Plötzensee Prison (, JVA Plötzensee) is a men's

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 ...

in the Charlottenburg-Nord locality of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

with a capacity for 577 prisoners, operated by the State of Berlin judicial administration. The detention centre established in 1868 has a long history; it became notorious 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 as one of the main sites of capital punishment, where about 3,000 inmates were executed. Famous inmates include

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 ...

's last communist leader

Egon Krenz Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the Secretary (title), ...

History

The prison was founded by resolution of the Prussian government under King

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

and built until 1879 on the estates of the Plötzensee manor, named after nearby Plötzensee Lake (''Plötze'' is the local German name of the

common roach The roach, or rutilus roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), also known as the common roach, is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the family Cyprinidae, native to most of Europe and western Asia. Fish called roach can be any species of the genera ''Rut ...

, cf. ''Płoć'' in Polish). The area divided by the Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal opened in 1859 was located at the outskirts of the Tegel forest northwest of the Berlin city limits in the

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg () was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1947. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg (excluding Altmark) and ...

. The theologian Johann Hinrich Wichern had established the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

''Johannesstift'' borstal nearby, which in 1905 moved to Spandau– Hakenfelde. In 1915, the lands east of the canal with Plötzensee Lake were incorporated into Berlin (the present-day

Wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

district), the remaining area around the prison walls became part of the Berlin

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

borough upon the 1920

Greater Berlin Act The Greater Berlin Act (), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (), was a law passed by the Prussian state government in 1920, which greatly expanded the size of the Prussian and German capital of Berlin. Hist ...

. Since 2004, it belongs to the Charlottenburg-Nord locality. The original name of what is today ''Haus 1'' was ''Strafgefängnis Plötzensee'', which also translates to Plötzensee Prison. Up to 1,400 inmates lived on premises of including a church and a Jewish prayer area, then the largest prison of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the buildings demolished by the bombing of Berlin were rebuilt and housed a

youth detention center In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...

(''Jugendstrafanstalt Berlin'') for offenders between the ages of 14 and 21. When it in 1987 moved to a newly built annex on Friedrich-Olbricht-Damm in the west, ''Haus 1'' of Plötzensee Prison again became a men's prison with capacity for 577 inmates. Upon the end of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

and

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, the last communist East German leader

, convicted for manslaughter by ''

Schießbefehl (; German language, German for "order to fire") was the term in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) for General order, standing orders authorizing the use of lethal force by the Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic, Bord ...

'' order at the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

, from 2000 until 2003 served his sentence there. In 1983, a modern women's prison was built south of Friedrich-Olbricht-Damm on the Bundesautobahn 100 (''Stadtring'') highway, since 1998 it houses the ''JVA Charlottenburg'' for about 300 adult male prisoners, mainly drug addicts. One in three inmates of the prison is incarcerated for repeated public transport

fare evasion Fare evasion or fare dodging is the act of travel without payment on public transit. When considered problematic, it is mitigated by revenue protection officers and ticket barriers, staffed or automatic, are in place to ensure only those with va ...

. In December 2021, Plötzensee was the first prison visited by Arne Semsrott as part of his Freiheitsfonds initiative, which pays for the release of people in prison for unpaid public transport fares.

Plötzensee Memorial

Exterior sign at Plotzensee Memorial 1984

During Imperial and

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

eras until 1933 there were 36 executions carried out in Plötzensee, all for murder and all by beheading with an

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

according to the old German ''

Strafgesetzbuch ''Strafgesetzbuch'' (, literally "penal law book"), abbreviated to ''StGB'', is the German penal code. History In Germany the ''Strafgesetzbuch'' goes back to the Penal Code of the German Empire passed in the year 1871 on May 15 in Reichst ...

'' penal code. After 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 prison housed both regular criminals and political prisoners. Plötzensee was one of eleven selected central execution sites established in 1936 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 ...

. Each was operated by a full-time

executioner An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who effects a sentence of capital punishment on a condemned person. Scope and job The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorizing or ordering him to ...

carrying out the rising numbers of death sentences, especially after the penal law was again tightened in

. By a 1943 agreement with the

OKW The (; abbreviated OKW ː kaːˈveArmed Forces High Command) was the supreme military command and control staff of Nazi Germany during World War II, that was directly subordinated to Adolf Hitler. Created in 1938, the OKW replaced the Re ...

they became also responsible for the execution of

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 ...

members according to German military law. The convicts were beheaded by a stationary

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 ...

(''Fallbeil''), from 1942 also by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

. During the Nazi regime, an official record of 2,891 people convicted by the Berlin Kammergericht, the notorious " People's Court" under Roland Freisler and several '' Sondergerichte'', were executed in Plötzensee, initially with an axe in the prison's courtyard. From 1937 the convicts were beheaded with a guillotine brought from Bruchsal Prison and installed in a backyard work shed, a ground-level brick building near the prison walls, to where the victims had to walk from a nearby cell block. In 1942, a beam was assembled in the same room, serving as gallows for up to eight victims at one time. The bereaved were obliged to pay a fee of for each day the detainee had spent in prison plus an extra execution charge of .

Executions of opponents of the Nazi regime

About half of those executed were Germans, most of whom were sentenced to death for acts of resistance against the Nazi regime, among them members of the Red Orchestra, 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 ...

and the Kreisau Circle. A total of 677 executed prisoners were from

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, among them many members of the

Czech resistance to Nazi occupation Czechoslovak resistance to the German occupation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II began after the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia and the formation of the protectorate on 15 March 1939. German policy dete ...

from 1938 to 1939 onwards. A total of 253 death sentences were carried out against

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

, and 245 against French citizens. These people included both the members of resistance organizations and people who were deported to Germany for

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

. About 300 were women. After execution, their bodies were released to Hermann Stieve, an anatomist at the medical college of what is now

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. He and his students or assistants dissected them for research purposes. Stieve was especially interested in the effects of stress on the

menstrual cycle The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that makes pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eg ...

, and wrote 230 papers based on this research, among them one that demonstrated that the rhythm method was not an effective method of preventing conception. After an RAF air raid in the night of 3 September 1943 irreparably damaged the guillotine and destroyed large parts of the prison buildings, State Secretary Curt Rothenberger in the Reich Ministry of Justice via telephone ordered the immediate execution of the Plötzensee condemned. About 250 people—six of them "erroneously"— waiting in rows of eight were hanged during the so-called Plötzensee Bloody Nights from 7 to 12 September. The last execution was carried out on 20 April 1945. The remaining inmates were liberated by 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 ...

in the course of 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 ...

five days later. Gedenkstaette Ploetzensee02

Today the execution shed is a memorial site operated by the Memorial to the German Resistance institution to commemorate those executed by the Nazis. Separated from the prison area, it was dedicated by the

Senate of Berlin The Senate of Berlin (; unofficially: ) is the executive body governing the city of Berlin, which at the same time is a state of Germany. According to the Constitution of Berlin the Senate consists of the Governing Mayor of Berlin and up to ten ...

on 14 September 1952 in the remaining two rooms with its drain and the preserved gallows. The guillotine had been dismantled after the war and disappeared in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

. Onto the execution room a memorial wall was built "To the Victims of Hitler's Dictatorship of the Years 1933–1945". In 1963, the Catholic Diocese of Berlin erected its memorial for the victims about to the west in the commemorative church of Maria Regina Martyrum; the nearby Protestant Church of Plötzensee was inaugurated in 1970, featuring a

Danse Macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...

cycle (''Plötzenseer Totentanz'') by Alfred Hrdlicka. Both institutions are site of the annual Ecumenical Plötzensee Days. Several streets in the surrounding Charlottenburg-Nord housing estates were named after executed resistance fighters.

Executed prisoners

Abdulla Aliş Alişev Ğabdullacan Ğäbdelbari ulı (15 September 1908 – 25 August 1944), best known as Abdulla Aliş, was a Soviet Tatar poet, playwright, writer and resistance fighter. Life He wrote mostly novels for children, the most notable writings ...

(1908–1944), poet who fought in World War II; beheaded * Rita Arnould (1914–1943), resistance group member * Judith Auer (1905–1944), resistance fighter; hanged * Bernhard Bästlein (1894–1944), communist and resistance fighter * Maurice Bavaud (1916–1941), failed assassin of Hitler; beheaded * Marianne Baum (1912–1942), anti-Nazi convicted of treason following an attack in Berlin; beheaded * Cato Bontjes van Beek (1920–1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Karl Behrens (1909–1943), engineer and resistance fighter * Heinrich Belohlavek (1889–1943), Austrian footballer and resistance member; beheaded * Liane Berkowitz (1923–1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Robert Bernardis (1908–1944), Austrian resistance fighter; was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler * Irena Bernášková (1904–1942), Czech resistance fighter and journalist; beheaded *

Hans-Jürgen von Blumenthal Hans-Jürgen Graf von Blumenthal (23 February 1907 – 13 October 1944) was a German aristocrat and Army officer in the Second World War who was executed by the Nazi régime for his role in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Biog ...

(1907–1944), aristocrat who conspired to assassinate Hitler *

Hasso von Boehmer Hasso von Boehmer (9 August 1904 – 5 March 1945) was a German lieutenant colonel on the General Staff and one of the 20 July Plotters. Hasso von Boehmer belonged to Infantry Regiment 9 (I.R. 9) from Potsdam, from which also came many of th ...

(1904–1945), lieutenant colonel who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Eugen Bolz (1881–1945), politician and resistance member * Erika von Brockdorff (1911–1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Eduard Brücklmeier (1903–1944), diplomat and resistance fighter; hanged * Eva-Maria Buch (1921–1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Musa Cälil (1905–1944), Soviet-Tatar resistance fighter; beheaded * Hans Coppi (1916–1942), resistance fighter; married to Hilde Coppi; hanged * Hilde Coppi (1909–1943), communist and resistance fighter; married to Hans Coppi; beheaded * Alfred Corbin (1916–1943), resistance fighter * Walter Cramer (1886–1944), businessman involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged *

Alfred Delp Alfred Friedrich Delp (; 15 September 1907 – 2 February 1945) was a German Jesuit priest and philosopher of the German Resistance. A member of the inner Kreisau Circle resistance group, he is considered a significant figure in Catholic ...

(1907–1945), Jesuit priest falsely implicated for plotting to overthrow Hitler * Heinrich zu Dohna-Schlobitten (1882–1944), major general and resistance fighter * Charlotte Eisenblätter (1903–1944), Anti-Nazi activist * Hans Otto Erdmann (1896–1944), Army officer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Benita von Falkenhayn (1900–1935), baroness and spy; beheaded by axe * Erich Fellgiebel (1886–1944), army general who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Eberhard Finckh (1899–1944), colonel and resistance member; hanged * Reinhold Frank (1896–1945), lawyer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Julius Fučík (1903–1943), journalist accused of high treason * Willi Gall (1908–1941), communist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Jakob Gapp (1897–1943), Austrian Roman Catholic priest and anti-Nazi activist; beheaded * Charlotte Garske (1906–1943), political activist who opposed the Nazi government * Erich Garske (1907–1943), husband of Charlotte * Erwin Gehrts (1890–1943), socialist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Erich and Elizabeth Gloeden, and Elisabeth Kuznitzky, entire family beheaded for sheltering a conspirator in 1944 *

Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a German conservative politician, monarchist, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was op ...

(1884–1945), politician who opposed the Holocaust; hanged * Fritz Goerdeler (1886–1945), jurist and resistance fighter; hanged * Ursula Goetze (1916–1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Helene Gotthold (1896–1944), Jehovah's Witness who opposed the Nazis; beheaded * John Graudenz (1884–1942), journalist and resistance fighter; strangled * Medardo Griotto (1901–1943), militant communist activist; beheaded * Nikolaus Gross (1898–1945), Roman Catholic falsely arrested for the attempted assassination of Hitler * Alfred Grünberg (1902–1942), Communist party member and resistance fighter; hanged * Wilhelm Guddorf (1902–1943), Belgian journalist and resistance fighter *

Hans Bernd von Haeften Hans Bernd von Haeften (18 December 1905 – 15 August 1944) was a German jurist during the Nazi era. A member of the German Resistance against Adolf Hitler, he was arrested and executed in the aftermath of the failed 20 July plot. Biograph ...

(1905–1944), jurist who conspired to assassinate Hitler * Albrecht von Hagen (1904–1944), jurist and resistance fighter; hanged * Otto and Elise Hampel, couple who protested against the Nazis; beheaded * Georg Hansen (1904–1944), Army colonel and resistance fighter; hanging * Arvid Harnack (1901–1942), jurist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Ernst von Harnack (1888–1945), Prussian official and resistance fighter * Mildred Harnack (1902–1943), American teacher and resistance fighter; beheaded *

Paul von Hase Karl Paul Immanuel von Hase (24 July 1885 – 8 August 1944) was a Nazi Germany, German career soldier and figured among the members of the German_resistance_to_Nazism, resistance against Adolf Hitler's Nazism, Nazi regime. Life Von Hase was bo ...

(1885–1944), career soldier and resistance fighter; hanged * Ulrich von Hassell (1881–1944), diplomat and resistance member; hanged * Elli Hatschek (1901–1944), resistance member; beheaded * Theodor Haubach (1896–1945), journalist and resistance fighter"The Kreisau Circle" p. 25(12) Gedenkstatte Deutscher Widerstand * Egbert Hayessen (1913–1944), resistance fighter; hanged *

Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf Wolf-Heinrich Julius Otto Bernhard Fritz Hermann Ferdinand Graf von Helldorff (14 October 1896 – 15 August 1944) was an SA-''Obergruppenführer'', German police official and politician. He served as a member of the Landtag of Prussia during t ...

(1896–1944), police official involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Horst Heilmann (1923–1942), resistance fighter; hanged * Albert Hensel (1895–1942), communist and resistance fighter *

Otto Herfurth Otto Herfurth (22 January 1893 – 29 September 1944) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Herfurth was a conspirator in the 20 July Plot. Herfurth was t ...

(1893–1944), general involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Liselotte Herrmann (1909–1938), communist resistance fighter; beheaded * Helmut Himpel (1907–1943), dentist and resistance fighter; hanged *

Helmut Hirsch Helmut Hirsch (; January 27, 1916 – June 4, 1937) was a German Jewish artist and activist who was executed for his part in a bombing plot intended to destabilize the German Reich. While a full and accurate account of the plot is unknown, his ...

(1916–1937), German Jew arrested for taking part in a bombing; decapitated *

Erich Hoepner Erich Kurt Richard Hoepner (14 September 1886 – 8 August 1944) was a German general during World War II. An early proponent of mechanisation and armoured warfare, he was a Wehrmacht Heer army corps commander at the beginning of the war, lead ...

(1886–1944), General who conspired to assassinate Hitler * Caesar von Hofacker (1896–1944), lieutenant colonel who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Rosa Hofmann (1919–1943), Communist youth leader and resistance activist * Bedřich Homola (1887–1943), Czech soldier and anti-Nazi commander * Roland von Hößlin (1915–1944), army officer who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Helmuth Hübener (1925–1942), youth who opposed the Nazi regime; was the youngest prisoner ever executed at age 17; beheaded * Walter Husemann (1909–1943), communist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Richard Hüttig (1908–1934), communist accused of attempted murder and breach of peace; beheaded by axe * Hildegard Jadamowitz (1916–1942), communist activist * Friedrich Gustav Jaeger (1895–1944), resistance fighter; hanged * Heinz Joachim (1919–1942), anti-government resistance group member; married to Marianne Joachim * Marianne Joachim (1921–1943), resistance fighter; married to Heinz Joachim * Wanda Kallenbach (1902–1944), was charged with undermining the war and helping the enemy; beheaded * Heinz Kapelle (1913–1941), YCLG member accused of high treason * Walter Küchenmeister (1897–1943), machine technician and resistance fighter * Otto Kiep (1886–1944), resistance fighter; hanged *

Johanna Kirchner Johanna "Hanna" Kirchner (née Johanna Stunz; 24 April 1889 – 9 June 1944) was a German German resistance to Nazism, opponent of the Nazism, Nazi régime. Life Johanna Stunz came from a social-democratic family from Frankfurt, Hesse-Nassau. ...

(1889–1944), opponent of the Nazi regime; beheaded * Hans Georg Klamroth (1898–1944), officer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Friedrich Klausing (1920–1944), resistance fighter who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin (1890–1945), lawyer who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Theodor Korselt (1891–1943), jurist who negatively influenced Germany's fighting forces * Alfred Kranzfelder (1908–1944), naval officer and resistance member; hanged * Anna Krauss (1884–1943), fortune teller and resistance fighter; beheaded * Karlrobert Kreiten (1916–1943), pianist accused of making negative remarks about Hitler; hanged * Adam Kuckhoff (1887–1943), writer and resistance member * Ingeborg Kummerow (1912–1943), office worker charged with aiding and abetting espionage; beheaded * Carl Langbehn (1901–1944), lawyer and resistance member; hanged * Krista Lavíčková (1917–1944), Czech secretary who fought against Nazism; beheaded * Julius Leber (1891–1945), politician and resistance member * Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort (1909–1944), East Prussian aristocrat who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Paul Lejeune-Jung (1882–1944), lawyer and resistance fighter; hanged * Ludwig Freiherr von Leonrod (1906–1944), Army officer who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Bernhard Letterhaus (1894–1944), unionist and Nazi resistance member * Franz Leuninger (1898–1945), politician and resistance member * Wilhelm Leuschner (1890–1944), trade unionist involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Herta Lindner (1920–1943), resistance fighter * Hans Otfried von Linstow (1899–1944), Army colonel who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Hildegard Löwy (1922–1943), office worker and anti-Nazi resistance member; beheaded * Ferdinand von Lüninck (1888–1944), officer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Mikhail Varfolomeevich Makarov (1915-c.1942), possibly; was a career spy * Rudolf von Marogna-Redwitz (1886–1944), colonel who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Hermann Maaß (1897–1944), resistance member * Michael von Matuschka (1888–1944), politician who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Basile Maximovitch (1902-c.1943), Russian aristocrat; beheaded * Anna Maximovitch (1901-c.1943), Russian aristocrat and neuropsychiatrist; * Joachim Meichssner (1906–1944), army officer and resistance member * Herbert Michaelis (1898–1939), resistance member * Helmuth James Graf von Moltke (1907–1945), jurist accused of treason * Renate von Natzmer (1898–1935), spy; beheaded by axe * Arthur Nebe (1894–1945), Nazi convicted of treason * Eugen Neutert (1905–1943), communist and resistance fighter * Johann Nobis (1899–1940), conscientious objector * Véra Obolensky (1911–1944), French resistance fighter; beheaded * Ruth Oesterreich (1894–1943), anti-government activist; hanged * Paul Ogorzow (1912–1941), serial killer; beheaded *

Erwin Planck Erwin Planck (12 March 1893 – 23 January 1945) was a German politician, and a resistance fighter against the Nazi regime. Biography Born in Charlottenburg (today part of Berlin), Erwin Planck was the fourth child of Nobel Prize-winning physici ...

(1893–1945), politician and resistance fighter; hanged * Johannes Popitz (1884–1945), Prussian finance minister and resistance member; hanged * Karl Ernst Rahtgens (1908–1944), officer and resistance fighter; hanged * Rudolf Redlinghofer (1900–1940), conscientious objector * Friedrich Rehmer (1921–1943), factory worker and resistance fighter * Adolf Rembte (1902–1937), communist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Adolf Reichwein (1898–1944), educator who resisted German policies * John Rittmeister (1898–1943), neurologist and resistance fighter; beheaded *

Alexis von Roenne Alexis Freiherr von Rönne (22 February 1903 – 12 October 1944) was a Wehrmacht, German Army Oberst, colonel and senior intelligence analyst. He became one of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's favoured officers in the Abwehr, despite secretly being of ...

(1903–1944), colonel accused of plotting to assassinate Hitler * Galina Romanova (1918–1944), Ukrainian doctor and resistance fighter; beheaded * Joachim Sadrozinski (1907–1944), Army officer who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Lothar Salinger (1919–1943), resistant activist * Rudolf von Scheliha (1897–1942), aristocrat and resistance fighter; hanged * Rose Schlösinger (1907–1943), social worker and resistance fighter; beheaded * Elfriede Scholz (1903–1943) * Oda Schottmüller (1905–1943), dancer and resistance fighter; beheaded *

Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg Friedrich-Werner Erdmann Matthias Johann Bernhard Erich Graf von der Schulenburg (20 November 1875 – 10 November 1944) was a German diplomat who served as the last German ambassador to the Soviet Union before Operation Barbarossa, the German a ...

(1875–1944), diplomat who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg (1902–1944), son of Friedrich-Werner; hanged * Harro Schulze-Boysen (1909–1942), publicist convicted of high treason; married to Libertas Schulze-Boyson; hanged *

Libertas Schulze-Boysen Libertas Viktoria "Libs" Schulze-Boysen ( Haas-Heye; 20 November 1913 – 22 December 1942) was a German noblewoman and resistance fighter against the Nazis. From the early 1930s to 1940, she attempted to build a literary career, first as a pres ...

(1913–1942), journalist and resistance fighter; married to Harro Schulze-Boysen * Elisabeth Schumacher (1904–1942), artist and resistance fighter * Kurt Schumacher (1905–1942), anti-fascist group member; hanged * Friedrich Schumann (1893–1921), serial killer; beheaded by axe * Wilhelm Schürmann-Horster (1900–1943), marxist communist; hanged * Ludwig Schwamb (1890–1945), jurist and resistance fighter; hanged * Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld (1902–1944), landowner and resistance fighter; hanged * Gertrud Seele (1917–1945), nurse and social worker who helped Jews; beheaded * Fritz Siedentopf (1908–1944), communist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Franz Sperr (1878–1945), resistance member; hanged * Günther Smend (1912–1944), officer who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Robert Stamm (1900–1937), politician who conspired to commit treason; beheaded * Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1905–1944), aristocrat who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Helmuth Stieff (1901–1944), general involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Ilse Stöbe (1911–1942), journalist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Heinz Strelow (1915–1943), journalist and resistance fighter; beheaded *

Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel Carl-Heinrich Rudolf Wilhelm von Stülpnagel (2 January 1886 – 30 August 1944) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who was an army level commander. While serving as military commander of German-occupied France and as com ...

(1886–1944), General convicted of treason * Maria Terwiel (1910–1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Elisabeth von Thadden (1890–1944), progressive educator and resistance fighter; beheaded *

Fritz Thiele Fritz Thiele (14 April 1894 – 4 September 1944) was a member of the German resistance to Nazism, German resistance who also served as the communications chief of the German Army (1935-1945), German Army during World War II. Life Thiele was bor ...

(1894–1944), resistance member; hanged * Fritz Thiel (1916–1943), engineer and resistance fighter; not the same man above * Busso Thoma (1899–1945), major who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Adam von Trott zu Solz (1909–1944), lawyer who conspired to assassinate Hitler * Nikolaus von Üxküll-Gyllenband (1877–1944), businessman who conspired to assassinate Hitler * Käte Voelkner (1906–1943) * Peter Yorck von Wartenburg (1904–1944), jurist and resistance fighter * Hermann Josef Wehrle (1899–1944), Catholic priest involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Carl Wentzel (1875–1944), farmer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Josef Wirmer (1901–1944), jurist and resistance fighter; hanged *

Erwin von Witzleben Job Wilhelm Georg Erwin Erdmann von Witzleben (4 December 1881 – 8 August 1944) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) in the ''Wehrmacht'' and ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' (Commander in Chief in the West), during the Second World ...

(1881–1944), field marshal who conspired to assassinate Hitler * Irene Wosikowski (1910–1944), political activist; beheaded * Emmy Zehden (1900–1944), Jehovah's Witness and resistance member; beheaded

References

Sources

* *

External links

Plötzensee Memorial Center ebook published by the German Resistance Memorial Center Berlin

Plötzensee Prison homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plotzensee Prison Prisons in Germany Buildings and structures in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Heritage sites in Berlin Execution sites in Germany Men's prisons Berlin in World War II