A Holocaust escape tunnel dug using hands has been revealed

For decades, many have told stories about an escape tunnel that was dug by hand at Ponar, Lithuania, aHolocaust mass burial site.

Recently, researchers working as part of an upcoming NOVA documentary verified the underground route's existence.

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Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography, the team led by Dr. Richard Freund of the University of Hartford located the passageway that stretches roughly 35 yards from its origination point to its end, notes PBS.

According to oral histories, 80 Jewish prisoners excavated the path using spoons found among the dead bodies they were forced to bury.

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On April 15, 1944, that group attempted to flee through the tunnel, but only 12 are said to have made it through alive, reports the New York Times.

Said Dr. Freund, "If we had never discovered the tunnel, people would have thought in another 20 years it was a myth....This is a great story about the way that people overcame the worst possible condition, and still had this hope that they could get out."