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Bautzen II - A piece of GDR history
It doesn't matter were we Bautzener spend our holiday, if we are asked where we live, the person sitting opposite us always says: 'Bautzen? But that's where the jail is!'. And yes that'd where it is because Bautzen is in the consciousness of citizens for injustice and political prosecution in the GDR.
image author: Daniela Heyne Today the former "Stasi-jail" Bautzen II houses a memorial. It remembers the victims of both Bautzen prisons because there is not only Bautzen II but also Bautzen I, better known as 'Yellow Misery' because of its yellow brick facade.
As the GDR's only penal institution came unofficially under the authority of the ministry for state safety.
Here so-called 'enemies of the state': deserter, spies, western secret service but delinquent officers of the SED rule apparatus were held captive. Between 1956 and 1989 the Stasi send ca 2700 people to Bautzen II, of those 80% for political reasons.
image author: Daniela Heyne Up to four prisoners were kept for years in very small cells.
All cells and common rooms were bugged and recorded. The inmates communicated then via codes. Die Häftlinge kommunizierten dann über Codes. Relatives also tried to smuggle messages into the prison but these were often detected as everything was closely examined.
There was of course also arrest, which was imposed if a prisoner uttered one false word. Normally the arrest punishment didn't exceed 21 days and 7 days should be between two arrest punishments. But this wasn't often observed. The cells were constructed in a way that wash basin and toilet were separated from the rest of the cell. The door could be closed so that the prisoner couldn't reach the toilet or wash basin.
This arrest was a special kind of psychological terror as some prison guards waited until the prisoners relieved themselves into their trousers. For this he was of course punished and insulted again. The plank bed could only be operated from the outside (by the guards) the prisoners were not able to sleep when they wanted to.
image author: Daniela Heyne Inside in the hallway and cells signs have be put where individual fates of prisoners are being documented.
Famous inmates are for example:
- Eduard Zimmermann, in the beginning criminal then 'criminal hunter', later journalist and security expert – researched/spied (interpretation depending on viewpoint) in the GDR
- Ernst Thälmann, Chairman of the KPD
- Bruno Richard Hauptmann, later alleged murderer of Charles Lindbergh's son (guilt debatable), executed in the USA
- Hans-Ulrich Klose, later for the CDU Vice-President of the North Rhine-Westphalia Parliament
The memorial can be visited by one's own. Guided tours, film presentations, further education, events and school projects are also on offer.
Weitere Informationen
Source:
Daniela Heyne
Deutschland
