Dr. Strangelove, I Presume?

Do Not Speak Out

http://www.sovietposters.com/posters/1240356374ussr0401.jpg

 

Everything I believe that I know and have heard and witnessed about bunkers (mostly through history texts and films and documentaries) tells me that they were a place meant for safety and covert operations.  They are deep underground and are lined with lead and impossibly thick cement walls to keep radiation contamination at bay.  Above all they are secret locations meant to provide a command post and safe spaces for the government’s elite and military strategists.  Since the end of the cold war and the fall of the Soviet Union the extreme need for these secure, secret communication spaces has significantly declined.  Instead of being competitors in the space race and enemies in a  war of escalation of nuclear arms proliferation, the West and the East have been working together to reduce the practice of nuclear stockpiling and the spread of this annihilating arsenal from falling into the wrong hands.  So where does this leave those who grew up under the cold war mentality of xenophobia?  Where does this leave those who grew up after the cold war?

On a tour through the Таганская (Taganskaya) Bunker #42 I was struck by how closely my expectations of the tour and the facility were met.  Walking down 18 flights of stairs to a depth of 60m (which is the same as the metro station nearby -pictured below) brought me to a metal-lined, studded, concrete-reinforced corridor dimly lit with occasional incandescent bulbs running questionable power sources with exposed wiring running the length of the ceiling. 

Bunker corridor

The corridor was eerily reminiscent of metro tunnels in both form and direction.  I expected no less.  The air was fresh and clean-smelling which was a departure from the pollution above-ground.  Rounding the corner, visitors are brought to a halt by a security checkpoint that boasts, among other features, a red phone -no dial, simply an object that to this day instills fear in the hearts of many. 

We were encouraged to sit in the chair and take photographs.  Some people did so in a very serious and solemn manner, others chose to adopt more playful poses while answering 'the red phone'. 
 
A walk further along the corridor led to another area which closely resembled a cast-iron hangar with the circular walls echoing the shape of a whale’s ribcage.  Exposed infrastructure, dated technology and a palpable sense of paranoia all combined to send my imagination spinning into infinity, images of a wheelchair-bound Peter Sellers in uniform making me smile yet at the same time sending chills down my spine.

  

The tour guide regaled us with impressive statistics while leading us through a labyrinth of corridors and rooms.  Her language was carefully scripted and ensured that the Soviet perspective was made very clear to us foreigners -the expression “our Soviet leaders” was repeated frequently.

 

This area is now used for private functions and doubles as a nightclub when not rented out.

The bunker was referred to as an “object” and since it was #42, our guide made sure to tell us that there were certainly 41 other bunkers in existence but there was no way of knowing if there were any more after this one.  90 days was the projected length of time that staff could survive in this underground “object” if necessary.  

Part of the tour included a 30 minute video that provided detailed descriptions and statistics that were meant to inflate the importance of the Soviet Union’s role and involvement in the Cold War.  The Cuban Missile Crisis was referred to as the Caribbean Crisis.  The reason the Russians pulled out of Cuba was to avoid future rogue military decisions being taken without Russia’s consent as those could be perceived as acts of war on Russia’s part.  The classical music soundtrack that accompanied the stunning footage of detonating nuclear warheads and their ensuing mass destruction held us spellbound at the awesome glory of the destructive powers that were held back only by the turn of a key and a secret code locked away in a box.  It is interesting to see things from "the other side".

Proudly, we were shepherded into a room with communication equipment used by the workers in the object when it was fully operational.  We were shown how to use the telecommunications system and encouraged to use the equipment should we wish to try.  The guide pulled out four AK-47s from a locker and passed them out for us to hold and photograph and we were invited to try on the uniforms and gas masks that were on display.

Our tour guide

A quick trip through a nondescript passageway and we were back at the stairwell leading to the surface.  Thankfully, an elevator was there to take us up the 60m climb towards daylight. 

I am left with the following words:
sterile, cold, dank, tense, paranoid, serious, frightened, solid, real, threat.