What if these walls could talk? Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee holds stories of crime and punishment. It also holds stories of resistance and unimaginable suffering. This men’s prison in Berlin has a dark past. It stands as a stark reminder of the Nazi era.
Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee, or JVA Plötzensee, began as a detention center in 1868. By 1879, it was a fully functioning prison. It now has capacity for 577 prisoners. The State of Berlin judicial administration operates it.
Initially, it was the Königlich Preußische Strafgefängnis Plötzensee. That translates to Royal Prussian Plötzensee Prison. It was once the largest prison in the German Empire. Around 1,400 inmates lived here. The prison covered 25.7 hectares. It even included a church and a Jewish prayer area.
The prison’s name comes from the nearby Plötzensee Lake. Plötze is the local German name for the common roach. In Polish, it is Płoć.
But Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee’s history took a sinister turn during the Nazi regime. It became one of the main execution sites in Germany. About 3,000 inmates were executed here.
After 1933, the Nazis used Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee to silence dissent. Political opponents were imprisoned en masse. They were often transferred to labor camps or early concentration camps.
The prison became a central execution site. Most of those killed were Germans and people from occupied Europe. They resisted the Nazi regime. Among them were members of the Red Orchestra. Also members of the 20 July plot and the Kreisau Circle.
Executions initially took place with an axe in the courtyard. From 1937, a guillotine was used. It came from Bruchsal Prison. The execution shed was a ground-level brick building. It was near the prison walls. Inmates had to walk there from their cell block. In 1942, a beam was added for hanging multiple victims at once.
The bereaved families had to pay for their relative’s imprisonment. They also had to pay an execution charge. It cost 1.5 Reichsmarks for each day in prison. Plus 300 Reichsmarks for the execution.
After an RAF air raid damaged the guillotine in 1943, executions continued by hanging. During the “Plötzensee Bloody Nights,” about 250 people were hanged. The last execution occurred on April 20, 1945. Five days later, the Red Army liberated the remaining inmates.
Hermann Stieve, an anatomist, received the bodies after execution. He dissected them for research. He focused on the effects of stress on the menstrual cycle.
Today, the execution shed is a memorial site. It commemorates those executed by the Nazis. The Senate of Berlin dedicated it in 1952. The guillotine disappeared after the war. A memorial wall now stands in the execution room. It honors the victims of Hitler’s dictatorship.
Since 2013, Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee includes the JVA Charlottenburg and the Justizvollzugskrankenhaus Berlin. One in three inmates here are jailed for fare evasion.
Even East Germany’s last communist leader, Egon Krenz, served time here. He was convicted of manslaughter for orders at the Berlin Wall. He was here from 2000 to 2003.
Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee stands as a reminder. It highlights the importance of upholding the rights of prisoners. It is a place where the echoes of history urge us to remember.