Story highlights Researchers used ground-penetrating radar to find the tunnel

Guards found the prisoners trying to escape and shot most of them

(CNN) The Jewish prisoners used spoons and their bare hands to dig the tunnel in Lithuania's Ponar forest during World War II, hoping it would lead them to freedom.

In the end, 15 managed to escape -- but only 11 survived.

Now, a group of researchers using ground-penetrating radar has found the 100-foot tunnel, a discovery one called a "witness to the victory of hope over desperation."

The team included experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority, Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, and the universities of Hartford and Calgary.

More than 100,00 people, including 70,000 Lithuanian Jews were massacred in the Ponar forest during World War II.

Read More