Brandenburg-Görden Prison is located on Anton-Saefkow-Allee in the Görden quarter of

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel (; ) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Erected between 1927 and 1935, it was built to be the most secure and modern prison in Europe. Both criminal and political prisoners were sent there, as well as people imprisoned for

preventive detention Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non- punitive purposes, most often to prevent further criminal acts. Preventive detention sometimes involves the detention of a convicted criminal who has served their sente ...

or for interrogation and prisoners of war. Built with a capacity of 1,800, it sometimes held over 4,000 during the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

era. After the war,

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

used the prison to incarcerate at least 170,000 people. Prisoners were used for labor, with them making things such as tractors, kitchen furniture, uniforms and radiation suits, electric motors, shoes, and cars.

History

A first Zuchthaus in Brandenburg was established on Neuendorfer Straße in 1820. The old Brandenburg Prison was closed in 1931 because of its disastrous hygienic conditions, but later housed a

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

from August 1933 till February 1934. It later became the site of the

Brandenburg Euthanasia Centre The Brandenburg Euthanasia Centre (), officially known as the Brandenburg an der Havel State Welfare Institute (''Landes-Pflegeanstalt Brandenburg a. H.''), was a killing centre established in 1939 as part of the Nazi euthanasia programme, known af ...

, part of the Nazis' involuntary

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

program known later as

Aktion T4 (German, ) was a campaign of Homicide#By state actors, mass murder by involuntary euthanasia which targeted Disability, people with disabilities and the mentally ill in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-WWII, war trials against d ...

, where from February to October 1940, some 10,000 disabled, mentally retarded or mentally ill people were gassed based on official numbers."Denkmal zur Befreiung des Zuchthauses Brandenburg-Görden"
City of Brandenburg, official website. Retrieved March 17, 2010 Upon the Nazi ''

Machtergreifung The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

'', the new prison in Görden became an instrument of

political repression Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

and terror. It was a Zuchthaus for inmates with lengthy or life sentences at hard labor, as well as prisoners who had been sentenced to death. Initially, there weren't many political prisoners at the new prison, but during the war years, the share increased to about 60%. In 1940, Brandenburg-Görden became one of the selected central execution sites established throughout Germany by the order of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and Reich Minister of Justice

Franz Gürtner Franz Gürtner (26 August 1881 – 29 January 1941) was a German Minister of Justice in the governments of Franz von Papen, Kurt von Schleicher and Adolf Hitler. Gürtner was responsible for coordinating jurisprudence in Nazi Germany and provi ...

. An execution chamber was installed, using what had previously been a garage, with a

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

and a

gallows A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...

. The total number of executions was 2,743 and took place between 1 August 1940 and 20 April 1945, most of them convicts sentenced to death by ''

Sondergericht A ''Sondergericht'' (plural: ''Sondergerichte'') was a German "special court". After taking power in 1933, the Nazis quickly moved to remove internal opposition to the Nazi regime in Germany. The legal system became one of many tools for this ai ...

e'' courts of the notorious People's Court under President

Roland Freisler Karl Roland Freisler (30 October 1893 – 3 February 1945) was a German jurist, judge and politician who served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice from 1935 to 1942 and as President of the People's Court from 1942 to 194 ...

. The youngest victim was a 15-year-old French boy. By the end of 1942, "preventive detention" prisoners, such as Jews,

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

Sinti The Sinti (masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintetsa, Sinta'') are a subgroup of the Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France, Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally Itinerant groups i ...

, Russians and Ukrainians were sent to concentration camps.Dokumentationsstelle Zuchthaus Brandenburg
Archive for ''Zuchthaus Brandenburg''. Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenstätte (Brandenburg Memorial Foundation) Retrieved March 17, 2010 Several victims were members of the

20 July plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...

, about 100 were Bible Students condemned as

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s. By the end of the

era, from 1933–1945, roughly 4,300 people had been imprisoned at Brandenburg-Görden. A total of 1,722 people, who were sentenced for political reasons, were executed there. 652 other political prisoners died from disease and seven committed suicide. The

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

liberated the prison during the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...

on 27 April 1945, finding around 3,600 prisoners, including 180 awaiting execution. After the war, the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

imprisoned collaborators here until 1947, primarily members of the

Russian Liberation Army The Russian Liberation Army (; , ), also known as the Vlasov army () was a collaborationist formation, primarily composed of Russians, that fought under German command during World War II. From January 1945, the army was led by Andrey Vlasov, ...

. Until 1989, the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

also used the correctional facility for political prisoners. Since 1975, there has been a memorial room at the prison, which is today part of a Justizvollzugsanstalt complex.

The present

Today the

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

is divided into three main sections, plus a social therapy wing and prison hospital. There is a jail for 88 adults, a medium security wing for 330 adult men and a minimum security wing for 100 adult men. In addition, there is a social therapy wing with 80 men and a prison hospital with 32 beds. There are another 36 beds in the transport wing for prisoners who are being moved from one location to another. The JVA Brandenburg is a men's prison and is supported by a total staff of 439, of whom 145 are women. Prisoners there have sentences from temporary detention to

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

, the most severe sentence in Germany. Life sentence does not, however, mean one is to spend the rest of one's life in prison, rather that it is for an undetermined, but long time with a minimum of 15 years. After 15 years, the sentence may be commuted. The prison underwent renovations that were completed in 2014. Security and technical equipment were upgraded. The prison remained operational during this time. The street where the prison exists is now named for one of the people executed there,

Anton Saefkow Anton Emil Hermann Saefkow (; 22 July 1903 – 18 September 1944) was a Germans, German Communist and a German resistance to Nazism, resistance fighter against the Nazi Germany, Nazi régime. He was arrested in July 1944 and executed on 18 S ...

Notable prisoners

(Many of the people on this list are notable because they later became important in the

. For more information on any of the people below, see the list on the German version of this page.) *, 1935?-1945 * Bruno Baum, 1937–1945 *, 1971–1972 * Hermann Brill, 1939–1943 * Otto Buchwitz, 1941–1945 * Ernst Busch, 1943–1945 *

Karl Wilhelm Fricke Karl Wilhelm Fricke (born 3 September 1929) is a German political journalist and author. He has produced several of the standard works on resistance and state repression in the German Democratic Republic (1949–1990). In 1955, he became one of ...

, 1956–1959 *

Michael Gartenschläger The SM-70 (''Splittermine Modell 1970'') is an East German directional Fragmentation (weaponry), fragmentation antipersonnel mine developed specifically to combat ''Republikflucht'' (defection) across the Inner German Border (''Grenze'') into West ...

, 1961–1971 * Paul Hatschek, 1943?-1944 *

Robert Havemann Robert Havemann (; 11 March 1910 – 9 April 1982) was an East German chemist and dissident. Life and career He studied chemistry in Berlin and Munich from 1929 to 1933, and then later received a doctorate in physical chemistry from the Kaiser ...

, 1943–1945 * Walter Hochmuth, 1942?-1945 *, 1942–1945 *

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...

, 1937–1945 *

Wilhelm Kling Wilhelm Kling (7 February 1902 – 17 November 1973) was a Communist Party of Germany (KPD) functionary, and later an associate in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in East Germany. Kling was bor ...

, 1937–1945 *, 1938–1945 * Fritz Lange, 1943–1945 * Alfred Lemmnitz, 1941–1945 * Bruno Max Leuschner, 1936–1940 *

Hans Litten Hans Achim Litten (19 June 1903 – 5 February 1938) was a German lawyer who represented opponents of the Nazi Party, Nazis at important political trials between 1929 and 1932, defending the rights of workers during the Weimar Republic. During o ...

, 1934 *

Horst Mahler Horst Mahler (born 23 January 1936) is a German former lawyer and political activist. He once was a far-left militant and a founding member of the Red Army Faction before later switching to neo-Nazism. Between 2000 and 2003, he was a member of t ...

, 1936- * Friedrich Minoux, 1941-1945 * Alfred Neumann, 1942–1945 *

Ernst Niekisch Ernst Niekisch (23 May 1889 – 23 May 1967) was a German writer and political theorist. Initially a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and of the Old Social Democratic Party of Germany (ASP), he later became a prominent exponent of th ...

, 1939–1945 * Herbert Sandberg, 1934 *, 1942–1945 *, 1938-1940 * Alexander Schwab, from 1937 *

Kurt Seibt Kurt Seibt (13 February 1908 in Berlin – 21 June 2002) was chairman of the Central Revision Commission of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands''; SED) and East Germany's Minister for Direction and C ...

, 1941–1945 * Harry Seidel, 1963–1966 * Frank Schmökel, -1993 *, 1966

Executed or died at Brandenburg-Görden Prison

* Bernhard Almstadt, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 6 November 1944 *

Hans Anhalt Hans Anhalt (25 September 1908 - 13 April 1975) was a member of the Nazi Party who served in the SS. During World War II, he was stationed in Auschwitz concentration camp. There, Anhalt personally murdered multiple prisoners, selecting them to ...

, Nazi war criminal, died in prison on 13 April 1975 *

Walter Arndt Walther Arndt (8 January 1891 in Landeshut, Silesia, now Kamienna Góra, Poland – 26 June 1944 in Brandenburg) was a German zoologist and physician. A curator at the in Berlin, and a professor, he was executed for being critical of the Nazi ...

, zoologist, executed on 26 June 1944 * Friedrich Aue, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 27 November 1944 *

Bernhard Bästlein Bernhard Bästlein (; 3 December 1894 – 18 September 1944) was a German Communist and German resistance to Nazism, resistance fighter against the Nazism, Nazi régime. He was imprisoned very shortly after the Nazis seized power in 1933 and was i ...

, Communist and co-founder of

Saefkow-Jacob-Bästlein Organization The Saefkow-Jacob-Bästlein Organization was an underground German resistance movement acting during the Second World War, that published the illegal magazine, ''Die Innere Front'' ("The Internal Front"). In the 1940s, the Communist Party of German ...

, executed on 18 September 1944 * Bruno Binnebesel, Catholic Priest and Resistance fighter, executed on 13 November 1944 * Max Borrack, Resistance fighter, executed on 19 February 1945 * Walter Budeus, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 21 August 1944 *

Jean-Marie Derscheid Jean-Marie Eugène Derscheid (19 May 1901, Sterrebeek – 13 March 1944) was a Belgian zoologist who focused much of his professional interest on Africa. He was a world expert on breeding exotic waterfowl in captivity, authored scientific artic ...

, zoologist, executed on 13 March 1944 * Hermann Danz, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 5 February 1945 * Leo Drabent, Communist and resistance fighter, executed on 20 November 1944 *

Friedrich Fromm Friedrich Wilhelm Waldemar Fromm (8 October 1888 – 12 March 1945) was a German Army officer. In World War II, Fromm was Commander in Chief of the Replacement Army (''Ersatzheer''), in charge of training and personnel replacement for combat div ...

, Officer of the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

and the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

, executed on 12 March 1945 * Paul Gesche, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 21 August 1944 * Claudius Gosau, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 6 March 1944 *

Alois Grimm Alois Grimm (24 October 1886 in Külsheim, Germany – hanged 11 September 1944 in Brandenburg-Görden) was a Jesuit priest, patristic scholar, educator, and victim of Nazi religious hostility. Early years After graduation from Gymnasium (Ger ...

, Jesuit priest, educator, theologian, hanged on 11 September 1944 * Georg Groscurth, doctor, co-founder of European Union (resistance group), executed on 8 May 1944 * Nikolaus Christoph von Halem, jurist, businessman and Resistance fighter, executed on 9 October 1944 * Ernst Hampel, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 20 April 1945 * Paul Hatschek, Czech engineer and member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, executed on 15 May 1944 * Michael Hirschberg, SPD Resistance fighter, died from heart attack from injuries after arrest, 20 March 1937 * Martin Rasmussen Hjelmen, Norwegian Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 30 May 1944 * Cäsar Horn, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 19 March 1945 * Franz Jacob, Communist and co-founder of

and

Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group The Bästlein-Jacob-Abshagen Group was a German resistance group that developed around the core members Bernhard Bästlein, Franz Jacob and Robert Abshagen. It fought the National Socialist (Nazi) regime from 1940 till the end of the war in 194 ...

, executed 1944 *

Franz Jägerstätter Franz Jägerstätter, (also spelled Jaegerstaetter in English; born Franz Huber, 20 May 1907 – 9 August 1943) was an Austrians, Austrian farmer and conscientious objector during World War II. Jägerstätter was sentenced to death and executed ...

, Catholic

, executed on 9 August 1943 * Erich Knauf, author, executed on 2 May 1944 *

Wilhelm Knöchel Wilhelm Knöchel (; 8 November 1899 – 24 July 1944) was a German Communist Party activist and organizer who after 1933, became an anti-government resistance activist. His trial lasted ten minutes. He was executed/murdered at the Brandenburg- ...

, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 24 July 1944 * Alfred Kowalke, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 6 March 1944 *

Wolfgang Kusserow Wolfgang Kusserow (1 March 1922 – 28 March 1942) was executed by guillotine at Brandenburg-Görden Prison for conscientiously objecting induction into the German Army because of his religious beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness. One of his older ...

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co- ...

, executed on 28 March 1942 * Alois Laub, member of Czechoslovak anti-nazi resistance, executed on 19 February 1945 * Arthur Ladwig, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 10 July 1944 * Georg Lehnig, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 28 March 1945 * Karl Lühr, mayor of Woltersdorf (Wendland,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

), executed on 20 December 1943 * Rudolf Mandrella, executed on 3 September 1943 * Albert Merz,

Christadelphian The Christadelphians () are a restorationist and nontrinitarian (Biblical Unitarian) Christian denomination. The name means 'brothers and sisters in Christ',"The Christadelphians, or brethren in Christ ... The very name 'Christadelphian' was co ...

, executed on 3 April 1941 * Franz Mett, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 21 August 1944 *

Max Josef Metzger Max Josef Metzger (3 February 1887 – 17 April 1944) was a Catholic priest and leading German pacifist.Joseph Müller, Catholic priest, executed on 11 September 1944 *

Kurt Müller Kurt Müller may refer to: * Kurt Müller (field hockey) (born 1928), Swiss Olympic hockey player * Kurt Müller (footballer) (born 1948), Swiss former footballer * Kurt Müller (sport shooter) (born 1934), Swiss sports shooter * Kurt Müller ( ...

, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 26 June 1944 *

Theodor Neubauer Dr. Theodor Thilo Neubauer (12 December 1890 – 5 February 1945) was a German communist politician, educator, essayist, historian and anti-Nazi resistance fighter. Biography Early life Theodor Neubauer was born in the family of an estate i ...

, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 5 February 1945 *

Hans Neumann Hans Neumann (a.k.a. Hans Newman) (18??–1919(?)) was a founding member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. Neumann had previously been very active in the Social Democratic Federation, being a public speaker for that party and secretary of i ...

, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 20 November 1944 *

Erwin Nöldner Erwin may refer to: People Given name * Erwin Chargaff (1905–2002), Austrian biochemist * Erwin Chemerinsky (born 1953), American legal scholar * Erwin Dold (1919–2012), German concentration camp commandant in World War 2 * Erwin Hauer (1926� ...

, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 6 November 1944 * Stanislaus Peplinski, Polish forced laborer from Waldsee and member of , executed on 19 March 1945 *, Norwegian Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 30 May 1944 *

Siegfried Rädel Siegfried Engelbert Martin Rädel (7 March 1893 – 10 May 1943) was a German politician, a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and a resistance fighter against the Nazi régime. Biography Rädel was born in Pirna-Copitz, Saxony. At t ...

, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 10 May 1943 *

Franz Reinisch Franz Reinisch, SAC (1 February 1903 – 21 August 1942) was an Austrian Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priest of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate who refused to take the so-called Hitler oath, for which he was executed. Life Early ...

, Catholic priest, executed on 21 August 1942 * Paul Rentsch, dentist, member of the European Union (resistance group), beheaded on 8 May 1944 * Fritz Riedel, Resistance fighter, executed on 21 August 1944 * Wilhelm Rietze, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 28 August 1944 * Kurt Ritter, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 28 August 1944 * Friedrich Rödel, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 5 February 1945 *

Beppo Römer Josef "Beppo" Römer (; 17 November 1892 – 25 September 1944) was a member of the Freikorps Oberland, one of the paramilitary organizations that sprang up around Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I. He was later an orga ...

, Resistance fighter, executed on 25 September 1944 * Axel Rudolph, author of adventure and crime stories, guillotined on 30 October 1944 * Jakob Schultheis,

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and member of , executed on 19 March 1945 *

, Communist and co-founder of

, executed on 18 September 1944 *

Willi Sänger Heinrich Max Willi Sänger (; 21 May 1894 in Berlin, Germany – 27 November 1944 in Brandenburg, Germany) was a German Communist and resistance fighter against the Nazis. Life Willi Sänger, was the son of a carpenter. After school, he comple ...

, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 27 November 1944 * Johann Schellheimer, Communist and Resistance fighter, on 5 February 1945 * Otto Schmirgal, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 15 December 1944 * Martin Schwantes, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 5 February 1945 * Bernhard Schwentner, Catholic priest, executed on 30 October 1944 *

Werner Seelenbinder Werner Seelenbinder (2 August 1904 – 24 October 1944) was a German Communism, communist and amateur wrestling, wrestler. Early years Seelenbinder was born in Szczecin, Stettin, Province of Pomerania (1815–1945), Pomerania (modern-day Polan ...

, athlete and Communist, executed on 24 October 1944 *

Fritz Siedentopf Fritz Siedentopf (14 April 1908 – 28 August 1944) was a German communist and resistance fighter against Nazism. Biography Siedentopf, a locksmith, was born in Güsten and moved to Berlin after the death of his parents in the early 1930s. In ...

, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 28 August 1944 * Max Sievers,

Freethinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

, executed on 17 January 1944 *

Arthur Sodtke Arthur Sodtke (25 December 1901 – 14 August 1944) was a German Communist resistance fighter, he was active in Berlin and sentenced to death by the Volksgerichtshof in 1944. Biography Arthur Sodtke was born in Inowrazlaw, Province of Posen (In ...

, worker, athlete and Communist, executed on 14 August 1944 * Robert Uhrig, Communist and Resistance fighter, died on 21 August 1944 * Franz Virnich, jurist and Catholic Verbindungsstudent ( CV), died on 5 April 1943 * Ernst Volkmann, Catholic conscientious objector, executed on 9 August 1941 * Alfons Maria Wachsmann, Catholic theologian, executed on 21 February 1944Short biography of Alfons Maria Wachsmann
German Resistance Memorial Center, Berlin. Retrieved March 25, 2010 * Arthur Weisbrodt, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 6 November 1944 * Martin Weise, Communist and Resistance fighter, executed on 15 November 1943 * Hans Wölfel, jurist and Catholic Resistance fighter, executed on 3 July 1944 * Johannes Wüsten, author and Communist, died on 26 April 1943 * Konstantin Zadkevic, Resistance fighter and Dr in chemistry, leaked information related to the Nazis Nuclear program, executed on 30 October 1944 * Walter Zimmermann, resistance fighter (

), executed on 8 January 1945 * Johannes Zoschke, metal worker, sailor, sports enthusiast and anti-fascist Resistance fighter, executed on 26 October 1944

References

External links

Brandenburg Prison Museum and Documentation Centre
Blog post, with photos of prison. Retrieved March 24, 2010
"Zuchthaus Brandenburg - Görden in Brandenburg an der Havel"
Landtag Brandenburg. Official website of the German State of Brandenburg. Retrieved March 17, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburg-Gorden Prison Buildings and structures in Brandenburg an der Havel Political repression in Nazi Germany Nazi concentration camps in Germany Prisons in Germany Execution sites in Germany