Zhukov's Bunker (Samara)

Zhukov's Bunker is an underground command post from the Second World War in Samara, Russia, on the grounds of the Volga sanatorium near the 7th Prosek, not far from the Volga river bank. Its official name is Object A, the deep command post of the General Staff; "Zhukov's Bunker" is the name locals gave it.

History

The decision to build an underground command post was made early in the war, in 1941, when Kuibyshev (as Samara was then called) was being prepared as a reserve capital. The bunker was meant to become the control centre for the country's military infrastructure if Moscow fell. It was built between 1941 and 1943. According to the Zvezda TV channel, it was later used as an air defence post.

After the war the bunker lost its military role and was gradually abandoned. In the late 1990s it was flooded by groundwater, and looters damaged some of the rooms. It was later cleared, some rooms were restored, and guided tours began.

Inside

The structure lies about 30 metres underground (sources give 26 to 31 metres) and covers about 900 square metres. It has around 15 rooms: technical rooms, officers' bedrooms, a canteen and the operations room, where the parquet floor and plaster mouldings have survived. Every entrance is sealed with a blast door, and a system of iron shields was installed to absorb blast waves.

The bunker has not been fully explored: some rooms are still uncleared, and there are shafts and possibly further passages that cannot be reached yet.

Legends

Nobody knows for certain where Zhukov's name came from. The usual explanation is that the bunker was built for the General Staff, headed by Georgy Zhukov at the start of the war. Some say it was Kliment Voroshilov, not Zhukov, who came here, and another story claims the shelter was prepared for Stalin's daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva.

Local legends also speak of tunnels linking the bunker to other shelters in Samara, a secret exit to the Volga, an undiscovered extra level and a hidden door next to the toilet for slipping out unnoticed. None of these stories is backed by documents.

Getting there

The bunker is on the grounds of the Volga sanatorium near the 7th Prosek. The last stretch of the road is unpaved gravel. Visitors describe entrances from the sanatorium's third building and from the Volga side. The inside can be seen on a guided tour.