ZDF - Forsaken Places (2020) Part 2 Soviet Shadows

Abandoned places with their numerous secrets have a certain attraction. It is precisely this attraction that forms the core of the four-part documentary series “Lost Places”. Historic places, forgotten, threatened and threatening at the same time. Made of steel, poured in concrete or blasted out of a mountain Yesterday's monuments from the great eras of history come alive again. These places are also full of personal stories told to us by contemporary witnesses. Up close and personal accounts of natural disasters, wars or global mega accidents that took a toll on those monuments and places — and the people around them as well. Built from steel, carved out of mountains, poured in concrete. Humanity has left its mark even in the most remote reaches of our planet. These are monuments of history, of industry, of humanity's hubris. What was once built at staggering cost now stands as a relic of its time orphaned, abandoned, forgotten. But these places are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, parts of a greater story, which we will bring back to life through the stories of the people who once lived and thrived at these places. Over four episodes, Lost Places explores twelve such relics. Each episode follows a theme, which connects the three abandoned sites explored within. At each site, we meet the people who built it, who worked and lived here. They tell us what these places were once like, while we explore them as they are today – and thus almost make them come alive again. To tie these abandoned places into greater history, and to better understand how they worked, we connect these stories with archive footage and animation. In four episodes, we visit twelve such “lost places” − military bases, prestigious buildings, tourist paradises and hospitals. And the people who used to live and work there help us discover these mysterious places. They guide us through an emotional and educational journey into their personal stories, which are always part of history as well. In four parts, we visit the shattered American dream, the dark sides of the Soviet Empire, the fall of the British Empire and the rise and fall of the Yugoslav Empire. Each part focuses on three places and their remains, inviting the viewer to a unique journey of discovery.

Part 2 Soviet Shadows

Three relics of a fallen empire, three monuments of a time when half the world lived under the shadow of the Hammer and Sickle. To this day you can find traces left by the Soviet Union wherever you go. We visit a secret bunker for nuclear missile heads somewhere in the middle of nowhere in East Germany, the nuclear power plant Chernobyl and the Beelitz-Heilstatten, a German Imperial-era hospital from the days of the German Kaiser that became a Soviet military hospital. Everywhere the filmmakers meet people whose life stories were written in these places - and hear from them how the fall of the Soviet Empire shaped their fate. Today only memories remain of the former empire - and some very special places that are slowly but surely decaying.

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