Stalin's bunker (Samara)

Photos

  • Бункер Сталина (Самара). Photography 1
  • Бункер Сталина (Самара). Photography 2
  • Бункер Сталина (Самара). Photography 3
  • Бункер Сталина (Самара). Photography 4

Description

Stalin's bunker, or as it is also commonly called, a command post-bomb shelter, was built in Samara in 1942 and is located at a depth of 37 meters. This defensive structure is a reserve location for the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR I.V. Stalin. The bunker was opened to the public in 1990 and today functions as a civil defense museum.

The facility is located under the modern Academy of Culture and Art, and previously under the building of the regional committee of the CPSU. To enter the bunker, an inconspicuous door was used, guarded by an NKVD officer. Behind this door is the upper platform, from where the descent into the bunker begins via an elevator or stairs. This is followed by a 14-meter shaft connecting to a transverse corridor where life support units are located.

The main part of the bunker is a vertical shelter shaft, which descends another 23 meters deep into the earth and is an exact copy of the metro tunnel. The first floor of the bunker is completely covered with blue tiles and is located at a depth of 37 meters, equivalent to the height of a 12-story building.

Construction of the bunker began in February 1942 and ended in October of the same year. About 2,900 workers and 800 engineering and technical workers took part. Gulag prisoners also participated in the construction, but to preserve state secrets, after completion of the work they were transferred to other camps. The construction was secret, and information about it was revealed only after the facility was declassified in 1990.

Stalin's bunker was put into operation on January 6, 1943.

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