The Gedenkstätte Plötzensee hasn’t been forgotten, but it’s also not really famous or highly visited, even though a visit is definitely worth it if you’re interested in the German past and the terror regime of the Nazis between 1933-1945.
The memorial is situated near the Plötzensee in Berlin Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.
The nightmarish, high walls follow you into the memorial where you can find a still walkable part of the “Hinrichtungsschuppen” (Engl. execution shed), which was separated into two rooms. In one of them you can see the hook where the prisoners were hung and in the other one you can inform yourself about the prisoners and their stories as well as the most ridiculous verdicts that were made.
The penitentiary Plötzensee was built as a prison in front of Berlin’s gates from 1868 to 1879. A prison with a size of 25ha and space for over 1200 prisoners was created. There were also many working sheds, administration houses, plant buildings, a prison hospital and a church as well as apartments for the officers, which were built with the typical red bricks.
After the Nazi takeover in 1933, the prison was supposed to use deter and raze “inferior people”. Someone who stole gooses and rabbits was also executed, just like a partisan and ostensible “enemies” of the regime. After 1939, many people died because of smaller offenses.
All in all, 2891 people were sentenced to death from 1933 – 1945.
Gedenkstätte Plötzensee
Hüttigpfad
13627 Berlin – Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
Free Entry
Copyright and Source: http://www.gedenkstaette-ploetzensee.de/
Image source: Readthetrieb
