Railway shelter

The railway shelter in Stępina village was a part of Anlage Süd (Installation South) – Hitler’s main base. Hitler himself visited the place only once on 27–28 August 1941, when a meeting with Benito Mussolini took place. It is said that richly decorated chambers are located under the shelter, however, these are unconfirmed, local legends.

The reinforced concrete tunnel has 393m in length, 14m in width, almost 9m in height, and 2m thick walls. It was designed to survive bombardment, chemical attack and even a hit of nuclear weapon. It was built mainly by forced laborers and Jews from camp near Jasło. Shelter in Stępina was supposed to be a headquarters during the war with the Soviet Union. When front moved to the east it was no longer needed.

In 1944 it was used as a field hospital for the Red Army. After the war, the Polish Armed Forces took over the place and some time later National Bank of Poland planned to set there a mint. Until 1990 mushrooms were grown there. Nowadays it’s opened for sightseeing as a tourist attraction.