Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Prison

Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Prison

This article relates to The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures

At the end of World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones governed by France, Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1949, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), also referred to as East Germany, was formed as a communist state in the Soviet territory. The most notorious apparatus of the GDR's repressive government was the Ministry for State Security, aka the Stasi. The Stasi was the government's intelligence division/secret police, and throughout the GDR's 41 years of existence, it was known for its surveillance, torture and murder of dissidents (and suspected dissidents).

In 1951, the Stasi took ownership of a building in northeastern Berlin that had previously served as a Soviet detainment facility and began to use it as a prison for their purposes. In Jennifer Hofmann's novel The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures, the protagonist, a Stasi agent, recalls witnessing the brutal beating of a suspected dissident in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Prison, an incident that stayed with him for years and caused him to question his loyalty to the GDR cause. Over the course of the 1950s, over 11,000 people were remanded to Berlin-Hohenschönhausen by the Stasi, where they were subjected to all manner of human rights abuses, including brutal interrogation techniques. Many were imprisoned for the crime of trying to make their way past the Berlin Wall or otherwise escape the GDR.

Prisoners at Berlin-Hohenschönhausen were kept in solitary confinement 24/7, and were deprived of sleep, showers and medical care. There were some two-person cells, but the prisoners understood that any cellmate could potentially be a Stasi plant, adding another layer of psychological unease. One former prisoner, who broke both legs after falling off a train attempting to flee the country, recalls being tossed into a cell that was three-quarters full of water and left there for three days, unable to sleep or even sit down. He was beaten and told his execution was imminent. While in operation, the prison was kept secret; it was located in a restricted military area and it was not marked on maps. The prisoner cells were predominantly in the building's basement, and lights were kept on constantly so that the inmates never knew if it was day or night.

The prison was closed on October 3, 1990 after the reunification of Germany. In 1994, it reopened as a memorial site. Today, tours are given that include the testimonies of former prisoners — sometimes in person, sometimes via audio/visual technology. The memorial, which sees 400,000 visitors annually, features photographs and artifacts from its disturbing history, such as inmates' letters and clothing. The audio/visual component of the interactive tour puts the visitor in the position of being a prisoner, complete with interrogations. One former prisoner turned tour guide remarked to German media outlet Deutsche Welle, "It is important to me, that those times are not played down. You need to know that this happened so that you can make sure it is never allowed to happen again." The memorial is located just a few miles from the Stasi Museum, the site of the Ministry's former headquarters, kept more or less intact and also open for guided tours.

The site of Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Prison in 2011, by Nstannik (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This article relates to The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures. It first ran in the September 2, 2020 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.

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