Spiegel TV - The Reich Underground The Hidden Worlds of the Nazis (2004) Part 1

Nazi Germany still holds many secrets, but one of them is about to be uncovered by this fascinating documentary. Deep beneath the earth's surface, the Third Reich built a labyrinth of tunnels to hide and build many of their most notorious weapons. This is a rare look into yet another dark aspect of the Nazi war machine. It was one of the most massive construction projects ever attempted by humankind. Late in World War II, the Nazis launched a bold plan to shelter armaments factories from the constant hail of allied bombs. All important manufacturing facilities would be re-located in underground labyrinths of protective caves. Today, after the victorious American Army sealed them off many of the half-built facilities have been long-forgotten. A small fortune was spent to seal them up, making them inaccessible to trespassers and intruders. With previously unreleased film material and exclusive interviews, the fascinating and dramatic story of the Underground Reich is reconstructed when the Nazis leaders still hoped that the miracle weapons they produced would bring Germany final victory. After securing special permission, a team of highly qualified experts explore the sprawling tunnel systems, finding their way into manmade caverns unseen for decades. In 2004, director Michael Kloft (The Goebbels Experiment) and historian Michael Foedrowitz accompanied government historians and surveyors as they inspected various underground tunnels, bunkers, and silos built by the Nazis between 1940 and 1945. Some, mainly in Germany and occupied Poland, were built as shelters to house high-ranking Nazi officials like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Martin Bormann. Others, in the northern coast of occupied France, were constructed by Armaments Minister Albert Speer to serve as massive missile silos to launch V2 rocket attacks against London and, eventually, the United States. Interviews with surviving slave laborers and SS officials tell the story of how and why these tunnels were built. The film also documents the horrors faced by forced laborers, compelled to construct the tunnel system under the most inhuman conditions. Tens of thousands gave their lives to realize the Nazis crazed project. Sixty years later, the two-part series provides a fascinating glimpse into awesome worlds beneath the earth that still exist in Germany, France, Poland and Norway.

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