Before the Downfall

The Wolf's Lair: hidden deep in the forest of what is now north-eastern Poland, this complex of concrete bunkers and barracks, once covered in moss and draped with camouflage netting, was one of the central sites of the Second World War. After launching his invasion of the Soviet Union, Adolf Hitler spent the vast majority of his time in this compound. It was here that the systematic murder of European Jewry was decided upon. It was also the site of Claus von Stauffenberg's fa