Jonas Valley

Jonas Valley

Jonastal, situated in the Ilm-Kreis district in Germany between Crawinkel and Arnstadt, was a scene of the horrors of the national socialism in the last years of the Second World War. Tens of thousands of prisoners of the concentration camp Buchenwald were forced to dig 25 tunnels into the mountain. The whole operation was performed under strictest secrecy.

The exact aim of the operation is still a mystery. There are many theories, including headquarters for the führer and a center for atomic research. Many believe that this is a site for testing atomic bombs or a production site for the "Amerika" rocket.

A book by Rainer Karlsch, Hitlers Bombe, published in 2005, alleges that Diebner's team tested some type of nuclear related device in Ohrdruf, which is very close to Jonastal Valley. Moreover, Ohrdruf is located at the end of the hill, which starts at Jonas Valley, where there are still remains of excavations and blocked tunnels. Ohrdruf itself is located at almost the same elevation as the excavation place. It can suggest that there were tunnels' exits somewhere around Ohrdruf too. The existence of easy transportation, railway, in Ohrdruf may support this approach. Documents on which Karlsch's book is based shed light on the motivations of the German scientists working on the paths of nuclear reactors and isotope separation; the historian of science Mark Walker also published his analysis in 2005.(Please see pictures at the first external link below).

It has even been searched for the legendary amber room. The amber room was built in first built in Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. It was a spectacular beautiful room sometimes called the "Eighth Wonder of the world." The German Nazis stole all the valuables in the Amber room and took them to Königsberg in East Prussia, a far northeastern part of the German Reich which became part of the Soviet Union after WW II and belongs to Russia today as an exclave. The amber room was searched for in many places, so far it is still not found. It is not unlikely, that it was destroyed in the late war days. No one knows for sure what the answer to this mystery is.

Coordinates: 50°49′25″N 10°55′31″E / 50.82361°N 10.92528°E / 50.82361; 10.92528