Brandenburg-Görden prison
Beginning operations in 1931, the prison is regarded as one of the biggest correctional facilities of the German Reich. Between 1933 and 1945, approx. 20,000 political prisoners and common criminals from all over Europe are detained here. In 1940, the Nazis install a guillotine to be used in executions.
The last few weeks prior to liberation
Holding approx. 3,500 inmates in April 1945, the prison is completely overcrowded. The prisoners are malnourished and suffer from lack of medical care. When the frontline draws closer, the guillotine is sunk in a nearby lake. Some of the warders and the director flee.
27 April 1945
In the morning of 27 April, the cells are unlocked. Representatives of the prisoners and the remaining staff prepare for a peaceful handover of the prison to the approaching Red Army. Around noon, a Soviet tank rolls through the gate greeted by cheering prisoners. [331]
Evacuation of the prison
Since the prison is situated between the frontlines, the Red Army orders the facility to be evacuated on 28 April. Most of the inmates leave Brandenburg-Görden on the same day. Around 300 ill or emaciated prisoners remain in the prison hospital, now a civilian one, to be nursed there.
First commemorative event in 1946
Between 1945 and 1948, the site is part of the largest repatriation camp run by the Soviet occupation administration. On the occasion of the first anniversary of liberation, former inmates and their relatives are allowed to enter and, standing in front of the Nazi execution place, remember the people killed here.
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