Researchers Discover Suspected Secret Nazi Nuclear Development Site

A huge underground facility believed to have been built by the Nazis to develop nuclear weapons has been discovered in Austria.

According to the U.K.'s Sunday Times, the tunnel complex was discovered last week near the town of St. Georgen an der Gusen, once the location of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.

The facility, which spans an area up to 75 acres, is thought to be an extension of the underground Bergkristall factory, where the world's first operational jet fighter was produced. According to the Sunday Times, the Nazis took pains to hide the research facility, even as Bergkristall was inspected after the war.

The newly discovered network is believed to be connected to the Bergkristall facility. (Image source: Sunday Times)

Documentary filmmaker Andreas Sulzer led the effort in excavating the underground network, which was traced from declassified documents and witness testimony, including a 1944 U.S. intelligence report. Sulzer called the site "most likely the biggest secret weapons production facility of the Third Reich."

The Inquisitr noted that excavators used bulldozing equipment to cut through the granite plates placed to conceal the entrance shaft. The location was pinpointed after elevated radiation levels were detected in the area.

According to the Jerusalem Post, police halted Sulzer's archaeological work after the discovery, claiming he did not hold the proper permits, which the filmmaker disputed.

“Prisoners from concentration camps across Europe were handpicked for their special skills – physicists, chemists or other experts – to work on this monstrous project,” Sulzer told the Sunday Times, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post. “We owe it to the victims to finally open the site and reveal the truth.”

(H/T: The Inquisitr)