Ok: maybe I didn't realise we were in big trouble, not at once. But it stroke me that we were definitely into something BIG.
The two faces I recognized immediatly (as Johnny and Ed also did) were (are) both politicians, both Germans, with one difference between them: one is in power, the other in the opposition; one is center-right, the other is center-left. "Right wing, left wing" I remeber thinking quite foolishly "if we had an engine we could build an airplane". Ok, so it was something rather stupid to think at that moment but, honestly, that's what crossed my mind. They all stood up when we entered and the Swiss made the honors: "I suppose you recognize this lady and this gentleman" he meant the politicians "the next gentleman is Colonel Wolfgang-Albert, former officer of the GDR armed forces; the three gentlemen next to him are important businessman with interests in the matter at hand." Everybody nodded briefly, but nobody stretched their hands at us; I personally disliked it, but we were not there to make friends, so...
The Swiss carried on: "My name is Charles and I am into banking."
"Ah!" I tought "I should have guessed".
"My friends, these are the professionals we were waiting for" the man said addressing the others "but please, let's all be seated, shall we?" We all took our chairs, the three of us on one side of the table, the others on the opposite side.
"So, without further delay, I will ask Colonel Wolfgang-Albert to carry on from here. Colonel?"
The Colonel was a tall man, a bit yellowish, gray hair, with the unmistakable look of the professional military; he had been sizing us up quite openly since the moment we entered the room. He speaked in short bursts, with a heavy german accent.
"Thank you, Charles" he said, and the banker took a seat. "Gentlemen" the colonel turned to us on his heavy german accented english "the job we want to propose you it's a bit different of the type of work you use to do. In order to fully understand all the implications, I have to brief you about some background events". He made a pause, and then started:
"As my friend Charles just told you, I was a Lieutenant Colonel in the GDR armed forces, and after that, Colonel in the Bundeswher" (GDR means German Democratic Republic or East Germany and Bundeswher its the actual german defense force, in case you readers lost it here).
The two faces I recognized immediatly (as Johnny and Ed also did) were (are) both politicians, both Germans, with one difference between them: one is in power, the other in the opposition; one is center-right, the other is center-left. "Right wing, left wing" I remeber thinking quite foolishly "if we had an engine we could build an airplane". Ok, so it was something rather stupid to think at that moment but, honestly, that's what crossed my mind. They all stood up when we entered and the Swiss made the honors: "I suppose you recognize this lady and this gentleman" he meant the politicians "the next gentleman is Colonel Wolfgang-Albert, former officer of the GDR armed forces; the three gentlemen next to him are important businessman with interests in the matter at hand." Everybody nodded briefly, but nobody stretched their hands at us; I personally disliked it, but we were not there to make friends, so...
The Swiss carried on: "My name is Charles and I am into banking."
"Ah!" I tought "I should have guessed".
"My friends, these are the professionals we were waiting for" the man said addressing the others "but please, let's all be seated, shall we?" We all took our chairs, the three of us on one side of the table, the others on the opposite side.
"So, without further delay, I will ask Colonel Wolfgang-Albert to carry on from here. Colonel?"
The Colonel was a tall man, a bit yellowish, gray hair, with the unmistakable look of the professional military; he had been sizing us up quite openly since the moment we entered the room. He speaked in short bursts, with a heavy german accent.
"Thank you, Charles" he said, and the banker took a seat. "Gentlemen" the colonel turned to us on his heavy german accented english "the job we want to propose you it's a bit different of the type of work you use to do. In order to fully understand all the implications, I have to brief you about some background events". He made a pause, and then started:
 |
| Map of East Germany - I marked the same Soviet bunkers signalled in the original map that Colonel Wolfgang-Albert showed us. (click on the map to enlarge) |
"I was in the GDR armed forces during the Cold War, in the secret service. Please do not confuse it with Stasi, the secret police: I was in military intelligence." The way he underlined "military intelligence" and almost spit when he said Stasi told me our former Colonel was not very fond of the old east-german secret police.
"As you surely know,during the Cold War, the Soviet Red Army established several secret bases in east-german soil, in the event of a third world war: some of those secret bases were command and control centers, some were research centers, others were weapons sites and some were just ammunitions bunkers. Nowadays, they're not a secret anymore: some were levelled down, or converted into museums for tourists to visit, but most of it are just there to rot."The Colonel made a pause and pushed two printed pages across the table: "Those, are satellite photo with a caption in russian and a map: In the map, I marked some of the more important of those secret installations: Mohlau, Kossa, Falkenhagen and Schwepnitz." He made another pause while we consulted the photo and the map with red dots he passed us.
"I was an officer in charge of security at Schwepnitz".
"Schwepnitz" the Colonel continued "was a command and control post, tought to serve as a second line option in case NATO would destroy one of the main stations, like Kossa. I was in charge of outside perimeter security and my counterpart, a Soviet Colonel senior to me, was in charge of the base security". The Colonel smiled briefly: "The russians always managed to outrank us, either placing a counterpart of higher rank or, at least, with more years of seniority. And the bases were always managed by soviet personnel."
"So you didn't work inside the base?" Ed asked.
"No. Outside perimeter security only, even our barracks were on the outside. There were no germans inside the base, only russians. They had everything in there, besides the operational buildings, and underground instalations, there were acomodations for the soldiers, officers and families, a swimming pool, even schools for the children. Totally self contained. The underground facilities even had their own "dresscode" as I had never seen. However, that changed, in the end." He made a vague gesture with his hands: "I am sure everyone remembers the chaos in the Eastern Block after the fall of the Wall; The Soviet Union had already understood that things were going to change and they had started to quietly dismantle their bases some time before. The most delicate materials and technology were completely removed. It was the case of Falkenhagen, one of the first to be emptied: the russians started to empty Falkenhagen in 1990 and finished in 1992."
We quickly searched the map: Falkenhagen was also near the Polish border, but further to the north.
"Any of you gentlemen heard about Falkenhagen before?" the Colonel asked.
As we awnsered negatively, he continued: "There were then, and still are, the most incredible rumours about what the russians were doing in that place. You see, during World War II, Falkenhagen was a nazi secret laboratory, bound to produce rocket fuel for the V2 bombs, new incendiaries and poison gas. After that, during the cold war, the russians took possession of it: that's when the rumours started, about the production of the most strangest things: plasma weapons, nerve gas, anti-satellite rocketry, biowarfare, chemical weapons... Most of it were only silly rumours, of course."
"Most of it ? Not all ?" Johnny asked.
The Colonel nodded, with a heavy expression on his face: "Mostly yes, but some of it was more than rumors."
"I see" said Johnny "please, carry on".
"As I was saying" the Colonel continued "Falkenhagen was between the first ones to be emptied; some of the material they had there was relocated to Schwepnitz, I never quite understood why. Maybe they hoped to keep at least some of their bases, maybe they had logistics problems, I really don't know. In 1992 we received at Schwepnitz two convoys of trucks loaded with material from Falkenhagen. The first one carried electronic material, mostly radar. That one, my soviet counterpart handled personally. The second convoy, a couple of weeks later, carried 32 drums with chemicals. Two-hundred-liter drums very carefully packaged."
The Colonel drank a bit of water and we kept silent. Afterwards, he continued: "The handling of that convoy, reception, unloading, stow away the materials, was all under my reponsability, this time: the russian colonel and the most part of the high-rank russian officers at Schwepnitz had been called to Moscow a week earlier, and they never returned. I think they knew the end was near. Anyway, it was up to me to take care of that cargo: so I did."
"And they told you wich chemichals were those?" I asked.
"Absolutely not" the Colonel awnsered firmly. "The cargo manifesto only stated "32 drums of sensitive chemicals" and enclosed there was a sheet of paper with stowage instructions... In russian." The Colonel smiled: "Thankfully I read russian. Basically, we were asked to stow away the drums in the sixth underground level and keep all the precautions usually employed when handling chemical weapons. That's why we all tought it was nerve gas."
The Colonel smiled shortly: "I know now that it wasn't. But then, that's what we tought it was. So, we carried the drums to the sixth sub-basement. It is important to remember this: SIXTH underground level. The information available today, wich is not that much because Schwepnitz was never explored after beeing abandoned, mentions TWO underground levels; that is incorrect: there are SIX underground levels, and that's were we placed all the 32 drums."
"And there were problems ?" I asked.
"Not at all" the Colonel awnsered. "The drums were very heavy-duty, with reinforcement belts, and we took them down one by one, in the service elevator. That was a real nerve-wrecking task for the soldiers involved, despite the fact they were wearing full NBC protection: rubberized suits, boots, gloves, mask, everything. But it was nerve-wrecking, all the same, because we had to do 32 elevator round-trips: you see, to the sixth level there was only a small elevator capable of carrying 4 people; plus the stairs of course, but that was out of the question. So, each time we would place one drum and one soldier in full gear in the cabin and sent it down. But everything went well, no accidents."
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| Falkenhagen: Partial view of one of the chemical or biowarfare laboratories (several years after emptied and abandoned by the Russians) |
We quickly searched the map: Falkenhagen was also near the Polish border, but further to the north.
"Any of you gentlemen heard about Falkenhagen before?" the Colonel asked.
As we awnsered negatively, he continued: "There were then, and still are, the most incredible rumours about what the russians were doing in that place. You see, during World War II, Falkenhagen was a nazi secret laboratory, bound to produce rocket fuel for the V2 bombs, new incendiaries and poison gas. After that, during the cold war, the russians took possession of it: that's when the rumours started, about the production of the most strangest things: plasma weapons, nerve gas, anti-satellite rocketry, biowarfare, chemical weapons... Most of it were only silly rumours, of course."
"Most of it ? Not all ?" Johnny asked.
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| Kossa: Command and control center (now a museum) |
"I see" said Johnny "please, carry on".
"As I was saying" the Colonel continued "Falkenhagen was between the first ones to be emptied; some of the material they had there was relocated to Schwepnitz, I never quite understood why. Maybe they hoped to keep at least some of their bases, maybe they had logistics problems, I really don't know. In 1992 we received at Schwepnitz two convoys of trucks loaded with material from Falkenhagen. The first one carried electronic material, mostly radar. That one, my soviet counterpart handled personally. The second convoy, a couple of weeks later, carried 32 drums with chemicals. Two-hundred-liter drums very carefully packaged."
The Colonel drank a bit of water and we kept silent. Afterwards, he continued: "The handling of that convoy, reception, unloading, stow away the materials, was all under my reponsability, this time: the russian colonel and the most part of the high-rank russian officers at Schwepnitz had been called to Moscow a week earlier, and they never returned. I think they knew the end was near. Anyway, it was up to me to take care of that cargo: so I did."
"And they told you wich chemichals were those?" I asked.
"Absolutely not" the Colonel awnsered firmly. "The cargo manifesto only stated "32 drums of sensitive chemicals" and enclosed there was a sheet of paper with stowage instructions... In russian." The Colonel smiled: "Thankfully I read russian. Basically, we were asked to stow away the drums in the sixth underground level and keep all the precautions usually employed when handling chemical weapons. That's why we all tought it was nerve gas."
The Colonel smiled shortly: "I know now that it wasn't. But then, that's what we tought it was. So, we carried the drums to the sixth sub-basement. It is important to remember this: SIXTH underground level. The information available today, wich is not that much because Schwepnitz was never explored after beeing abandoned, mentions TWO underground levels; that is incorrect: there are SIX underground levels, and that's were we placed all the 32 drums."
"And there were problems ?" I asked.
"Not at all" the Colonel awnsered. "The drums were very heavy-duty, with reinforcement belts, and we took them down one by one, in the service elevator. That was a real nerve-wrecking task for the soldiers involved, despite the fact they were wearing full NBC protection: rubberized suits, boots, gloves, mask, everything. But it was nerve-wrecking, all the same, because we had to do 32 elevator round-trips: you see, to the sixth level there was only a small elevator capable of carrying 4 people; plus the stairs of course, but that was out of the question. So, each time we would place one drum and one soldier in full gear in the cabin and sent it down. But everything went well, no accidents."
"No spills?" Ed asked.
"No spills" confirmed the Colonel. "Afterwards, we radioed to Moscow the task was done. The awnser from Moscow was simple: "Seal it." All levels had NBC blast-proof doors, and that level was to storage only, so we closed the doors and considered the matter finished."
"And what happened when the base was closed definitely?" It was Ed who asked.
The Colonel nodded: "I was going there. A couple of days later, we received a prioritary message from Moscow via Berlin, concerning the underground levels of Schwepnitz; Again, the request was simple: "Flood it". So we did.
"You flooded it? How have you done that?" I asked, a bit surprised.
"It was simple, really" the Colonel awnsered. "We had a huge water tower connected to the underground stores by large pipes. All we had to do was open the valves."
Probably I looked surprised, because the Colonel added: "It was standard procedure, you understand? Many, if not all, russian bases had this system in place, to quickly flood the underground bunkers in case of fire, contamination, or to avoid capture. I know that Falkenhagen, for instance, had the same system. But, as they managed to completely empty the base, they never had to use it there."
"I understand now Colonel, thank you for your clarification" I thanked him.
"Not at all. It is amusing but, some time ago, I read in the newspaper Der Spiegel an article about old Cold War bunkers and they mentioned that Schwepnitz had two underground levels - when they were six; that doesn't surprises me, because only a small number of the soviet there knew about those hidden four extra levels. I didn't knew! Came as a surprise to me when Moscow instructed me how to get there, using a hidden elevator desguised behind a large cabinet. The newspaper also mentioned the underground levels were flooded by rain water ! As if a russian command bunker could be flooded by rain water..." The Colonel seemed mildly amused. "Anyway, some weeks after those events my detachement was transferred further south. It came to my knowedge, some months later, the base had been closed and, to all practical effects, abandoned. In 2006 the remaining buildings and support structures were bulldozed and the terrain levelled. I tought it would be the last time I was going to hear about Schwepnitz."
"But it wasn't ?" Ed asked.
The Colonel stared at him, very serious: "It wasn't."
"No spills" confirmed the Colonel. "Afterwards, we radioed to Moscow the task was done. The awnser from Moscow was simple: "Seal it." All levels had NBC blast-proof doors, and that level was to storage only, so we closed the doors and considered the matter finished."
"And what happened when the base was closed definitely?" It was Ed who asked.
The Colonel nodded: "I was going there. A couple of days later, we received a prioritary message from Moscow via Berlin, concerning the underground levels of Schwepnitz; Again, the request was simple: "Flood it". So we did.
"You flooded it? How have you done that?" I asked, a bit surprised.
"It was simple, really" the Colonel awnsered. "We had a huge water tower connected to the underground stores by large pipes. All we had to do was open the valves."
Probably I looked surprised, because the Colonel added: "It was standard procedure, you understand? Many, if not all, russian bases had this system in place, to quickly flood the underground bunkers in case of fire, contamination, or to avoid capture. I know that Falkenhagen, for instance, had the same system. But, as they managed to completely empty the base, they never had to use it there."
"I understand now Colonel, thank you for your clarification" I thanked him.
"Not at all. It is amusing but, some time ago, I read in the newspaper Der Spiegel an article about old Cold War bunkers and they mentioned that Schwepnitz had two underground levels - when they were six; that doesn't surprises me, because only a small number of the soviet there knew about those hidden four extra levels. I didn't knew! Came as a surprise to me when Moscow instructed me how to get there, using a hidden elevator desguised behind a large cabinet. The newspaper also mentioned the underground levels were flooded by rain water ! As if a russian command bunker could be flooded by rain water..." The Colonel seemed mildly amused. "Anyway, some weeks after those events my detachement was transferred further south. It came to my knowedge, some months later, the base had been closed and, to all practical effects, abandoned. In 2006 the remaining buildings and support structures were bulldozed and the terrain levelled. I tought it would be the last time I was going to hear about Schwepnitz."
"But it wasn't ?" Ed asked.
The Colonel stared at him, very serious: "It wasn't."
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