Stepina (Anlage Sud)

We see the big bunker and walk towards it. A large parking lot with only two cars on it - a man is busy in a wooden shed next to the gigantic (lock) doors of the bunker and we meet the owner. He tells in broken English that we are pretty lucky - normally the bunker is only open at the weekend - just because he is busy improving / reparing his house you can now also visit the concrete trainbunker.

That is indeed good luck because we have come here especially to visit the bunker. We pay the entrance fee, put our large bags against the house and walk through the large iron doors that are half open and we enter the darkness. There is a wooden painted guardhouse, a display case with some helmets, guns and other weaponry. We also see the photos on which Hitler receives Mussolini.

Amazing that this is still standing and almost nobody knows about it – I don’t know anybody who visited this place. 

On the concrete floor are also large lamps to prevent you from falling down, pieces of rails and information panels on the wall but unfortunately only in Polish. One of the things that stands out here is the German Afrika Korps engine with trailer. The light is scarce, which does not bother me. Unfortunately that the track space is filled with stones so it’s hard to imagine there was a traintrack here.

We walk further into the bunker and see a bit of a curve further in the 480 meter long covered secret train station Anlage Sud. It was one of the headquarters of Adolf Hitler. He stayed here at 27 and 28 August 1941, for a meeting with Benito Mussolini, leader of the Italians. Anlage Süd was built between 1940 and 1941 along the second most important railway between Rzeszow and Jaslo. The headquarters consisted of a network of large bunkers. Inside there were temporary platforms and wooden buildings. It is assumed that Hitler and Mussolini came together here to discuss the war with the Soviet Union, planned for the summer of 1941.  

On the sides of the bunker we see that there are stone stairs leading downstairs; a number of extra (emergency) exits, while on the other side a parallel-going corridor runs all the way from the beginning of the end. At the very end of the illuminated corridor we see a piece that has been opened and where we see the foundations of a train track. Here you get a good picture of what it must have looked like in 1941.

Unfortunately, the back gate is closed so that we have to walk all the way back before we can see the other bunkers outside. What a eery place to be in all by ourselves. 

In the vicinity of the big former trainbunker there are still 5 “normal” bunkers to see and we are going to look for them; one of the large ones is located just behind the main bunker. It seems that this one is used nowadays by the company that’s build just next to it. Everything has been built against it and we leave it for what it is.

The second and the others are a lot harder to find. After searching for quite some time, we find a small bunker hidden under a layer of earth lying against the slope of the hill next to the road we’ve been on with the truck that brought us to Stepina. When we stand on it we see another small bunker on the other side - between the big houses that are probably all built after WWII.

It gives us the opportunity to check immediately what a suitable place to camp tonight. Maybe a bit early to stop already today, but to go to Krakow today already, that seems a bit too much for us.

We walk back, after having seen a valley behind this plateau that is a good option for tonight, and once again have a chat with the owner. Is there perhaps a terrace or something like it in Stepina where we can buy a glass of beer? No, there is nothing the man says but he can offer us a cup of coffee? We put one of the wooden tables right in the bunker and enjoy a delicious fresh cup of coffee.

The man does not want money for what is offered but we hide some money on the dish and return it so he pick it up when we are gone. A well is opened with which we fill our water bottles and then it is time to go. First we walk directly behind the bunker a path that leads us up into the forest. After a short inspection of the site we decide to go back to where we were before.

Along a number of houses we walk on top of a tractor path and end up on the plateau where we were before. We wave to the people who work on the land and make pace to be out of sight as soon as possible. We reach the edge of the plateau and look into a valley – now we have to find a spot where we can go down without falling with our big bags.  

In the end we slide down a slope and down in the valley there are a number of trees on the edges but it is a bit open - we see a beautiful piece of green in the valley next to a stream. We quickly notice that this is a fantastic place. There is still a ruin that once was a bunker and the high natural valley walls give us safety and the wind can not harm us here either. We pick up our big bags and decide to make camp here. Pete sets up his tent on the other side of the stream and I just beside the stream - an idyllic spot.

There is a tree trunk where we sit on and Pete makes hot water for a cup of tea. We do feel the temperature drop immediately and we know that it can be very cold tonight. It is half past seven when we prepare our noodles with onion and tomato and eat our dinner. Fortunately, we have previously done some shopping and now we can enjoy a dessert and then our bottle of wine. In the evening I have all my clothes including mittens and Pete is doing the same. We therefore do not make it too late and we hope that we can sleep a little bit because in this valley the cold will stay nice and dry.