The main entrance to the building, where Navy officers came in and out, can be seen from this area. Until 1979, detainees were brought inside through the back of the building, forced down a staircase that connected the upper and lower levels, and taken into the basement.
Anticipating the IACHR visit in September of 1979, the Navy made several structural changes to the building in order to prevent the visual inspection from finding anything that would match the reports of survivors. This hall is one of the spots in this building where we can clearly notice these changes.
In the lower area of the staircase, the access to the basement was removed and replaced with a wooden enclosure. At the other end, they removed the elevator we know it existed because of the sounds survivors heard.
During this time it is also believed that they modified the existing phone booth. The booth was located on the right side, where there is now a bathroom. Detainees were forced to call their homes from here and discourage their families from reporting their disappearance.
During the Inter American Commission’s visit, the Navy transferred a group of prisoners to an island in the Paraná River called ‘El Silencio’, which used to be owned by the Catholic Church. One group was liberated while another one was ‘transferred’ in what later became known as the Death Flights.