Stalin’s bunker in Samara
Stalin was afraid that Russia might be bombed with a Nuclear bomb. He made a bunker in Samara for protection. Samara was the original name, but during the cold war, it was called Kuybyshev. After the fall of the Soviet Union, they went back to the historical names.
We were taken to this bunker and may have been the first Americans to visit it. The town had just been opened up to foreigners and Russians alike. A Russian from another area needed to use a passport and special permission to visit Samara. That ban had been lifted only three weeks before our visit.
We entered a typical government building and walked down a wide hallway. On one side was a small door that looked like it would be a utility closet with mops and brooms. Instead, it led to a small elevator. The elevator took us down over 35 meters to a landing. I remember that the bunker also had a stairway, but that would be a rough climb.
Larry told us that it was built in less than a year by hundreds of engineers and a few thousand workers. Supposedly the workers were killed after the bunker was finished.
The bunker interior was huge, with rooms on different levels. It was airtight with food and water for survival.
Updated 30 March 2023