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Adolf Island (2019)
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Narrator: Over 70 years ago The world discovered the horrors of the nazi holocaust. Today, forensic investigator caroline sturdy colls Is chasing clues to a new and unsolved nazi case. It's an untold story of world war ii. But her investigation isn't set in hitler's occupied europe. It's in a nazi concentration camp On british soil. Caroline sturdy colls: Not only is this a story That's not been told, But it's one that people have deliberately tried to suppress. Narrator: A case investigated and left closed for 70 years. But is the official story the whole truth? Or was this camp far deadlier than anyone wants to admit? Sturdy colls: This is possibly the biggest murder case On british soil in the modern age. I've come here because finally I want to find out the truth. Narrator: It's the story of how This corner of churchill's britain became... Adolf island. Caroline sturdy colls is an expert In uncovering nazi war crimes. Her work at holocaust sites across europe Using non-invasive technology Is revolutionizing the way genocide is investigated. She's discovered previously unidentified mass graves And the hidden gas chambers at treblinka The nazis tried to destroy. Now she's investigating the little-known story Of a nazi camp on british soil, On a small island just 60 miles off the english coastline-- Alderney. Like many of her cases, This one begins at the united states holocaust museum. It has an archive of over 250 million documents Relating to all known holocaust locations. Caroline needs to discover what the records reveal About the holocaust and alderney. She's here to see dr. Robert ehrenreich, A director of academic studies at the museum. He and his team are gathering evidence That shows that the scale of the holocaust Is greater than most people imagine. Sturdy colls: So how many camps were there in europe? Robert ehrenreich: Well, initially when we first started Working on this encyclopedia of camps and ghettos, We thought there would only be about 5,000 to 7,000 camps. And a lot of these camps that are on our walls Were the ones that were very well known, That people knew about from the very beginning. But as we started doing research, We started to realize how many more camps there were, And now we're well over 40,000. So all the small sites were completely unknown. Sturdy colls: Mm-hmm, and I mean, to a certain extent That we're still learning so much more about those places. Alderney, for example, remains a mystery In terms of what we know about it. And there are many, many sites like that. And so, for me, it seems like, you know, a long road To get to the point where alderney would be recognized Amongst these kinds of names. Ehrenreich: Yes. Sturdy colls: And that just shows us how much We've got to learn about nazi persecution in europe. Narrator: 40,000 killing sites. It's a growing investigation, But in the vast system of records, There's almost nothing about alderney To add to caroline's search for evidence. The story of nazi persecution on british soil Has never been fully told. Now caroline must discover the real scale of the camp, How it worked, and who its victims were. Though they are british, The channel islands of jersey, guernsey, And the smaller island of alderney Lie just eight miles from France. And in may 1940, Hitler has almost all of europe in his grip. His next aim, the invasion of mainland britain, Is a daunting task. But one part of britain is vulnerable. And on the 28th of June The luftwaffe bomb jersey and guernsey, targeting harbors, Killing 44 civilians. The surrender is a national humiliation for britain. Reporter: The life of the island population proceeds orderly Under the protection of german weapons. Narrator: Nazi propaganda newsreels fully exploit images Of british police working for their new nazi superiors. But what hitler's propaganda machine doesn't show the world Is the brutal side of nazi occupation. Hitler plans to turn the islands Into a battleship of concrete and steel And use them to take command of the english channel. By June 1941, forced laborers Working for a nazi construction unit known as organization todt Are transported to alderney from camps in germany. Eventually the labor force rises to more than 4,000. Their job is to make alderney the first brick In a monumental defense system: The atlantic wall. Sturdy colls: When hitler issued the order To fortify the channel islands And make alderney an impregnable fortress, He ordered the construction Of bunkers, tunnels, fortifications. Narrator: Organization todt's forced laborers Do almost all of that work. Many are immigrants trapped in germany, petty criminals, And men the nazis consider unfit for the german army. They pour almost a million tons of reinforced concrete Into the channel islands. Sturdy colls: On alderney today you can see these structures, When you read the history books You read about the might of german engineering. But the construction of these fortifications Came at a huge cost, and that was the cost of human lives. Forced laborers from all over europe were sent here; Effectively they were slaves. They were made to build these structures, They lived in terrible conditions, confined to camps. They were beaten, they were tortured, They were fed very little, they had barely any clothing. Narrator: A british prisoner, 19-year-old gordon prigent, Is arrested on guernsey and transported to alderney. Working alongside the forced laborers, He witnesses the harsh realities of being a nazi prisoner. Gordon prigent: 12 o'clock, Two or three prisoners would come, And they all lined up, And you all had a ladle full of hot water, Cabbage leaf and one slice of bread. At 12:30, the whistle would go, and you'd go back to your work. Six o'clock, you March back to the camp, You queued up again, and you had another ladle full of hot water. In the nighttime, you suffered. You had pains in the stomach. You thought you were gonna die. There were some of the chaps died of starvation. Narrator: Today, the island of alderney Still lives with the legacy of nazi rule. Huge concrete structures scar the landscape. The remains of gun batteries and nazi watchtowers Loom over the island. These monuments of the nazi occupation are plain to see, But missing from the landscape today is the network of camps Built to house the forced laborers-- Borkum, norderney and helgoland, And the fourth and most sinister camp, sylt. Because records indicate That sylt was built and run by the ss, The architects of the holocaust, Little of the camp is left today. The ss order it razed, Destroying any documents and evidence of their crimes Before escaping the island. Sturdy colls: I know that there are traces here of the camp, So it's my primary objective to find those traces, Because finding those buildings, finding those fence lines Is all going to tell me about the people who were here. Narrator: Sylt was operated by a notorious unit Called the death's head. This ss group runs all the nazi concentration camps From auschwitz to belsen. In caroline's experience, their presence alone Points to what could be a major nazi crime scene Here on alderney. Sturdy colls: I know about ss concentration camps From all over europe. I know what went on in these places, I've read the testimonies of the survivors from this place. You know, I know what people experienced here. So looking around, although at the moment All we can see is vegetation, Hidden beneath this are the buildings In which people lived, worked, and in some cases, The landscape in which they died. Narrator: The ss camp above ground Was constructed with wood and was easy to destroy. Beneath the surface There's a maze of tunnels and sinister rooms Linking the ss compound with the prisoner barracks. [camera shutter clicks] But their true purpose remains a mystery. Sturdy colls: I'm now at the foot of the stairs Which leads up the camp laundry, And the small room ahead of me here Was also supposedly part of that laundry complex. What is really strange about this space, however, Is to the right of me there is a tunnel, And this tunnel led directly To the house of the camp commandant. This seems totally strange. Why would the commandant of a concentration camp, Who had actually built himself a luxurious villa With a great view, Why would he want to gain access through a clandestine route Up to the prisoner area of the camp? And likewise, why would he risk having prisoners Being able to access through this area as well Down to his house? Narrator: The ss became expert At stealing the possessions of prisoners sent to their camps. Hundreds of millions of reichsmarks were hidden away In the ss coffers. Sturdy colls: And there's been a lot of speculation About exactly why that might be. Why on earth would he have wanted access Or risk prisoners going in the opposite direction? So what we're going to do Is actually take hundreds and hundreds Of high-definition photographs which we'll stitch together, Then when we add to the data that we have above the ground, We're starting to build up A much more detailed picture of the camp. And add that to witness testimony, We're hoping that maybe we can finally find some answers About what some of these spaces were actually used for. Narrator: Caroline is not the first to look for evidence Of nazi crimes here. Eight days after hitler's death And after five years of occupation, The german forces surrender And the channel islands are liberated. Almost immediately british intelligence Sends a team to alderney To investigate rumors of war crimes. Evidence from survivors steers the investigators, Led by captain theodore pantcheff, To an area of wasteland called longis common. Here, 336 prisoners are discovered Buried in an area the nazis called the russian cemetery. Those 336 dead are the official death toll From the camps on alderney. But surviving prisoners claim That this is not the whole story. Sturdy colls: When british investigators First come to alderney after the liberation of the island, What they find here is evidence of terrible atrocities. They start to take witness testimonies from survivors And from german prisoners of war, And they find evidence of beatings, of hangings, Of torture, and rumors of mass graves on the island. Narrator: Caroline believes that there are unmarked graves On longis common. An aerial photograph taken in 1943 identified a trench That british investigators suspected to be a mass grave, But no official report was made. How many people really died on alderney? And where are their graves? Caroline has been investigating this story for many years, But this is her first chance to actually excavate on the island. They'll map the ss camp's buildings And try to locate any unmarked graves-- Or so she thinks, because not everyone on the island Wants the secrets buried by the ss revealed. Sturdy colls: So I've had an email From the states of alderney, Which is the local government here on the island, And many, many weeks ago I got permission to work at sylt From the private landowner. Narrator: The letter is a bombshell. Caroline is banned from excavating the ss camp at sylt. Sturdy colls: What this email essentially does, It stops our investigation And could in fact bring the whole project to an end. Narrator: June 1941. Hitler orders the channel island of alderney Turned into a fortress of concrete and steel. 4,000 forced laborers are transported to the island. Many die of starvation and brutality. 336 bodies are found in a nazi cemetery. But forensic investigator caroline sturdy colls Is convinced there are many more. She's on the trail of ss criminals And the camp they built here, But her investigation is blocked by the alderney government. Sturdy colls: This investigation has been The hardest of my career In terms of really fighting to get this story told. Narrator: Then, a former member of the alderney government Makes contact. Robert mcdowall recently stepped down from office, But curiously and unlike the current council members, He wants to talk. Sturdy colls: So, robert, I was very intrigued To receive your email. I know you were a member of the states of alderney. Robert mcdowall: Yes, a delightful four-year experience. Sturdy colls: Mm-hmm, and I would like, I really wanted to meet with you And talk to you a little bit about that, About the kind of, um, the reactions on the island To discussing the occupation period, Particularly the issue of the camps And the forced laborers that were sent here And what your experiences were as a states member In dealing with that as an issue. Mcdowall: Well, my experiences were that the older people, And I'll say those over 60, 65, Did not want to be reminded of that period. Although, in fact, none of them were here, None of them were here; they have no... No blame can attach to them. I'd say there's no rationality, I think, about the stance. Sturdy colls: I mean, do you think there's a political will To remember what happened during the occupation, Or is it too hot a political issue and that's why? Mcdowall: People don't want to go near it. I think, long term, They're making a rod for their own backs, Because the more and more that comes out about this, The more inquiries there will be. So this island will not look very good If it doesn't face up to the facts, Whatever they may turn out to be, As to what happened in the war and at the end of the war. Because the truth will always come out, And there'll just be more and more pressure piled on them. Narrator: But the local government aren't convinced. They're refusing to allow any excavation on the island. Caroline and her team leader kevin colls need to regroup. Sturdy colls: So, any ideas About what we're actually going to do now? We need a technique that's going to enable us To map the large landscapes. Kevin colls: Obviously the application of aerial technology Is something that we haven't really considered before, But I think we should, Because there's a great deal of evidence that you can gather From drones which photograph the sites from above. There's also the application of lidar, Which is a laser technology Which can be attached to drones these days, So it will pick up bits of evidence that's on the ground, Even if it's covered by vegetation. And I think that is gonna be such an important technique. I think we really need to push quite hard To get that up and running. Narrator: To overcome the restrictions, Caroline calls in a special team to survey the camp using drones. But it will take a day for them to arrive. Today, little of the original ss concentration camp Known as sylt is visible. The ss camp is on private land, And the team can enter, but under heavy restrictions And the strict supervision imposed by the local government. Colls: Ok, so we arrived at lager sylt. We're going to spend the day doing our investigation. We are being monitored today By martin from the states of alderney works department. Hi, martin. So martin is going to monitor the work that we do To make sure that we adhere to the rules That we've been set for our investigation this year. So we're not going to be allowed To do everything that we wanted to do. So we've already come up with a number of solutions To what we can do to make this work. We can investigate some of the visible remains That we've identified in previous years, To can record them to document them, And we can obviously look around the site For new pieces of evidence that we haven't seen yet, But we're not allowed to move it. So there's no ground disturbance. Objects are not to be picked up, but they can be photographed. And we have to stick to these rules very carefully, Because that's what we have been told that we have to do. Narrator: The team will record the camp gates And the few features that do survive. But the rest is hidden somewhere beneath the dense vegetation. The first clue to what sylt might have looked like Comes from a royal air force reconnaissance photo. The raf set out to photograph the alderney airport, But they also recorded a new feature close to the runway. From the air, it looks like any other barracks. In fact, it is the first glimpse of the agents of the holocaust In britain. Sturdy colls: Standing here for me now Is a real mixture of feelings. One is frustration because what I really want to do Is do the work that we came here to do, To do the investigation And try and find the traces at micro level. But to be honest, the predominant feeling Is one of trying to imagine what it must have been like For the people who were here, just how bleak it is. Narrator: In 1943, 1,000 prisoners arrived at ss sylt From the sachsenhausen concentration camp in germany. In their thin-striped uniforms, They joined forced laborers already on the island, Working for a nazi construction unit Called organization todt. But unlike the organization todt workers, The new prisoners at sylt were under the control Of the brutal and murderous ss. Allied investigators entering the concentration camps At the end of the war Immediately discover how the ss used starvation as a weapon. Sturdy colls: As a forensic investigator, I am always trying to find out what happened here, So when we are searching this landscape, When we're looking for buildings, We're not just looking for structures; We're looking for the places where people experienced things That ultimately often meant the difference Between life and death. And this area here was the camp kitchen, And so this is where food was stored, And food was prepared. Literally in this camp, Food meant the difference between life and death, Because people were being forced to work terribly long hours, And for them, getting enough nutrition Was the only thing that could help them survive, And in many cases they were simply unable to do that. And the reason for that was because Essentially the ss guards were stealing their food. These were guards who had adequate rations All to themselves, Yet they felt the need to steal the food of the prisoners, To sell it in the ss shop, and then to make a profit. Narrator: It became so bad that maximilian list, The camp commandant, Was arrested and tried by an ss court For black marketeering. Sturdy colls: The prisoners were in An absolutely impossible situation. Not only did this lack of food make them hungry, It made them weak. It made them absolutely obsessed with the idea of food. And so that led many of them To then have to roam around the island Trying to steal food, trying to gather limpets from the beach, And this was one of the crimes that was the most punishable. And so in just trying to do one of the most basic things, In trying to eat in order to survive, They were beaten, they were tortured, they were shot. Within a matter of weeks many of those men were dead. And those that weren't were severely malnourished. For many people, their chances of survival ended Almost immediately as soon as they arrived here on alderney. [seagull squawking] Narrator: The next day, the lidar team arrives on alderney. Ben bishop: Good to be here. Colls: Glad to see you, anyway. Sturdy colls: We're definitely glad to see you. Bishop: We made it. Colls: Also glad to see that box of kit you've got there. Bishop: I thought it was going to go over at some point. Sturdy colls: Oh, no. Narrator: Until very recently this lidar technology Could only be mounted onto an airplane. But the latest miniaturized versions Can be carried on powerful drones. Sturdy colls: This data's really got the potential To scan a huge area, bigger than we could ever cover ourselves, And hopefully it's going to identify buried structures That are visible as subtle depressions from the air, So really excited to get on with the work. Narrator: The drone team wastes little time And heads straight to sylt to set up. [beeping] Once in the air, They record the site using two different techniques: Photogrammetry, which stitches tens of thousands Of aerial photos together; And lidar, that uses lasers to pierce through the undergrowth And create a pinpoint-accurate digital map of the camp. The nazis destroyed sylt and burned its documents, But forensic investigators believe that every crime Leaves a trace. Sturdy colls: So, ben, I've got really high hopes For this technology, Firstly because we've used lidar Elsewhere at other camps in europe, And it's been amazing in that we've managed to identify Unmarked graves and camp structures. But secondly, because I know That this is absolutely cutting-edge technology, Particularly being mounted onto a uav, And there's hardly anybody else doing this kind of work. [drone humming] Narrator: For the next three hours, The drones collect billions of data samples. By day's end, they have created An unprecedented inventory of images. Up to now, all caroline has seen of sylt Is the raf reconnaissance photo. With her dig blocked, she is now pinning her hopes on the drones To finally uncover the evidence the ss tried to destroy. Sturdy colls: All right, then, guys, I'm really excited to see What you've managed to collect for us. Bishop: Should we start with photogrammetry? Sturdy colls: Yeah. Bishop: This is kind of the first data set That is produced. Sturdy colls: So, already, from looking at that, And I mean, obviously I've studied every inch Of these aerial photographs, So very quickly I can already see things on there That match up perfectly. With this, we're seeing this huge site. This would take us, you know, years and years and years To kind of visualize that even to a degree of that extent. Narrator: The photogrammetry measures and photographs The entire site, But it's the lidar, using billions of laser pulses, That will reveal what's left of the camp. Bishop: So I think it's a good place to start Would be with the raw lidar data. Colls: Ok. Bishop: What you can see here is the existing runway, And then down here you can start to see where the camp is. Sturdy colls: Yeah, and already those building foundations, They're very visible there. Colls: It's amazing, that. Sturdy colls: Yeah. With the vegetation removed, You can see them really well. Narrator: The evidence that the nazis wanted buried forever Is emerging. Colls: No one has seen this for decades, So it's really truly amazing that we've got these images. Narrator: Using the lidar data, Which creates a contoured map of the area, And the 1943 raf reconnaissance photograph, Caroline can finally reconstruct sylt. The only ss camp on british soil is revealed. The ss area guarded the entrance to the prisoner compound, With barracks, a canteen, and the ss orderly room. The prisoner compound was surrounded By a high barbed wire fence. Four machine gun posts covered the entire compound. The prisoner quarters had similar features To other ss satellite camps. The roll call area was easy to survey. Prisoner barracks were Single story, simple wooden buildings. Prisoners are constantly watched by their brutal ss guards. When the gates closed, there was no escape. Sylt looks similar to other ss camps in europe, But could life as a prisoner here be as desperate As the infamous camps in germany? To find out, caroline needs to dig deeper Into the story of the nazi concentration camps, Starting with the place where the evil system began. Nazi prison camps begin with the rounding up Of hitler's opponents in the early 1930s. Almost 50,000 dissidents are arrested and held In temporary prisons by nazi paramilitary groups. As the number of prisoners grows, The ss seize control and impose a new order of terror. In 1933, dachau becomes the first ss concentration camp. Sturdy colls: To understand how alderney fits Into the bigger concentration camp system built by the ss, I need to come to dachau, to where it all began, Where the ss built the very first concentration camp. What would it have been like For the prisoners who were sent here? Narrator: Professor nikolas wachsmann Has written a definitive history Of the nazi concentration camps and their victims. Sturdy colls: So I came to dachau Because I wanted to understand How the ss concentration camp system evolved. How did we end up in a situation Where an ss camp was built on british soil? Nikolas wachsmann: It is in dachau where the ss In a sense invents the nazi concentration camp. It is here where they first work out, really, What a camp looks like and how a camp should operate And how prisoners should be treated. Narrator: The concentration camps Embody the spirit of nazism Like no other institution in the third reich. Dissidents and outsiders are removed from society And forced to work. [thud] Wachsmann: Take the first day where prisoners arrive here. This is a few weeks after the nazis come to power, And the regime starts to round up political opponents, Those who are deemed to be enemies of the state, And they basically try to find spaces Where they can take these people, And one of these sites is here in dachau. Narrator: In total, the ss establish 27 main camps And more than 1,000 satellite camps across occupied europe. 2.3 million men, women and children Are dragged to these camps. Over 1.7 million lose their lives. Sturdy colls: One of the reasons I came to dachau Was because I wanted to understand What daily life was like for prisoners In the ss concentration camp system, Whether those who were sent to alderney Experienced different things than those in other camps Elsewhere in nazi-occupied europe. Wachsmann: Well, some routines in these ss camps Are developed really early on. The ss tried to control every single moment In a prisoner's life. And that started right in the morning When prisoners were forced out of bed. They tried to throw their clothes on, Tried to grab some food if they could, But this was all done at great speed, Driven on by shouting corporals, Other prisoners in positions of power Who were also beating prisoners. After that, prisoners would have marched to work, Often outside the camp; Exhausting labor, Again accompanied by brutality and violence; And then exhausted at the end of the day, Fell back into their bunks here in the barracks. Sturdy colls: So when the prisoners are deemed To be expendable, when they've served their usefulness Or they're no longer fit to work, what happens to them then? Wachsmann: Well, sometimes the ss kills them In the camp itself. There are certain barracks which are sometimes reserved For prisoners who are dying or close to death. And they're basically left to starve Or die of illnesses there. What also happens during the war, In particular in satellite camps, Is that many of these prisoners are then transported Back to the main camps. In the case of, you know, a camp like alderney, It wouldn't have been uncommon for prisoners to be transported Back to the main camp, And then quite often they are left to die there Or are murdered in these camps. Narrator: Alderney was a satellite of neuengamme, A vast camp near hamburg in northern germany. This is where caroline's investigation takes her next. Sturdy colls: I know there were people That were sent to alderney about whom we have no records. We don't know their fate, whether they left the island, Whether they remained there, whether they were buried there. And neuengamme was the administrative center, The main camp that governed the subcamp on alderney. Therefore, that is where the records are. I hope by going there I'm going to finally be able to find out What happened to the people who were sent to the island, To find out whether they were buried there, Whether they died there, And just how many people That ss concentration network involved. Narrator: In 1938, the ss purchases An abandoned brick factory on the outskirts of neuengamme And builds a model camp there. Nazi victories in russia expand the workforce. Many are transported on to camps like alderney. Prisoners are routinely beaten to death, Drowned, hanged, shot, or poisoned with gas. It's estimated that more than half Of the men and women taken to neuengamme Are killed there. In April 1945, as the allies approach, The ss guards stationed in neuengamme Are ordered to destroy all traces of their crimes And to burn their files. A few brave prisoners manage to hide several death registers. Caroline is seeing many of these documents for the first time. Much of this evidence can only be found here. Caroline needs to mine the hospital records, The camp admissions, the death registries. They could provide clues to the true death toll on alderney. Sturdy colls: So here in front of me I have a report that was written By the camp commandant, maximilian list, In the early days of sylt's operation As an ss concentration camp. In this report he mentions that He sends back a group of prisoners Because they've become so manic with tuberculosis That when asked, some said that they would rather die Than to continue to work on the island. Narrator: The satellite camps could return their dead To the main camps for cremation, But more often, the ss transported sick prisoners And executed them on arrival. Sturdy colls: So I now need to find the documentation Here at neuengamme in the hospital records, The camp admission records, The death registries in some cases, To find out whether those prisoners Really did have tuberculosis Or whether they were simply sent back here to be killed. Narrator: The answers could lie here, deep in the camp records. Sturdy colls: So I've just found a record here In the prisoner database at neuengamme For a prisoner called wladimir sajac, And he was a russian prisoner. Cause of death is actually listed as having been shot Whilst trying to escape. I've already put his name into the database Of marked graves on alderney, And his name does not appear. Now, the reason that that is incredibly significant Is that he does not appear on any of the registers For the marked burials on alderney. So as far as I've been able to discover so far, He has no known grave. Narrator: Caroline is finding more and more names Like wladimir sajac, Evidence that points to mass graves on alderney. Sturdy colls: The official history Of the occupation of alderney would have us believe That people were sent to the island and that they died there, That they were buried in an ordered cemetery, That death certificates were created for them. However, the source material that I'm coming across Time and time again in archives Is showing that there are people who were sent to the island Who died there and who have no known grave. And coming here to neuengamme, seeing those death registers, Finding out the names of those people, It's their graves on alderney that I now need to find. Narrator: For four years, The nazis rule over the channel islands. The 1944 d-day landings in France Offer hope of liberation for the people of europe. But for the thousands of prisoners held on alderney, An allied invasion is a death sentence. Prigent: If you weren't in this tunnel by two minutes, You were shot on sight. Narrator: 1944. The allied push across northern France Cuts alderney off. The fortress of concrete and steel is becoming a trap. But hitler insists there will be no surrender for adolf island... And no witnesses to their crimes. A chilling letter sent to maximilian list, The commandant at the ss-run camp sylt, Reveals a sinister plan. Sturdy colls: "dear list, you have been placed As leader of ss baubrigade 1 on the island of alderney. Do everything to train your men. Should there be an attack And the prisoners show the slightest inclination To make trouble, shoot the guilty. Should there still be unrest, You have to shoot all of the prisoners Without a moment's hesitation." This is a letter signed by the leader of the ss, Heinrich himmler. This clearly shows that the head of sylt, Maximilian list, had direct authority From the head of the ss to kill the prisoners Should there be any sign of unrest on the island. Narrator: If alderney is invaded, The ss must have a means of killing thousands of prisoners, And quickly. But how would they do it? And where? Sturdy colls: Looking at witness testimonies, What becomes apparent, Particularly as the war progresses, Is that the nazis didn't want to leave behind any witnesses To what happened here on alderney. Narrator: Gordon prigent, the 19-year-old british prisoner Taken to alderney, experiences the murderous ss plan. Prigent: Each camp had its, what we call tunnel of death, And they'd seal the back end of it, Then the front end was open, Then there was a machine gun post at the entrance. If there'd have been any landings By the americans and the british, There'd be alarm. If you weren't in this tunnel by two minutes, You were shot on sight. That's why it's been named the tunnel of death. The germans didn't want any of us to be alive If there'd have been any landings on the island. Narrator: By the time the island is liberated in 1945, The ss camp at sylt has been destroyed. The 336 graves in the russian cemetery Are the only hard evidence of nazi murder on alderney. An raf aerial image suggests that the cemetery area Might be more than it appears. Sturdy colls: When british investigators came to alderney After liberation, One of the areas that they focused their attention on Was here on longis common. And that was because there was a graveyard here Where some of the forced laborers who died on the island Were reportedly buried. Narrator: The bodies in the cemetery Were moved in the 1960s, And the land was returned to public use. Sturdy colls: So this area has been deemed To have been cleared, And very little further attention Has been paid to this location. However, I believe, from the testimonies And the records that I've read, That there is a distinct possibility That this was just a show graveyard, That in fact many of the bodies of the forced laborers Who died on the island have not been found, And there is a distinct possibility That some of them exist here outside the cemetery boundary. Narrator: In 1945, investigators question otto taubert, A driver who worked for organization todt. He describes seeing emaciated bodies Piled up close to the cemetery And a coffin with a sliding bottom, Which raises suspicions That it had been used for multiple burials. Despite continued opposition from the alderney government, Caroline is determined to find the missing graves... Not by digging, but by scanning. Sturdy colls: What we're not allowed to do here Is excavate and disturb the ground in any way. So that's why our methods, our non-invasive methods, Are so important. So you're capturing the above ground, And we're then looking beneath the ground With the ground-penetrating radar And documenting what's going on there. There's also on the aerial photographs Very, very clear disturbances Around the periphery of the cemetery. Some of them look like They could potentially be mass graves. Narrator: For the first time in this investigation, Caroline can combine the highly effective lidar With ground-penetrating radar data, Creating a 3d map of the nazi cemetery, Above and below the ground. [drone humming] This is a critical moment in caroline's investigation. She has never been this close to discovering the missing bodies That she believes are hidden here. But the closer she appears to get to the truth, The more hostile the locals become. Sturdy colls: So this is an article that's just appeared In the alderney press: "dear editor, we seem to be getting people Who are continually trying to change our history. They want to encourage all ghouls, weirdos And anybody with twisted minds to come to alderney To see and worship the wonderful nazi achievements So that they can probe with modern gear, Excavate slave labor camps, and fly their little spy planes. Well, not if I can help it. There will be no permission given to access my property, And if they fly their spy planes in my air space, The irritated states member Won't be the only one shooting them down." I have never, in my entire professional career, Experienced anything like I have experienced on alderney, All because they want to forget the memory of people Who were brutalized and murdered on this island. There are no words to describe how angry And absolutely horrified I am at the character of those people Who can be so dismissive of those people's experiences. Narrator: With little time left on the island, Caroline has to plan her next move. If the data's positive, She'll challenge the alderney government And make her case for a future dig at the gravesites. [email chime] But a government email delivers a final blow To the investigation. Colls: So what are they saying we can actually do? Sturdy colls: Essentially, not a great deal. Nothing more than tourists could do, essentially. We can walk around the sites. We can take photographs, but we can't fly the drone, We can't use any of our equipment, We can't do any excavation. Essentially we can't do any archaeology, With the exception of observations That we can make on the surface, Because that's what we're trained to do. But we can't do the work that we came here to do. Colls: So if that's not blocking research, I don't know what is. Sturdy colls: Yeah, well, essentially everything That we have asked to do is now being prevented. For me, all that's being discussed here Is the sensitivities now. It's not being discussed that what we're talking about here Is people who came to alderney, experienced terrible things, And died here, and we don't know what happened to many of them. That's just seen as too sensitive, And because people don't want to talk about it, We're not allowed to talk about it. We're not allowed to survey. But what about people who survived Who want this to happen? What about the people who died who can't speak for themselves? Narrator: Local opposition is building, But the drones have collected their data, And the ground-penetrating radar that identifies burial sites Is complete. If they push the archaeology any further, They could face arrest. Sturdy colls: My time here on alderney has come to an end, And despite the difficulties we've faced this week, I am absolutely confident that we've collected enough data To move on with telling alderney's story. But in order to do that, I need to go home, I need to process the data, And then I need to carry on with my investigation. Narrator: Nazi mass murder on british soil, Missing bodies, and possible mass graves. What caroline discovers next could rewrite history. Caroline sturdy colls is a world leader In the forensic investigation of nazi crime scenes. She's developed techniques and technologies To find unmarked burial sites And to expose the ss killing machine. For many years, caroline has been in search Of a lost ss camp on alderney. Witnesses and survivors claimed that thousands died here, But only 336 bodies were found. At staffordshire university, caroline is about to discover Whether her suspicions are right. Does longis common hide a chilling secret? Sturdy colls: I've spent quite a lot of time now Going through the data, And the results are, quite honestly, incredible. What I've managed to come up with Is a really, really detailed picture Of what the cemetery on longis common Looked like at the time, and most importantly, Demonstrate what survives there today. So firstly I'm looking at the photogrammetry data, Which clearly shows the layout of the cemetery, The known graves and the boundaries. And similarly, the lidar data is showing me The traces of those graves. What is really remarkable, though, Is when I overlay the aerial photograph, I can see three areas that are really of interest. The first is on the eastern side of the cemetery Within the boundary itself, And this area, very clearly there are individual graves, But there are also what appears to be A larger area of disturbance That could be a potential mass grave. The next area is to the north. Again, a large area of disturbance And also to the west. As I move into my ground-penetrating radar data, This enables me to map in more detail, To go to a greater depth, And again in all three of those key areas Where the aerial photographs indicate That there was disturbance, I can see that same disturbance In my geophysical survey results. Narrator: Similar data has led caroline to the discovery Of mass graves in the treblinka death camp. Sturdy colls: Well, essentially what that means is I've identified features here That have the characteristics of unmarked burials. Narrator: Caroline's team has uncovered a new crime scene. The data results within the nazi cemetery Confirm the presence of the mass grave Witnesses reported in 1945 But that was never investigated, And now two new and unexcavated burial sites That increase the original known nazi cemetery By more than a half. The lidar and ground-penetrating radar has identified What could be a hidden landscape of mass graves. This evidence is the first step Towards confirming the claims by survivors That more than a thousand people Had been murdered and were buried on alderney. Sturdy colls: For the first time in 70 years It's been possible to prove That there are unmarked mass graves And individual burial sites on alderney That have never been documented. This shows new evidence of nazi crimes, And it demonstrates how little we actually have known Up to this point About what happened on alderney during the occupation. Narrator: With new evidence, Caroline heads back to washington, dc. Her investigation into what happened on alderney Means that the victims of the crimes Perpetrated by the nazis there Could finally have a place in the narrative of the holocaust. Ehrenreich: We know about auschwitz, We know about bergen-belsen, we know about the big camps And the ones that everybody thinks of, The ones that have become iconic in terms of the holocaust. So it's important for us to find out more About these small camps. And one of the things that we really try to do here Is bring back people's identities, Humanize them, that they're not just numbers, But that they're actual people who had lives. And so it's also very important for a site like alderney To know where the people came from, Who they were, what happened to them, Not just to memorialize them, but also for their families. Narrator: After more than 70 years, This crime, committed by the nazis, Made secret by the british, is finally being revealed. Sturdy colls: This investigation about what happened on alderney Has been incredibly difficult. However, we've identified new burial sites, We've understood more about the architecture of the camps, And crucially, we've found out more about the people Who were sent to the island who couldn't speak for themselves. So, in that sense, I think this has been a huge success, And I really hope that this is just going to lead To more and more research So we can continue to find out what happened on adolf island. |
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