The chilling silence here speaks volumes. This is the Gedenk- und Begegnungsstätte Leistikowstraße Potsdam. We stand before a building that once housed a dark secret a prison operated by the Soviet military counterintelligence.
From 1945 to 1991 this seemingly ordinary building on Leistikowstraße served as a clandestine interrogation center. It was originally built between 1916 and 1918 by the Evangelical Church Aid Association. After the Potsdam Conference the Soviet authorities took control. They transformed this former parsonage into a prison. It became a place of untold suffering for thousands.
Many victims were Soviet citizens. Germans were also imprisoned. They were held without legal representation. They endured months of interrogations. Some were subjected to brutal mistreatment. Many received disproportionately harsh sentences. Some were sent to Soviet special camps or the Gulag. Others faced execution. Forced confessions formed the basis of these sentences. After 1955 only Soviet military personnel and civilian employees of the Soviet troops were imprisoned here.
The exact number of those affected remains unknown to this day. The sheer scale of the atrocities is staggering. It’s believed that the secret service executed approximately 80 prisoners from this prison at an unknown location. This occurred either in Potsdam or Moscow. The Gedenk- und Begegnungsstätte Leistikowstraße Potsdam stands as a testament to this dark chapter. It’s a place of remembrance. It’s a place of encounter.
The prison operated until the KGB’s dissolution in 1991. Later it was used as a storage facility. Following the withdrawal of Soviet Russian troops it was returned to the Evangelical Church Aid Association in 1994. After extensive restoration work the Gedenk- und Begegnungsstätte opened on March 29 2009. Funded by the state of Brandenburg and the federal government it stands as a poignant memorial.
The permanent exhibition explores the prison’s history. It also highlights the fates of those incarcerated. The exhibition opened in April 2012. A total of 2.2 million euros were invested. This came from the state of Brandenburg the Federal Republic of Germany and private donors. The Gedenk- und Begegnungsstätte Leistikowstraße Potsdam is open to the public with regular opening hours. Admission is free. This memorial allows us to learn from the past and to ensure that similar events never happen again. It is a place of reflection a place where the stories of the victims are kept alive. Let’s pause a moment for contemplation in this space of remembrance. The Gedenk- und Begegnungsstätte Leistikowstraße Potsdam serves as a constant reminder of the importance of justice and human rights.