Camouflage as the Askania-Werke Plant

In the spring of 1940, the German Army High Command selected the Stępina area for a forward command headquarters. The project was registered under the name of Askania-Werke, a Berlin company, to conceal the construction of military facilities. The site formed part of Anlage Süd, a command complex prepared for operations against the Soviet Union.

Organisation Todt directed the work from the summer of 1940 to the summer of 1941. Around 3,000-6,000 people worked on the project, including forced labourers and prisoners of various nationalities. The site was under strict military and police protection. Only authorised Germans had access to the reinforced-concrete shelters under construction.

Behind the civilian name lay a shelter for a command train, technical facilities and structures protecting the headquarters. This was not a single bunker, but a group of buildings providing commanders with protection and the infrastructure needed during their stay.