Day 15 - A Day at Wolf's Lair Steeped in History

Hitler's Ketrzyn Bunker

Our leisurely morning of a heavy breakfast that neither of us could finish (2 foot long hot dogs, slices of meat and cheese, tomato, bread with butter and jelly and espresso coffee that would grow hair on your chest!!!) and time to blog allowed me to catch up to today.

As the tourists began pouring in to park, we decided we had better see about contacting Jadwiga Korowaj, our tour guide to set up a time.  The souvenir building is small and the cashier speaks almost NO English. She was writing down Jadwiga's email and phone number while I was telling her I already had that information. I just didn't have a phone to get in touch with her. Finally, out of frustration, she called Jadwiga who was out on the path in the compound and we set up a time to meet at noon.  We wandered the immediate grounds while we waited the 45 minutes for her to return.

Men in camo are in the parking lot hawking rides in various military vehicles. They also have a little camp set up for their use and don't like ANYONE taking pictures. Oh well, we don't know their language and they only said "private" so we moved on.

It seems the Germans began building this compound in 1940 with small wooden and brick structures. It wasn’t until the beginning of 1944 when the larger structures with 2 meter thick walls were constructed. Hitler’s bunker, number 13 (numbered by the locals later for fun), was complete in November 1944. With the Russians only 25 km from here in January 1945, Hitler ordered the destruction of the compound. This practice is called "Scorched Earth".

Commemorative plaque of Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on Hitler at Wolfsschanze compound

Timed events of the day Stauffenberg arrived and left

The size of the stick matters. They say if you put a large stick under one of the bunker ruins you will marry well. The middle size stick means you will return to Poland. And I don't remember what the smallest sticks' meaning was given.

Jadwiga is personable and her English is very good once you get used to her accent. We set a time for 2pm because she has clients from South Africa arriving any minute. So Melodie and I decide to wander, take pictures and maybe try the shooting range for the next couple hours.  And you can get lost out there in the woods of huge ruins of 2 meter thick walls and roofs.

Our tour with Jadwiga (pronounced yahd-VEE-gah) is best explained in photos with captions.

Monument to the Poles who died clearing 54,000 land and jumping mines surrounding Wolf's Lair.

The cement was more durable than the brick

Seaweed and concrete to add to the smaller buildings for camouflage

Telephone lines buried underground here

Searching for Bakelite pieces from the camouflage that covered the area looking like green and brown leaves from the air

Bat houses

The roof of a building now on its side. The opening housed a revolving machine gun turret 

Floor tile from Hitler's bunker

After viewing, Jadwiga covered it lightly with leaves and dirt to keep vandals from tearing it up

Communications' channel through the walls. Makes me think of our cans and strings.

Crab apples?  I dunno.

Hostel upstairs, restaurant and toaleta (restroom) downstairs

Tourists climbing about the ruins is not advised and dangerous.

Our room had a private bath too!  This building used to be the security guards' barracks.

Jadwiga met Stauffenberg's son some years ago and got a picture with him. At some point she was interviewed to see how good her English was in order to use her in a documentary film.

Hitler's Bunker. The Poles numbered it #13 just for fun. The Germans planted trees on top of bunkers to add to the camouflage.

Behind his bunker was his "Tea House". Here is the remains of his fireplace in the tea house and the bunker entrance was only steps away, if needed. The Allies knew where this compound was located but had no way of sending planes to bomb it and have enough fuel to return. They also feared that killing Hitler would open the gate to one of his generals taking command. They wanted an UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER from Hitler to end the war.

The end of a beautiful day: schnitzel with egg, french fries, and creamed cucumbers.

Tomorrow we're off to Warsaw!