build
with secure cellars like this

That are very thick-walled.

They were safe,
and the factor is

That they could
undertake the work,

And the casualties were operated
on, treated, cared for,

And as soon as they showed signs
of recovery,

They were moved on
by ambulance train.

Narrator: In the aftermath,
letters of thanks poured in.

Selwood: Militaries need to look
after their people,

And this place was appreciated.

People wrote about it
in letters.

People were impressed at
the quality of the treatment

That they received at a time
when it really mattered to them.

The hospital continued
serving the navy

Right through the 20th century,

Including taking in casualties
from the falklands war.

Then in the '90s,
it opened its doors

To the injured of the rest
of the military, as well.

Narrator:
But most of what remains here,

Silently waiting in the halls,

Comes from
the site's final days

When it was in the care of the
uk's national health service.

In 2007, haslar hospital
was taken over by the nhs,

Ending 254 years
of continuous military service.

Just two years later,
it closed its doors for good.

♪

Narrator:
Today, the old hospital site is

Being redeveloped
into a residential area,

And those historic buildings are
at the center of this project.

I worked and served here
for over 55 years.

I have a great love
for this building,

Like many of my friends
and colleagues who worked here.

Haslar is still here.

It is haslar,
always will be haslar.

It may be in a new guise,

In the factor
of a new community.

I have every belief that haslar
will still be here

In 100, 150 years' time.

♪

Narrator: In the southern state
of alabama,

A collection of rusting ruins
stand in stark contrast

To birmingham's
modern cityscape.

♪

Mitchell: One thing that just
strikes you immediately,

The thing that hits the eye,
are these huge towers

That just sort of
come up out of the landscape.

As you move into the site,
you start to be covered

By all of the metalwork.

It's like a giant's set that
you're climbing into

And walking through.

Scott: It's a huge spider's web
of rusting metal.

You've got chimneys jutting up.

You've got pipes and flywheels,
your cogs, your hoists,

All kinds
of beautiful machinery,

And then you've got tunnels,
and you've got water towers.

You've got trains.
You've got your locomotives.

This place was seriously
on the industrial scale.

Narrator: Dissenting the complex
is a vast network of routeways.

When you sort of look down
from above,

You see this junction
for railways even today.

You can imagine,
this is a real key

As to what made
this place successful.

Narrator: This industrial site
signifies a pivotal moment

In history and the birthplace
of a revolution.

Fighting over this space
lays the groundwork

For the sort
of political mobilization

That came out of churches
and schools.

Scott: This impressive place
was basically reborn

Out of the ashes
of a brutal conflict,

And it comes to represent
the rebirth of a nation.

♪

Narrator: This commanding
complex dates to a time

When america was clawing itself
back from the horrors of war.

William t. Sherman,

A prominent union general
during the civil war,

Was a renowned
military strategist,

But he left utter carnage
in his wake

With his scorched-earth policy.

General sherman marches
through the south,

Destroying everything --
agricultural, buildings,

But also the rudiments
of industrial buildings

That are starting
to appear in the south.

♪

Narrator: With its fledging
industry totally crippled,

The southern states knew
they had to rebuild.

It would see the birth
of a new movement

With dramatic consequences.

♪

Narrator: Out of the ashes
of the american civil war,

A movement was born,

One that would rejuvenate
decimated states like alabama.

Historian tyler malugani
has spent years

Investigating how this complex
fit into that story.

So, basically, nothing was here
before the civil war

Or even during the civil war.

Birmingham didn't begin
until 1871,

And that's when
we see the growth

Of the new south movement

Bringing industry to the south
so the south never again

Would have to rely on
northern goods coming down.

We can make our own stuff
right here in birmingham.

Narrator:
The area around birmingham

Offered something
incredibly unique,

Perfect for making iron.

The location of this place
was just absolutely perfect

Because of just how cheaply
they could make the iron.

Within a 30-mile radius,

You could get
the three components

That you need to make iron.

You've got your iron ore,
your limestone, and your coal,

And it's one of the only
places in the world

Where you can find
all three so close together.

Narrator:
To exploit it, they first needed
a means of transportation.

Now, of course, we can make
all the iron in the world,

But if we couldn't transport
that iron, it was useless,

And that's why we're right
next to this railroad

That's behind me.

Without railroads, birmingham
never would've been possible.

It's the first industrial city
built in the united states

Not next to a body of water
just because of the railroads.

♪

Narrator:
Colonel james withers sloss,

Integral in bringing railroads
to the area,

Didn't stop there, and in 1882,
the sloss furnaces were born.

What we're on right now
is called a blast furnace.

This is really what we used
to make the iron.

This sloss furnace company
quickly became

One of the largest pig-iron
producing companies

In the world.

Narrator:
The process of making pig iron
is both dangerous and complex.

So, the cool thing
about this spot is

We can see a lot that goes into
actually making the iron.

It's a lot more than
just a blast furnace.

Narrator:
Huge towers created hot air

That was blasted
into the furnace

To bring the temperature up
to 3,800 degrees fahrenheit.

Malugani: Now, the water tower
is also really important.

Without water, we couldn't
cool the furnace

To help keep it
from melting down

And make the steam
to help power the site.

♪

Scott:
When in operation, this place
would've dominated the skyline.

You've got this iron
running off, and it is glowing,

It's so hot.

This entire network would be
glowing, and it doesn't stop.

It is going 24 hours a day,
7 days a week.

♪

Narrator:
To keep this powerhouse running

Required a huge amount of labor,

And one of the buildings
provides a clue

To the makeup of the workforce.

This building is
the old black bathhouse,

So this is where the black
workers would have to shower

After their shifts

Because, of course,
this is the middle of birmingham

Right in the middle
of segregation,

And sloss was no different.

Sloss could entice works,
black workers,

To work for very little pay
by providing housing,

By providing things
that supported communities --

Churches and other buildings,

Other community centers,
education.

And, so, it could do things that
could sort of pull people in

To work for them
for little pay,

Again, in a landscape
when there aren't many options.

Malugani: A lot of them were
either ex-slaves or children

Of ex-slaves
at the very beginning,

So being able to provide
an education for their children

Was a very, very big part
of why they came to live here

And why they came to work
at a site like this.

♪

Narrator: Over 70%
of the workforce was black,

Primarily based in
small cottages in a community

That became known
as the sloss quarters,

But like much of america
at that time,

Segregation
was heavily enforced.

The company operated
a strict hierarchy.

At the top was an all-white
group of managers,

Chemists, accountants,
and engineers.

At the bottom,
an all-black labor gang.

Mitchell: The segregation
that's happening at sloss

Is part of a larger fabric

In which so many things
are segregated,

And you don't necessarily
need signs.

They're segregated by custom.

Narrator: At sloss, this
played out by having to bathe

In separate bathhouses,
punch in separate time clocks

And attend separate
company picnics.

It wasn't just the workplace
that was segregated.

The whole city was divided,
and it was coming to a head.

Mitchell:
They had to police commissioner,

Eugene "bull" connor,
who was very, very repressive

And was brutal
in a city that had

A particularly rigid regime
of segregation,

That had a history
of violence so much so,

It was known as bomb-ingham.

Narrator:
The city was notorious

For its
discriminatory practices,

Yet policies employed
by companies like sloss

Were having
an unintentional effect.

Mitchell:
By providing schools, churches,

Houses that are proximate
to the facility,

That are spaces were
african-american people

Can commune, that's something
that is absolutely vital

For sort of building up
grassroots networks

And lays the groundwork for the
sort of political mobilization

That came out of churches
and schools.

Narrator: Finally, in 1963,
tensions reached boiling point.

Birmingham was about to become

The focus
of international attention.

♪

Narrator: The mighty sloss
furnaces overlooks

The city of birmingham,

Which in 1963
became global news.

Mitchell: Martin luther king
went to birmingham in part

Because segregation
was so rigid there,

And the city's regime

Was particularly virulent
against blacks.

So, king goes there
to draw attention,

To also to desegregate the city,

And it leads to
this children's crusade

Against segregation
and racism in the city

That brings in thousands
of children who March

And who are then seized upon
by dogs and water hoses

In a way that is
incredibly brutal,

That brings domestic
and international attention.

♪

Narrator: This episode
would help bring about

Desegregation in america,
and in theory, at least,

That impacted companies
just like sloss.

Malugani: Once the workforce
becomes desegregated,

Everyone has, at least on paper,
an equal opportunity.

African-americans now can apply
for higher-up positions,

Where before
they weren't allowed to.

So, desegregation was a big part

Of the history of sloss
in that sense.

Narrator:
In practice, however,

While mid-level roles
did open up,

Black workers were largely
restricted to helper roles,

And by the time
they made major breakthroughs

In employment discrimination
cases in the 1970s,

It was too late.

The era of massive plant
shutdowns had begun

And was already
costing them their jobs.

New environmental challenges
and a turn to plastics

Spelled the end
for this rusting beast in 1971.

♪

Today, the furnaces
lie abandoned,

Outdated and too dangerous
to be used.

But the towers still
stand overlooking birmingham,

A lasting legacy to the people
that helped build it.

I think the preservation
of sloss

Is important not only
as a record to the way in which

The south rebuilt itself
after the civil war,

But, also, it's a really
important part of a fabric

Of not only
civil-rights' history

But the history
of black workers in the south.

♪

Narrator: Floating
off the coast of albania

Sits a mysterious island.

Though tiny,
it has a colossal past.

♪

As you approach, it's
your typical mediterranean,

Adriatic island.

It's covered here and there
with pines and olive groves

And has nice little beaches
visible from a distance.

Meigs: As you get closer,
you start noticing

That the whole island is studded

By little concrete structures,
and it's not just one or two.

It's hundreds, maybe thousands.

But in amongst these
little pockets of concrete,

More serious and substantial
constructions emerge.

Narrator:
It's only once on the island

The true extent of
the complex becomes clear.

Old beds, discarded kitchen
utensils, abandoned schools.

Wawro: All in a real state
of ruin and decay,

And it makes you wonder

Was it just the passage of time
that did for these buildings,

Or were they destroyed in some
kind of a military conflict.

This all suggests a significant
population once lived here,

And they weren't just
passing through, either.

This is a full-on ghost town,

Or probably more accurately,
ghost island.

Narrator:
Delving into underground
tunnels, the mystery deepens.

Bell: Lying on the ground,
you come across these gas masks,

So it appears that might
have been preparing

For some kind of nuclear
or chemical attack.

And some of these gas masks
are tiny,

Like they were designed
for children.

Narrator:
So, what is this place, and who
were the islanders so afraid of?

♪

Meigs: When you look at a map,
you see why this island

Was so strategically important.

At the southern end
of the adriatic sea,

It narrows down
to a narrow strait

That's kind of a choke point
from which you can control

The shipping going in
and out of that area,

So whoever controlled
this island

Effectively controlled
the adriatic.

Albania has a really
interesting history.

It was only created in 1913,

And it was created
by diplomatic agreement

Because the great powers
couldn't decide

"does serbia get albania?

Does austria-hungary
get albania?

Do the turks keep albania?"

Nobody could agree,
so they said,

"we're going to create
this new country, albania."

Narrator: The problem was
the neighboring countries

Never really accepted albania
as an independent state.

So, the italians
begin encroaching

On this new state of albania

Already in 1914 in the outbreak
of world war I,

And they expand their presence
in albania during the war,

And then after the war,
in the interwar period,

They take over albania
all together.

Narrator:
Some of the original buildings

Still show
the italian influence,

But the occupation
by the italian fascists

Was just the beginning.

Out of the peace
that followed world war ii,

A new political force would
emerge and take over this,

Sazan island.

From a distance,
a mediterranean paradise,

Yet naim muho recalls a time
when living here

Was a serious responsibility.

[ speaking foreign language ]

Translator: At the time,
they called the island

"the guardian of war
and protector of the country."

They said that the island
was not only responsible

For protecting itself
with its inhabitants...

But to report to albania
the arrival of the enemy.

♪

Narrator:
But who were the enemy?

Who was the commander of this
island base expecting to invade?

♪

Narrator: Off the coast
of albania is sazan island,

Heavily engineered as the
country's front line of defense.

Meigs: After world war ii,

Albania was controlled
by a communist dictatorship

That was very friendly
to the soviet union.

The soviets poured enormous
military resources

Into this island.

They built a port
for servicing submarines.

They built this extensive
array of tunnels,

Thousands of bunkers,
and an airfield that --

You can almost say
they converted it

Into something like
a stationary aircraft carrier.

At the heart of the regime
was enver hoxha,

The albanian dictator.

And though he was
at first in alliance

With the communist superpowers,

He knew they could
turn tail on him

And take over the country
at any time.

Over time, albania asserted
more control over the island.

The russians left,
but the albania dictatorship

Was extremely paranoid.

Enver hoxha fears
american aggression,

Fears soviet aggression,

Fears chinese aggression,
as well,

And that paranoia
is rendered real

And palpable by all of these
pill boxes everywhere.

I mean, they are
all over this island.

Hoxha saw enemies
around every corner.

So, they saw this island
as their first line of defense

From any future invasion.

♪

Narrator: Despite this,
the island was home,

And commander muho has fond
memories of living here

With his wife and daughters,
at least for a time.

Translator:
This was an amazing villa.

It's a pity to see
it ruined now.

Here, I also hosted important
and powerful people,

Whom I respected
and who respected me.

I keep very beautiful memories
of my home.

Narrator: Over 3,000 soldiers
and their families

Lived on this island,
and with them came a community.

Translator: The building that
is in front of us

Was the home
of the former soldiers,

Where very beautiful, cultural,
and artistic activities

Were also carried out.

At the top, there is a cinema

That screened about
three films a week.

Narrator:
But the threat of attack

Was ever-present in their minds,

And the protection of its people
and weapons was paramount.

Translator: A marvelous work
of fortification

Of this strategic structure
was done.

All weapons, equipment
and material resources

Had to be hidden underground

So that in wartime,
everything was tunneled.

I'm talking about kindergartens,
schools, and the elderly,

Who took care
of children during the war.

This area you see now
was divided into rooms.

They were the dormitories,
the kitchen,

The canteen,
the warehouse, the classrooms.

There was everything.

Narrator:
Some believe, however,

These tunnels
had a darker purpose.

Meigs: There are also
allegations that it was used

As a location
to build chemical weapons.

Wawro: Chemical weapons being
the weapon of choice

For a regime
that's facing extinction.

It might use these weapons
to hold off

That final enemy offensive.

Narrator: While they prepared
for external threats,

It was domestic terror
that began to take over.

Hoxha, as so many dictators
before him had done,

Gradually became obsessed

Strictly with preserving
his own power

And knew that if he loosened
his grip at all,

The public would
rise up against him,

And he would
probably be killed.

This paranoia exploded
in the 1970s

When hoxha feared a coup
from within his government

And went on a mass killing
spree of the top ranks.

Bell:
You can still see the villa

Of the communist
defense minister,

But he was executed
as a traitor

By the evermore paranoid
dictator, enver hoxha, in 1974.

Narrator: As a close ally of the
assassinated defense minister,

Commander muho was
on shaky ground.

After the defense minister
was purged,

You can imagine
that anyone close to him,

Including the commander
of sazan,

Would be very
understandably paranoid

That they might be next.

Narrator: In 1985,
he found himself imprisoned

As an enemy
of the fatherland.

Yet it was only in 1989

That the commander
tasted freedom once again,

In time to see the collapse

Of the last communist state
in europe.

Much of the evident damage is
from recent training exercises

Involving british marines
and the albanian navy,

But the island is no longer
the preserve of military forces.

Sazan is a really fascinating
place for tourists to visit,

So they have opened up
the island to tours for people

Who want to see all of
this military history up close.

♪

Narrator: St. John,
the u.S. Virgin islands --

On the north coast
of this caribbean haven

Are the remains of structures
that speak of a different time.

♪

The beach is pristine.

It's a tropical paradise.

♪

But then you got farther inland,

And you get to this
overgrown jungle.

Almost hidden amongst
the palm fronds

And the vines
are a series of stone walls

With windows and doorways.

This isn't just
a palatial house.

This is something
far more complex.

Mitchell:
Given that there's this chimney
and there are channels,

You then start to wonder
if it's an industrial building.

Narrator: If this was once
a site of industry,

Is the large flat circle
of stone a clue

To what was made here?

Such an exact round shape
suggests a specific process,

But it's not clear
what that process is.

Narrator: A short distance away
near the water's edge,

Another ruin towers
over the landscape.

There's a huge stone building
that's on the mountainside,

And it doesn't seem
connected at all.

Both buildings are in the same
stone style

And with a specific design,
but it's not quite clear

What the linkage
between the two sites was.

So, what were these used for,
and is this damage a clue

As to why these buildings
have just been left

To crumble into the jungle?

♪

Narrator:
The history of this small island

Has its origins
in an era of exploration,

A time when european empires
were forged

In the blood of the conquered.

In the 17th century,

The caribbean
was being divided up

By european powers eager
to exploit its resources,

And this particular area
was settled by the danes.

Narrator: These danish explorers
encountered disease

And life-threatening
conditions.

There were hurricanes
and earthquakes.

There wasn't much freshwater
on the island.

Many lost their lives
upon arriving here,

But the risk
was deemed worth it.

Here, they could produce
a commodity

That was more valuable than gold
and as addictive as a drug.

This industry is not just
going to produce

A lot of wealth
for those who own it.

It is going to change the social
and economic fabric of the west.

Without the wealth generated
here in the caribbean,

The industrial revolution
would've been impossible.

Narrator:
Despite this wealth creation,

The industry that developed
on this islands

Had horrifying
repercussions for others,

As park ranger
ken wild has found

When analyzing these remains.

So, as you look into this
small space,

We think it's probably a place

Where they maybe
incarcerated somebody.

It's a dungeon.

Narrator:
Yet for some, this was home.

But who were the inhabitants
forced to live

In this veritable dungeon,
and why were they here?

So, the danes didn't have
any indigenous labor force,

And they couldn't convince
fellow danes to come over.

So, instead, they turned

To buying enslaved peoples
from africa.

You would have people
being not only subject

To an incredibly arduous,
long, cramped, deadly voyage

Across the atlantic,

But then they would be
in a situation

Where they would often work
18-to-20-hour days,

Especially during harvest.

Narrator: This is
the cinnamon bay plantation.

What was grown and processed
here was sugarcane.

The sugar industry
and the slave industry

Were intimately interlinked,

And you need a large labor force
to produce it economically.

Indeed, one of the reasons
why there's such a high level

Of export of enslaved labor
to the caribbean

Is that people die off.

It's deadly labor.

If have 4,000 enslaved people
on this island,

It must have been
just horrendous,

And because of the punishments
for any infraction

Were just so severe.

Auerbach: Sugar is a very
delicate process,

And you need to have workers
that are completely subsumed

To a heavy disciplinary system
so that you can get them doing

What you want them to do
at the time you want it done.

Narrator: The back-breaking
labor began in the dense,

Humid fields
of towering sugarcane.

Most people haven't wielded
a machete and tried to cut cane,

But it's one
of the most difficult

Agricultural tasks
you can imagine.

Narrator:
From here, it was transported

To the processing site above,

Where the circular structures
still visible today

Came into play.

So, we're standing on top
of the animal mill.

You've got your rollers here,

And, so, you have your animals
going around in a circle.

We find these round platforms
all over the island.

Bell: Four people were needed
to run the horse mill --

One drove the animals,

Two worked the rollers, feeding
the stalk back and forth,

And a fourth took away

The leftover sugarcane pulp
called bagasse.

Narrator:
This pulp was then turned into
highly lucrative brown sugar.

But trouble was brewing
on the tropical island.

♪

So, in easy terrible conditions,
we shouldn't be surprised

That the slaves started
to hatch plans for rebellion.

The danish west india company
only employed six soldiers

To watch over the entire island.

They were vastly outnumbered.

The revolt started on
one plantation, coral bay,

And then moved onto the fort.

This revolt was not only
long-lasting.

It was incredibly deadly
and destructive.

One-third of the white
inhabitants were perhaps killed,

And up to one-half of the
plantations were destroyed.

The danish just didn't have
the manpower to fight back.

Instead, they enlisted the help

Of french
and swiss colonialists.

The insurgents
held their ground,

Finding a guerilla-style war
that lasted for 10 weeks.

The last rebel
was finally captured

On the 23rd of August, 1734.

Narrator:
After the uprising was crushed,

Punishments and cruelty towards
the slaves only intensified,

Intended to serve
as a warning to others.

But the terror tactics,
in the end, didn't work.

The caribbean sugar industry
would be plagued

By rebellions right up
until the abolition of slavery

By the british empire of 1834.

Narrator:
With slavery outlawed

And increased competition
from mainland europe,

The sugar industry
rapidly declined.

Before long, the stone buildings
were abandoned.

For decades, the structures lay
at the mercy

Of the ever-encroaching jungle
until the american government

Purchased the island
from the danish

And preserved much of it
as a national park.

This site is
incredibly important.

It's one of the few sites
in the americas,

Especially something that's now
part of the united states,

Where we actually can go
to the site of a slave revolt,

One of the earliest,
one of the longest,

One of the largest.