Unknown elements of Soviet nuclear bases in Poland have been discovered

Atomic Soviet bases on Polish territory were not masterfully camouflaged, and were home to families of soldiers with children, archaeologist Dr. Grzegorz Kiarszys has determined. The previously unknown elements of the bases he detected m.in. thanks to analysis of CIA intelligence materials.

Three large nuclear weapons depots were established in Poland in 1969 – in Templevo (woj. Lubuskie), Brzeźnica-Kolonia (woj. Wielkopolska) and in Podborsk (woj. Western Pomeranian). Their essential element was monumental, buried for several metersointo the ground, concrete shelters designed to store nuclear warheads. By the early 1990s. Information about them was kept strictly secret.

– In the several decades since the information about the existence of the bases was revealed, the facilities have become the stuff of legends. Numerous, often unverified information has been published about them. I decided to verify them, using roThe researchers were able to use a variety of methods, including those used in archaeology,” Dr. Grzegorz Kiarszys of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Szczecin, author of the study, tells PAP. They were carried out thanks to funding from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

It has been claimed, for example, that the bases were perfectly camouflaged from the eye of spy satellitesow. Meanwhile, from the analysis of declassified images of satelliteoin the US spy missions Corona and HEXAGON, a very different picture emerges – mowi Kiarszys.

A scientist has conducted analyses of declassified material for the first timeow regarding the location of nuclear bases in Poland. – Glowne elements of the base, m.in. buildings, access roads, helipadsoin, are brilliantly visible on satellite images, although the CIA was for a long time unsure whether the complexes it photographed actually stored nuclear weapons. However, we read about it in American reports,” says Dr. Kiarszys.

Declassified satellite imagesoIn U.S. espionage have been used for years by archaeologistsoin working m.in. in the Middle East. Enable them to detect unknown cities and cemeteries.

The archaeologist adds that, over time, even pitches were built on the bases’ grounds. – Such elements certainly zwroction of the analystoin the CIA – notes. In his opinion, this type of sports facilities were established at the time of decoupling, in the second half of the 1980s.

In his analysis, the archaeologist went a step further: he used not only satellite imagery, but also aerial laser scanning to learn about the layout of the bases. This method, increasingly used in archaeology, makes it possible to detect even poorly preserved objectsow, e.g. prehistoric barrowsow or graveow. Thanks to it, Kiarszys noticed previously unknown elements of the bases, m.In. shooting ditches, whichore surrounded all three bases – and shelters for carsow to transport heads. Some of them are now almost invisible to the naked eye from the perspective of a person in the field.

Thanks to this method, he was also able to reconstruct the paths trodden by Soviet guardsoDuring patrolling the restricted zone. – It can be seen, for example, that the soldiers tried to avoid the effort and avoided the wzgorza and pagorki. Paths sometimes lead to camouflaged outpostsoin observational and ditchingoin shooters,” says Kiarszys.

You will often hear that bases were protected by anti-aircraft batteries. – This was certainly not the case. The batteries were dug in in such a characteristic mannerob that traces of them could be seen on laser scanning results. However, they were not, either on the bases or around theoThey were not there,” he adds.

All three bases were built in a very similar mannerob (they were formed by the same elements). GloThe buildings – concrete shelters for storing warheads, as well as the entire barracks and warehouse facilities – were erected by the Poles, after which the area was taken over by the Soviet army. Poles did not have access to them until the early 1990s. – Only official intergovernmental agreements, acceptance protocols and other supporting documentation have survived in Polish archives. However, no surveying plans or maps of these facilities have survivedow. The bases were changed and expanded during the dwoch decades. My research sheds light on their appearance organization and layout – mowi Kiarszys.

The archaeologist also obtained new information about daily life at the bases, m.in. thanks to archival photos posted on Russian social media by Soviet soldiers whooers who were once stationed at their. He talked roHe also spoke with several Polish soldiers whoowho had already stayed there after the Russians had left the bases. The assistance of regionalist Mieczyslaw Zuk was very valuable in obtaining this information,” stresses Kiarszys.

What the archaeologist has determined? – ObjectoIn these they were not manned by cyborgs, ktorych sole purpose and desire was to cause nuclear armageddon. At the bases, the soldiers lived with their families and children. There were even kindergartens in them! By the houses, ogrovegetable gardens, and wooden sheds were used to house animals, he says.

The scientist proHe also sought to find evidence that nuclear warheads were actually stored at bases on Polish territory. To this day, there is no 100% certainty about this, although this is what General Viktor Dubynin, stationed here earlier during the communist period, suggested at the time of the withdrawal from Poland,” recalls Dr. Kiarszys.

The researcher and his team measured ionizing radiation (using a Geiger counter) in the shelters, in ktorych were thought to contain nuclear warheads. – It was not elevated. This may indicate that radiological protection was exemplary – or that the warheads were never there, Kiarszys notes.

The scientist plans to publish the results of his research in 2019.

The bases in Templevo and Brzeźnica-Kolonia have been preserved until our timeoin very poor condition. The buildings accompanying the shelters were subjected to demolitionorce, a forest was planted in their place; fences and other elements of the bases also disappeared very quickly. Better preserved is the base in Podborsk, ktorej shelters are now available to the Museum of the Cold War – it is a branch of the Museum of Polish Arms in Kolobrzeg. Meanwhile, the accompanying buildings are used by the detention center. Very similar bases were located throughout Eastern Europe – East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria.

SourceoSource: PAP – Nauka w Polsce, Szymon Zdziebłowski, fot. CC By 2.0/ Jan Bommes/ Flickr