Nuclear and Indigenous Items of Interest: Honecker's nuclear bunker opens

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Honecker's nuclear bunker opens

The BBC's Tristana Moore takes a look around the bunker

A once-secret bunker designed to shield communist rulers of the former East Germany from a nuclear attack has opened to the public.

The three-storey complex, finished in 1983, was intended to house leader Erich Honecker and 400 staff.

At the time it was one of the communist world's most advanced bunkers. Now the walls are covered in mould and the decontamination chambers long-defunct.

The bunker, north of Berlin, will be open for three months.

The Berlin city authorities say they will seal it with concrete afterwards.

Honecker, who ruled the German Democratic Republic (GDR) for almost two decades, is thought to have visited the bunker only once.

"Contemporary witnesses told us that Honecker was more or less frightened or shocked when he walked through here," said Sebastian Tenschert of the Berlin Bunker Network - a group that campaigned for the bunker to be opened.

Top secret?

Groups will be given short tours through the ill-lit complex - where they will see offices and control rooms once intended for the elites, now covered in green slime and reeking of mould.

It was said to be the most advanced bunker in the Warsaw Pact countries

They will be led along submarine-like tunnels divided by heavy metal doors, leading on to 170 rooms.

The three storeys reach a depth of 70m (230ft) below ground.

The bunker was fitted with a fountain, air conditioning and "springed" rooms able to cushion residents from detonations.

It was built in a forest 25km (16 miles) north-east of Berlin, near Wandlitz, where the whole East German government was accommodated in a special colony.

The bunker was surrounded by a village occupied almost entirely by members of the feared East German spy agency, the Stasi.

Falko Schewe, who worked on the building, described the project - codenamed 17/5001 - as "not that top secret".

"My wife and mother knew about the special work which I did, but no-one else knew what I was working on.

"I was a very normal GDR citizen except that I worked for the security ministry."

Link to video: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7538720.stm

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Public Statement by Corbin's Immediate Family

July 10, 2007 (TurtleIsland). Corbin Harney Spiritual Leader of the Western Shoshone Nation crossed over at 11:00 a.m. this morning in a house on a sacred mountain near Santa Rosa, CA (Turtle Island). He had dedicated his life to fighting the nuclear testing and dumping.

That battle claimed his life through cancer.

According to witnesses present, in the morning fog, the spirits of four Shoshone dog soldiers were outside on horseback before Corbin’s passing. But then one of the Shoshone present, Santiago Lozada, yelled “Tosawi Tosawi!” (White Knife). And then the fog shifted and there were thousands of spirits waiting.

Corbin passed peacefully at the end. He was only worried that he still had more to do. When he finally let go and went with the dog soldiers, Red Wolf Pope, grandson of Rolling Thunder, was present and sang him the Tosawi death song to call the dog soldiers to come take him home. Golden eagles continue to circle the house hours after his crossing.”

True to form Corbin joked around several days ago that he was going to go at 11:00, and kept his promise.

Over his lifetime, Corbin traveled around the world as a speaker, healer and spiritual leader with a profound spiritual and environmental message for all. He received numerous national and international awards and spoke before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Corbin also authored two books: “The Way It Is: One Water, One Air, One Earth” (Blue Dolphin Publishing, 1995) and a forthcoming book, “The Nature Way”. Numerous documentaries have been made about his work and message.

In 1994, Corbin established the Shundahai Network to work with people and organizations to respond to spiritual and environmental concerns on nuclear issues. He also established Poo Ha Bah, a native healing center located in Tecopa Springs, California. He will be missed but always honored for his work and dedication to traditional ways.

Corbin Harney is descended from generations of Newe (Shoshone) traditional healers and was always grateful for the many extraordinary teachers who shared their knowledge in his lifetime.

Corbin is survived by his daughter Reynaulda Taylor; granddaughters Ann Taylor and Nada Leno; grandsons Keith, Jon and Joel Leno and William Henry Taylor; seven great-grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; and his sister Rosie Blossom’s family and many cousins and other family members as well as many, many friends around the world. Corbin was preceded in death by his mother, father, sister, grandparents, uncle, great granddaughter, cousins, and friends. A very special thanks to Patricia Davidson, Corbin’s caregiver in his final months; Dominic Daileda, Corbin’s friend and companion for his support and compassion in hard times, and the family of Dixie and Martin van der Kamp for opening up their home and their hearts to Corbin and his family and friends during his time of need.

Dates and times for services are being made with official announcement to follow. Three day services are planned at the home of Larson R. Bill, So Ho Bee – Newe Sogobe (Lee, Nevada –Western Shoshone Territory) with burial services at Battle Mountain Indian Community, Battle Mountain Nevada.