christopher hello, and a very : warm welcome to "focus on europe," bringing you the individual stories behind the headlines. my name's christopher springate. a fascinating mix of issues again this week -- here's what we have for you. exorcism makes a controversial comeback in europe. in kosovo, blinding poverty is driving thousands to migrate. and in poland, the search intensifies for a hidden train full of gold. do you believe in exorcism -- the practice of driving out demons from people or places believed to be possessed by the devil? well, here in increasingly secular europe, most people

don't. which explains why the practice has declined dramatically in recent decades. last june however, pope francis did something that reversed that trend -- he officially recognized the international association of exorcists. since then, demand has mushroomed for priests trained in the art of exorcism. in spain for instance, the church has doubled the number of its recognized practitioners. but psychiatrists there are attacking the move. they say people who claim to be possessed by the devil are probably suffering from mental illness. instead of an exorcist, they need medical help. >> these days, he feels free and unfettered. but life hasn't always been rosy for isaac from malaga. as a boy, isaac felt full of anxiety and inner turmoil. he became convinced he >> he was strong and would torture me at night. i had nightmares, visions.

it was terrible -- i couldn't explain what was happening to me. >> many religions support the idea that people can be possessed by demons, including the catholic church. it employs priests who are trained as exorcists to banish evil spirits. isaac turned to one for help. >> he knew from experience that i was possessed. he laid his hands on me, prayed for me and finally released me from the demon. >> in 2014, pope francis formally recognized the international association of exorcists. since then, spain has seen a rise in demand for exorcisms. the church has appointed eight new ones in the archdiocese of madrid alone. padre fortea is one of spain's most prominent exorcists -- and also schools others in the art. he believes the vatican and the catholic church in spain are

simply responding to a growth in demand. according to the church, it's because more and more ordinary people are dabbling in the occult. >> a country with more hexes and satanic acts will also see more cases of demonic possession and influence. because of that, we're seeing an increased need for exorcists. >> but many are skeptical. they don't believe in demons, or demonic possession. they dismiss the idea of exorcism as nonsense. but spanish exorcists claim the practice has a solid biblical basis, and has been proven by experience. >> it's clear something is wrong when a priest starts praying in front of a mentally healthy

person, who falls to the ground screaming, starts raging, vomits, attacks the priest, or speaks in a different voice. and when you stop praying, they act normal again. >> videos like this are used to support exorcists' claims. psychiatrist marina diaz is skeptical. she says most people who are seemingly possessed by the devil are actually mentally ill. because doctors can't always cure them, some patients turn to exorcists in their despair. >> there's no scientific basis for it. it would be good if they at least had a team of doctors present, if only because of the possible psychological and physical impact on the patient. >> some patients who have undergone exorcisms quit conventional medical treatment, believing that they've been healed. there have also been suicide attempts.

that's also why some exorcists have now started liaising with medical professionals. >> most people diagnosed with schizophrenia are in fact schizophrenic. that's a mental illness, which an exorcism can't cure. only a small number of people actually need an exorcist. >> with church membership on the decline in spain, the boom in exorcism may also go some way n boosting the church's power and influence. for some believers, banishing evil is one of the church's most important functions. >> i'm a firm believer in the devil. i would definitely seek out a priest if i felt a strange presence in me. i'm convinced such things exist. >> what does the catholic church in spain think? that anyone who fails to profess

their faith is possessed? that society is being ruled by the devil? i don't believe that. >> the church is increasingly embracing new tactics to inspire interest in its teachings. padre fortea manages an online forum on the topic of exorcism. he warns against amateur exorcists, and says only a trained priest can drive out an evil spirit. >> sometimes sorcerers masquerade as exorcists. they claim to be christian exorcists who believe in jesus and pray to god. but in my entire life, i've never encountered a case where a false exorcist succeeded in banishing a demon. >> according to church teachings, isaac is now also a false exorcist. he has also started offering exorcisms, free of charge. he says he wants to help others, the same way he was helped, and

says the catholic church's monopoly on exorcisms is hypocritical. >> the catholic church is the most corrupt place of all, the place with the most lies. in my view, any form of exorcism is helpful as long as the person who is being exorcized agrees to it, and that person mentally ill, and as long as it has nothing to with satanic rituals. >> whether church-sanctioned or not, exorcisms are undergoing a revival. there's no scientific backing, and the potential for charlatans offering their services is huge. but for the catholic church, it is also an opportunity to carve out more influence. christopher so, exorcism making : a come-back in modern-day

europe -- the question is: can it end up doing more damage than good? and we now want to now what you think. is it the job of psychiatrists to help people who believe they're possessed, or do exorcists have a role to play? do send me your thoughts on that -- as always, you'll find me on twitter @springontheroad. they're coming by bus, by train and on foot -- thousands of refugees have been arriving in germany, many of them fleeing 4 years of unimaginable violence in syria. large crowds have gathered here to cheer and welcome the arriving migrants, in stark contrast to the at best grumpy reception they're given in countries such as greece, former yugoslav republic of macedonia and hungary. in the background meanwhile, policy-makers are working overtime to deal with the influx. with facilities in many german municipalities already bursting at the seams, the government's setting aside an extra 6 billion euros to help accomodate the new arrivals. for more, we travelled to the western town of konigswinter, to

catch up with one official whose preparation work has reached fever pitch. and by the way, this official -- she epitomizes something that i come -- that i as an immigrant , to this country myself -- have come to greatly appreciate: the extraordinary commitment many germans have to ensuring the safety and welfare of others. >> a crisis team in konigswinter, near bonn, is turning a parking lot into temporary accommodation for refugees. it's an ambitious undertaking. this sports hall will serve as a canteen. heike jungling, who heads the town's department of social services, has eight hours to get the camp ready. >> the local government told us to set up an emergency shelter for a 100 by friday! >> that was 48 hours ago. the authorities are working flat out. so far nothing's even close to ready. but everyone's lending a hand. >> once the tables and benches arrive we'll seehow much room

is left. >> they need to think of everything. >> is there enough toilet paper? for here too? >> refugees are being dispersed across germany. everywhere, authorities are struggling to set up emergency accomodations. >> we don't know where they're from, or how many children there are. >> at midday everything's going , more or less to plan. but then a call comes in. the refugees will be arriving earlier than expected. >> it's a construction site here. we can't do it. no one can get here until 4 p.m. we have no assistance, there's no relief organization. i'm sorry, we have trained people here working on it. i can't have some refugee get off the bus and hand him a drill. it's out of the question. that's a terrible idea. i'm sorry, but it's absurd.

one idea they had was to just leave the refugees sitting on their bus. it's 28 degrees celsius outside. and the other idea was to have them help with the set-up. it's so unrealistic, i'm at loss for words. >> meanwhile, the clock is ticking. >> have you heard they're arriving earlier? can we get the beds in already?" >> local authorities across the country are facing a similar situation. heike jungling and her team want to make sure the new arrivals are treated with respect. >> we can't have people sleep in beds on the street. and there's no food or drink yet. >> heike jungling has been given a list with information about the new arrivals. that list will help her figure out how much food, drink, diapers and other supplies they

need. >> we just gave a relief organization a list. i took a look. it looks like the youngest child is just 11 months old. >> as it happens, the refugees don't arrive earlier at all. their bus gets in at about 7 in the evening. and it's immediately apparent that there needs to be a rethink. >> there are many more small children than on the list. there was one baby on the list, but see how many there are! and definitely more than a hundred people! >> jungling calls a last-minute conference with her team. and in the meantime, the bus almost left. a staff member called it back. the refugees luggage still hadn't been unloaded. the mayor is here too, trying to help create order out of chaos.

it turns out there are 130 refugees in all. even though most of them have already been in germany for 6 weeks, the staff here don't have their names and nationalities. it's an overwhelming situation. across germany, towns and cities are struggling to cope. heike jungling tries to answer questions as best she can. >> they'll have to sleep in tents. >> it's been a busy day for heike jungling. this kind of chaos isn't what germany is known for. >> nothing went exactly as planned. >> but for the moment, all 130 refugees have a place to stay. and heike jungling is taking every day as it comes. christopher we're going to stay : with the issue of migration --

with the desperate thousands risking their lives to reach europe. but we're going to take a different perspective now -- the perspective of the people of kosovo, in south-eastern europe. more than 30,000 kosovans have applied for asylum in germany this year so far. but it isn't conflict they're trying to escape -- it's blinding poverty. and as so-called economic migrants, their applications are almost always rejected. even so, many entrust themselves to people-smugglers and set off on an arduous journey north. our reporter frank hofling caught up with a man in south-eastern kosovo who'd like to stay in his home village but says there's just nothing there for him. >> smoke billows through sallkovit -- and with it a powerful stench. this is ramadan sulejmani's hometown. like everyone here, he makes a living out of producing charcoal -- illegally. he's been doing this since he left school twelve years ago. but he longs for a better life.

>> if i could afford the journey, i'd go today. there's no reason to stay. there's nothing here. >> many people here would like to go to germany to find regular work. that's something ramadan has never had. he and his wife shpresa get 80 euros a month in state income support for themselves and their three children. that's not even enough to cover food. that's why he resorts to felling trees illegally. >> we have to pay big fines if we're caught by the police. sometimes they also confiscate our car. >> those who can't pay up often land in jail. it takes ramadan ten days to get enough wood for a charcoal kiln. the wood then needs to be smoked for another ten days to produce charcoal, which ramadan sells to restaurants in kosovo's capital, pristina.

it is grinding poverty, right in the middle of europe. the family's home is made of clay. the toilet's a plank of wood. the village has no running water. smoke from the kiln enters every crack. >> the kids don't ask if you'll damage your health. they need food, something to drink. >> ramadan's wife shpresa know what a comfortable life feels like. at the age of eleven, she and her family fled to canada to escape the war in kosovo. >> yes, i lived in canada three years with my parents, and and it's so nice over there, i'd like to go again. >> ramadan's younger brother has already left. seven months ago, he and his pregnant wife went to germany with their two-year old daughter. ramadan's father is heartbroken that his family is being torn apart.

>> i can't bear it. i miss them so much. >> on the other side of the hill is llabjan. it's home to 18-year-old ukshin beqiri. he tried to leave, and made it as far as southern germany. >> we made it into serbia legally with our id cards. but we had to cross the border into hungary illegally. with the help of the black market, as we call it. >> ukshin's asylum application was rejected and he was deported. german authorities said his home country was safe. that may be, he says, but he still wants to escape poverty. fortunes have changed drastically over the years. back in the 15th century, this was the site of europe's largest silver mine. the ruins of a catholic church testify to a time when tens of thousands of poor german miners came to kosovo in search of a

better life. in the former yugoslavia the mines employed much of the local population. but since the war, the number of workers has declined sharply. serbia and kosovo are engaged in a dispute about who owns the mine. ramadan would like a job there, but knows its unlikely. >> if i had one, of course i'd stay here with my family. there'd be no reason to go. >> international organizations like u.s. aid have been working to improve conditions in kosovo for years. ukshin, who was turned away from germany, has seen his siblings benefit from such programs. their school's now equipped with computers and connected to the internet. it's hoped micro loans will help create new jobs. >> we're working very closely with the municipality to help them engage them with citzens so that citizens and local government can sit down and jointly decide what are the

priority infrastructure projects that are needed in this community. >> but james hope often finds such decisions hard to understand. the aid organization had earmarked funds to bring running water to the village of sallkovit, whose population is largely of albanian descent. but local authorities instead spent it on streetlamps in a serbian-dominated village. people of serbian descent currently form the majority in the area. for ramadan, it's one more reason to try his luck in germny. even if the country is doing its best to deter people like him from coming. >> we'll close our eyes, grit our teeth, and try to get in. >> so, as night falls, he makes his way back to the forest to fell more trees. he's saving some of the money to pay traffickers to get him out.

christopher the turbulent end of : world war two gave birth to many a myth -- according to one, adolf hitler's nazis loaded tons of gold onto a train and then drove that train into an underground tunnel somewhere in poland. this myth has fascinated poles for decades and now two treasure hunters say they have what they call "irrefutable proof" of the train's location. their claim has set off a veritable gold rush in the area, with hundreds of tourists, amateur historians and journalists heading for the region of lower silesia. with police now securing the site and experts trying to verify the claim, local attention is high, with many hoping this could perhaps bring a little more prosperity to an otherwise depressed region. >> things are looking up in wa?brzych. the polish city has gone through hard times in recent years. many coal mines have closed and unemployment is high. but reports that a train, possibly filled with gold, has been found nearby have given

people hope. >> whether it exists or not, the city needs to take advantage of this. >> it's great. wa?brzych will become famous. lots of people will come and that's good for hotels. >> andrzej gaik is a treasure hunter and amateur historian. he may be sitting on top of the gold-filled train right now -- here alongside the train tracks . >> i believe they created an explosion and the ground caved in. then they covered it with stones, earth and sand, to conceal it. if the train exists, it'd be in this section, between kilometer 61 and 65. >> beneath the forests of lower silesia province there could be a connection to the extensive system of tunnels created by the nazis during the second world war. two men who've explored the area recently claimed that this is

where the train will be found. ever since, people have been coming in droves -- journalists, amateur historians and treasure hunters. a hidden train, gold, nazi secrets -- it's like something out a spy novel. but could it be for real? >> i think it could be true. lower silesia province has so many secrets that have yet to be uncovered. all of the caves and tunnels and things. >> unearthing it would be a big risk. it's all mined, maybe even with special glass mines. i'd never do it. i'd rather be poor than dead. >> we're not allowed to enter the area anymore, but let's go. >> a decade ago, andrzej gajk and a friend carried out excavations here. they found remains of a wall, possibly from a tunnel.

gajk thinks that, during world war ii, trains carrying a mysterious cargo departed from wroc?aw -- bound for unknown destinations. >> i've often imagined what it would be like if a train were found. they'd lay a track, hook it up to an engine and pull the train out. we'd see all the guns, the canons, and put it all on the tracks. >> but now, two plainclothes policemen are asking us to leave. they're doing their best to keep would-be treasure hunters away. but then curiosity gets the better of them. together they speculate whether the train is near kilometer 65. soldiers are now searching the grounds, but have little to go on. piotr koper and andreas richter have gone public with their discovery, but revealed few details.

>> we don't want to reveal more about the train. there's enough hysteria already. >> they presented this radar image, but many found it not terribly convincing. ksi?? castle is located nearby. it's enjoyed twice as many visitors since the announcement about the train was made. seized by the nazis during the war, the castle was supposed to be converted into quarters for none other than adolf hitler. andrzej gaik gets right to the point. >> so, does the train with the gold exist? i would say yes! when even the deputy culture minister says he's 99 percent convinced, there must be something to it. >> quick to recognize the potential goldmine, ksi?? castle had t-shirts printed. they invite visitors to 'explore wa?brzych'. the city hopes to cash in -- even if not all that glitters turns out to be gold.

christopher there's nothing like : gold to get people's pulses racing. especially when it is tons and tons of the stuff apparently. and that brings us to a golden finish in this week's edition of focus on europe -- we'll be back next week of course, at the same time. meanwhile, do send us your thoughts and comments on what you've just seen -- it's always good to get your perspectives on things. for now, thanks for watching and see you soon. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

steves: since the romantic era in the 19th century, luzern has been a regular stop on the grand tour route of europe. [ whistle blows ] its inviting lakefront now includes a modern concert hall, which incorporates the lake into its design. the old town, with a pair of picture-perfect wooden bridges, straddles the reuss river, where it tumbles out of lake luzern. the bridge was built at an angle in the 14th century to connect the town's medieval fortifications. today, it serves strollers, rather than soldiers, as a peaceful way to connect two sides of town. many are oblivious to the fascinating art just overhead. under the rafters hang about 100 colorful 17th-century paintings showing scenes from luzern and its history. this legendary giant dates to the middle ages, when locals discovered mammoth bones,

which they mistakenly thought were the bones of a human giant. here's luzern in about 1400, the bridge already part of the city fortifications. and luzern looked like this in 1630. luzern is responsible for controlling the lake level. by regulating the flow of water out of its lake, the city prevents the flooding of lakeside villages when the snow melts. in the mid-19th century, the city devised and built this extendable dam. by adding and taking away these wooden slats, they could control the level of the lake. swans are a fixture on the river today. locals say they arrived in the 17th century as a gift from the french king, louis xiv, in appreciation for the protection his swiss guards gave him. switzerland has a long history of providing strong and loyal warriors to foreign powers. the city's famous lion monument recalls the heroism

of more swiss mercenaries. the mighty lion rests his paws on a french shield. tears stream down his cheeks. the broken-off end of a spear is slowly killing the noble beast. the sad lion is a memorial to over 700 swiss mercenaries who were killed, defending marie antoinette and louis xvi during the french revolution. the people of luzern take full advantage of their delightful river with a variety of cafes and restaurants along its banks. this evening, we're enjoying the setting as much as the food. i'm having the local pork. my producer, simon, is having eel, fresh from the river. with a picturesque setting like this, the dining experience makes for a wonderful memory.