The charming little village of Ketrzyn – Poland, other than with its pristine forest, meadows and its fourteen-century castle, attracts a lot of visitors for a somewhat darker reason.
It is the Adolf Hitler’s wartime military HQ, known as the “Wolfsschanze” , that is situated in the forest east of the town what attracts the curious travelers and old veterans.
The remains of the Wolf’s Lair are a series of fortified underground corridors, conference rooms and living quarters. The almost 3m (8ft) thick concrete walls bear witness to Hitler’s paranoia, and leave a lasting impression.
In 1944 a group of high-ranking German officers led by Baron Claus von Stauffenberg tried to kill Hitler by placing a bomb close to the Fürer’s seat. The bomb killed two staff members and badly wounded others, but Hitler survived the attack being late for the meeting.
The conspirators were all said to be executed in a very cruel manner (left to die by hanging from butcher’s hooks),but also several thousand other people suspected of the plot, as time passed, were executed as well.
