Detention center of the Ministry of State Security

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ministry of State Security (Stasi) for operation of the early 1950s to 1989 trial detention centers (UHA) in all districts of the GDR . There were political prisoners detained until sentencing.

function

The MfS saw itself as the “shield and sword” of the SED . His task was not only that of a secret service that collected and analyzed information, but also that of an instrument of repression for the SED against supposed and actual political opponents of the SED dictatorship . As a political secret police , the Stasi used secret service methods as well as police and criminal procedural means. For this purpose, each MfS district administration had its own remand prison. In addition there was the central remand prison of the State Security in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen and two other Berlin prisons.

They were purely pre-trial detention centers. After the judicial conviction of the victims (the court proceedings did not correspond to the rule of law at any time (see also GDR justice )), they were transferred to the regular prisons of the GDR. These were then no longer subordinate to the MfS, but to the Ministry of the Interior . Political prisoners were often held in Bautzen II . This prison was actually controlled by the MfS and is now a memorial .

organization

Prisons I and II were operated by Department XIV of the Ministry, which was also responsible for overseeing Departments XIV of the District State Security Administrations. These departments had the task of organizing pre-trial detention and the execution of sentences including the transport of prisoners, identification treatment, medical care and the so-called "safeguarding of court hearings".

However, interrogations and investigations were carried out by employees of Line IX, the investigative departments of the Stasi. There was also the responsibility for the unofficial work with prisoners on remand, wiretapping of cells and visitor rooms as well as other "political-operational measures" against prisoners.

Legal basis

There was never a legal basis for the existence of the MfS prisons. Legally, the prison administration of the Ministry of the Interior in the GDR was responsible for running prisons. The 1968 Prison Act also outlined the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior (and the Ministry of Defense for military law enforcement ).

The regulations governing the operation of the Stasi prisons were merely internal and secret service regulations governing the execution of investigations and sentences by the MfS. A first service instruction for the MfS's pre-trial detention can be traced back to 1955. In 1968 and 1980 joint regulations on pretrial detention were issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of State Security.

In 1986 a comprehensive system of orders and instructions was created in the MfS, including almost all areas of pre-trial detention in the MfS. Also in 1986 an order about the execution of sentences in the MfS was added.

Dissolution after the turn

With the change on November 17, 1989, the Ministry for State Security was converted by the Modrow government into the Office for National Security (AfNS). On December 14th, under pressure from the democratic citizens' movement and under the influence of the Central Round Table , the Council of Ministers decided to dissolve the AfNS and thus all prisons. The prison departments were transferred to the administration of the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR.

Central remand prison of the State Security

In 1951 the Ministry for State Security took over the Central Remand Detention Center of the Soviet secret police in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen and operated the prison as the Central Remand Detention Center of the State Security (Remand Detention Center I). This also contained the Ministry of State Security's detention hospital. The visiting rooms for both prisons were located in Remand Prison II on Magdalenenstrasse right next to the headquarters of the Ministry for State Security .

The location in Magdalenenstrasse meant that the prisoners called the prison "Magdalena". The songwriter Bettina Wegner composed a song of the same name about this name in 1978 and the writer and dissident Jürgen Fuchs wrote a novel entitled "Magdalena".

After the fall of the Wall, Remand Prison I became a memorial.

Detention centers of the District Administrations of the Ministry of State Security

Rostock district

At the end of the 1950s, the district administration of the MfS in the Rostock district set up a pre-trial detention center at Hermannstrasse 34b in Rostock . The three-story building had about 50 cells in which 110 people could be detained at the same time as planned. Today the building complex is a memorial.

Schwerin district

The remand prison of the district administration of the MfS in the Schwerin district on Demmlerplatz in Schwerin had been a judicial prison since 1916. Political prisoners have been held here since 1933, initially by the National Socialist rulers, from 1945 by the Soviet secret service and since the beginning of 1954 by the MfS. The property has been used by the Schwerin District Court since the fall of the Wall . A documentation center has existed since 2001 in memory of the victims of both German dictatorships.

Neubrandenburg district

In 1953, the district administration of the MfS in the Neubrandenburg district set up a pre- trial detention center in a small detention center at Töpferstraße 13a in Neustrelitz , which was built around the turn of the century . This was used until 1987, while the construction of a new UHA in Neubrandenburg began in 1983. The UHA in Neubrandenburg was used from 1987 to 1989 as the district's MfS remand prison. Today the Neubrandenburg correctional facility is housed there. A memorial has been located at the Neustrelitz site since 2016.

Potsdam district

Since 1953, the district administration of the MfS in the Potsdam district had been running a remand prison at Lindenstrasse 54/55 in Potsdam . The building complex has been a memorial site since 1995.

Frankfurt (Oder) district

The district administration of the MfS in the Frankfurt (Oder) district took over the prison at Collegienstraße 10 from the Soviet secret service as a pre-trial detention center around 1950. At the end of the 18th century there was already a workhouse on the site, which was converted into a police and court prison in 1812. In 1933 the Gestapo took over the prison, held opponents of the regime there and carried out executions. The Soviet occupation authorities continued this use and handed the building over to the Stasi after the GDR was founded.

In 1969 the district administration of the MfS moved to Otto-Grotewohl-Straße 53 (today: Robert-Havemann-Straße 11 ), and the previous Stasi prison was used by the people's police . After the fall of the Wall, a memorial and documentation center was set up.

Cottbus district

In Cottbus , the local court prison was used from May 1945 to 1950 as a pre-trial detention center for the NKVD and later for the district administration of the MfS in the Cottbus district . The court prison in the style of the German Renaissance is part of the royal district court, which was built between 1905 and 1907. Architects were building officer Beutler and government master builder Krause. Today the former Stasi prison is house 2 of the Cottbus regional court on the court square directly on the banks of the Spree.

The political prisoners in this prison included, among others, the general secretary of the CDU in Brandenburg Dieter Dombrowski , the Brandenburg state parliament president Gunter Fritsch (SPD), the plastinator Gunther von Hagens and also the head of the Stasi records authority Roland Jahn . A memorial stone has been commemorating the victims of the Nazi and SED dictatorship since December 3, 1993.

Magdeburg district

From 1950 to 1958 the remand prison of the district administration of the MfS in the Magdeburg district was housed in the Magdeburg- Sudenburg prison. After that, the MfS ran its own remand prison on Moritzplatz in Magdeburg . From the perspective of the socialist rulers, Magdeburg was a critical place. During the popular uprising on June 17, 1953, around 1,000 demonstrators stormed the Magdeburg-Neustadt pre-trial detention center and liberated 221 prisoners.

Halle district

The pre-trial detention center of the district administration of the MfS in the Halle district had been the prison in Halle (Saale) , Am Kirchtor 20, popularly known as the “Red Ox” , since 1952 . Over 9,000 political prisoners were imprisoned here in the course of GDR history.

Leipzig district

The pre-trial detention center of the district administration of the MfS in the Leipzig district was located on Beethovenstrasse in Leipzig . The building was built in the 19th century according to a design by the architect Hugo Licht and was part of an entire judicial and prison complex opposite the former Imperial Court. The prison had a capacity of 98 political prisoners. In 1988 the average occupancy was 45. The last head of the prison was Lieutenant Colonel Horst Näther.

Dresden district

Since 1952, the district administration of the MfS in the Dresden district has been running a remand prison on Bautzner Strasse in Dresden . The building complex has been a memorial site since 1995.

Karl-Marx-Stadt district

The pre-trial detention center of the district administration of the MfS in the Karl-Marx-Stadt district had been located on Kaßbergstrasse in the Kaßberg district since 1950 . At last the prison had 163 cells for 329 political prisoners. The institution was divided into three sections. The prisoners on remand were in section A, the prisoners who were intended for the release of prisoners in section B , and section C served as a reserve. A memorial stone commemorates the dictatorship of the SED from 1945 to 1989.

Commons : Prison Chemnitz-Kaßberg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

District of Erfurt

The pre-trial detention facility of the district administration of the MfS in the Erfurt district was located on Andreasstrasse in Erfurt . The building was built in 1874/79 as a judicial prison and later used as a police prison. From 1952 the building was partially used by the Stasi. While political prisoners were previously held in other prisons, the UHA Erfurt was now used for the pre-trial detention of political prisoners. Today the prison is a memorial and educational site .

Gera district

In Gera , the local court prison "Amthordurchgang" was used from May 1945 to 1950 as a remand prison by the NKVD and later by the district administration of the MfS in the Gera district . Today it is the memorial and meeting place in the gatehouse of the political prison 1933-1945 and 1945-1989 .

District of Suhl

The prison, completed in 1859, was used from 1953 to 1989 as a pre-trial detention facility for the Suhl district administration . Today the Meiningen State Archive is located here - Suhl branch (archive depot).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Julia Spohr: In custody at the State Security. The remand prison Berlin-Hohenschönhausen 1951–1989, Göttingen 2015, ISBN 978-3-525-35120-8 , p. 29 ff.
  2. ↑ Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial Foundation: History of the detention department ( Memento from June 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , last viewed on May 20, 2019.
  3. ↑ Katrin Passens: MfS pre -trial detention - functions and development from 1971 to 1989 , Berlin 2012, p. 36.
  4. ^ Anne Kaminsky (ed.): Places of Remembrance: Memorial signs, memorials and museums on the dictatorship in the Soviet occupation zone and GDR , 2nd revised and supplemented edition, Berlin 2007, p. 68.
  5. ↑ Texts of the city: Stasi Museum , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  6. ↑ BStU: Documentation and memorial site in the former custody of the Stasi in Rostock .
  7. ^ Political Memorials Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Rostock / Documentation and memorial site of the BStU in the former MfS remand prison , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  8. ↑ State Center for Civic Education Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Documentation Center , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  9. ↑ Politische Memoriale Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Search for traces of the Neustrelitz Stasi prison , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  10. ^ City of Neustrelitz: memorial site “Former Stasi detention center Töpferstrasse” Neustrelitz
  11. ^ Museum Viadrina: Memorial and documentation center “Victims of Political Tyranny” 1930–1945 / 1945–1989 , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  12. ^ Regional Court Cottbus: History of the Regional Court Cottbus , last viewed on May 20, 2019.
  13. ↑ Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb): Page no longer available , search in web archives: Captured in Cottbus@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.rbb-online.de , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  14. ^ Anna Kaminsky (ed.): Places of Remembrance: Memorial signs, memorials and museums on the dictatorship in the Soviet occupation zone and GDR . 2nd revised and expanded edition, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86153-443-3 , p. 161. (online)
  15. ↑ H-Soz-u-Kult: Conference “50 years of the move of the MfS to Moritzplatz in Magdeburg - torture and confession production at the MfS and in (German) German history” , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  16. ↑ June 17, 1953: Magdeburg district , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  17. ↑ Memorial Museum in the "Round Corner" : The Pretrial Detention Centers (UHA) of the Ministry for State Security , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  18. ^ Anna Kaminsky (ed.): Places of Remembrance: Memorial signs, memorials and museums on the dictatorship in the Soviet occupation zone and GDR . 2nd revised and expanded edition, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86153-443-3 , p. 330, (online)
  19. ↑ Freiheit eV - Förderverein Gedenkstätte Andreasstraße , last viewed on July 18, 2013.
  20. ↑ Andrea Herz: 37 years of remand prison of the GDR State Security - Erfurt district ( Memento of September 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) , last viewed on May 20, 2019.
  21. ^ Society for Contemporary History: Education and memorial site of the former Stasi detention center Andreasstrasse Erfurt , last viewed on May 20, 2019.
  22. ↑ Memorial and meeting place in the gatehouse of the political prison 1933-1945 and 1945-1989: History 1952-1989 , last viewed on July 17, 2013.