December 12, 2008
The last visit to the Ostwall -- an underground fortification system in Poland built by the Nazis to defend against a Russian invasion -- was so impressive that it was high time to return. Germany began building the system in 1935 with a planned length of around 80 miles (second only to the Maginot line) at a depth of about 70 feet beneath the bucolic countryside. About 20 miles of underground tunnels were finished, with a rail line, machine shops, munitions warehouses, hospitals