Why a Thriller Like The Naacal Protocol – Code 211 Is Set in Poland

by Adelio Debenedetti, author of The Naacal Protocol – Code 211

When I began shaping the narrative world of The Naacal Protocol – Code 211, I knew that geography would not be just a backdrop. In my work, landscapes carry history, tension, unspoken memories. They shape the psychology of the characters and define the atmosphere of the thriller itself. That is why choosing Poland was not only deliberate—it was necessary.

Poland, especially the Sudetes region, is set apart by a unique intersection of history, geopolitics, and unresolved mysteries. Beneath its forests and mountains lies one of Europe’s most enigmatic underground complexes: Project Riese. A maze of tunnels carved by the Nazis during the final phase of World War II, its real purpose remains a subject of speculation. Some believe it was intended as an underground command center. Others link it to experimental research, secret technologies, or hidden war assets. The truth has never been fully uncovered, and that silence creates narrative power.

Underground tunnel of Project Riese in the Polish Sudetes, one of the real locations that inspired the setting of The Naacal Protocol – Code 211.

Source: Fonte: Wikimedia Commons – autore: Jacek Halicki Licenza: CC BY-SA 4.0

This is where the thriller finds its natural terrain. A story set in Poland allows modern espionage to collide with forgotten wartime programs, merging cognitive warfare, ancient symbols, and Cold War shadows into a single continuum. The tunnels of Riese, the legend of Base 211, and the myth of buried trains and lost laboratories all provide the perfect connective tissue between historical fact and speculative fiction.

Poland is also central to Europe’s current geopolitical landscape. It stands on the fault line between East and West, between NATO and Russia, between the past and the future of the continent. Setting the novel in Poland makes the conflict not only believable, but unavoidable. It mirrors the tensions shaping today’s world and anchors the thriller in a place where history and strategy constantly overlap.

For a story like The Naacal Protocol – Code 211, choosing Poland meant embracing a land that remembers. A territory where every tunnel, every forest ridge, every abandoned bunker hints at something buried beneath the surface—physically and metaphorically. It is a place where secrets do not die; they wait.

Misty morning landscape in the Sudetes. This mountain region between Poland and the Czech Republic has long been a crossroads of myths, strategic routes, and borderland stories.

Source: Wikimedia Commons – autore: Martin Kozák Licenza: CC BY-SA 3.0

So why Poland?

Because everything a thriller seeks is found there:

– real mysteries– a lack of official answers– modern mythology– geopolitical tension– places with a unique energy– concrete narrative possibilities

It is the place where The Naacal Protocol – Code 211 is born, and the place that defines my vision as an author: Adelio Debenedetti, searching for the exact point where history and imagination touch without ever merging. For all these reasons, the novel could only be set in Poland. As Livio Guida notes in his preface, the choice is not decorative—it is structural.