Babie Doły, Pomeranian Voivodeship

Babie Doły is a przysiółek in the administrative district of Gmina Zblewo, within Starogard County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is located in the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in the historic region of Pomerania.

Babie Doły bunker people legend

In 1951, an Associated Press report claimed that a German soldier was found alive after being trapped with five comrades following the dynamiting of their underground storehouse in 1945. They are believed to have been looting the storehouse and the retreating soldiers who dynamited the tunnel did not know they were there. The stores contained a large amount of food, drink, candles and other goods so the soldiers were able to survive. Four of the soldiers died leaving only two survivors. One of them suffered a heart attack and died upon leaving the tunnel. The final soldier was said to have made a full recovery, but his identity was never revealed.
However, a 1958 Die Spiegel investigation strongly suggests that the "bunker people of Gdynia" was likely a fabrication rather than a real event. The Polish Interior Ministry has stated that they are not aware of any such incident.
The legend gained traction in both East and West Germany primarily through sensationalized tabloids, ballads, novellas and stage dramas. A rhymed version of the tale was a popular radio play of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk radio.
In the 1958, the movie Nasser Asphalt, written by former police reporter Will Tremper, presents the bunker story as a fabrication by a journalist seeking sensational news in the tense post-war period.
The story inspired a novel called Le Blockhouse by French author Jean-Paul Clébert which was made into a film of the same name in 1973.