NKVD special camps in Germany 1945–1950
00315 of 18 April 1945, ordering the internment without prior investigation by the Soviet military of "spies, saboteurs, terrorists and active NSDAP members", heads of Nazi organizations, people maintaining "illegal" print and broadcasting devices or weapon deposits, members of the civil administration, and journalists.[10] A decree[11] issued by the Allied Control Council on 30 October 1946 made a trial prior to internment obligatory, yet in November 1946 only 10% of the inmates were "sentenced", this proportion rose to 55% in early 1950.[13] Among the inmates were many supporters or members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which the Soviet authorities sought to suppress, particularly from 1946.[14] Also, people were interned as "spies" because they were suspected of opposing the authoritarian regime, e.g. for having contacts with organizations based in the Western occupation zones, on the basis of Article 58 of the Soviet penal code dealing with "anti-Soviet activities".A decree of 27 July 1945 reads: "The primary purpose of the special camp is the total isolation of the contingent therein and the prevention of flights", and prohibits all mail and visitors.[2] Among the released were primarily people whose arrest was based on a suspected Nazi background, which was found to be of low significance by the commission.In 1990 the Soviet Ministry for the Interior released numbers, which were based upon a collection of data compiled after the dissolution of the camps by the last head of its administration in 1950.[19] A critical examination of the data by Natalja Jeske concluded that approximately 30,000 more Germans were detained in the special camps than officially acknowledged.[10] Numerous prisons and filtration camps were set prior to May 1945, in an area that is today Poland and Russia, Slovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia.[24] Almost the complete male German population remaining east of Oder and Neisse, numbering several tens of thousands, was arrested as "Hitlerites" by the NKVD.[25] According to records from the Soviet archives by early May 1945 215,540 persons were interned by the Red Army on the territory of present-day Poland: 138,200 Germans, 36,660 Poles, 27,880 USSR citizens and 10,800 from other countries.The Waldheim trials introduced the vigorous use of the judicial system as an instrument of political repression of all dissident elements in the GDR.
NKVD filtration campMVD special campstelesNKVD special camp Nr. 2GermanWorld War IIGermanySoviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD)Ministry of Internal AffairsSoviet UnionEast German governmentStalinismSoviet militaryAllied Control CouncilNazi PartyNazi war crimesWerwolfSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)Communist Party of Germany (KPD)Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)Marxist–LeninistauthoritarianWestern occupation zonesArticle 58 of the Soviet penal codemass gravesSachsenhausen concentration campSoviet Military Administration in Germanyconcentration campsstalagsNKVD special camp Nr. 1Stalag IV-BMühlbergBuchenwaldNKVD special camp Nr. 3HohenschönhausenBautzenFürstenwaldeJamlitzLieberoseNKVD special camp Nr. 7WerneuchenSachsenhausenTorgauNKVD special camp Nr. 9NeubrandenburgPoland and RussiaForced labor of Germans in the Soviet UnionNeisseRembertówŁódźPoznańDanzigKrakówSchneidemühlSchwiebusLandsberg (Warthe)Preußisch EylauMysłowiceGrudziądzGollnowStargardInsterburgTapiauBartensteinKönigsbergWadowiceBielsko-BiałaRatiborOppelnRawiczSlovakRužomberokSoviet Occupation ZoneRomaniaYugoslaviaDziałdowoCiechanówMątwyInowroclawAntonienhütteSosnowiecCieszynChorzówKnurówSzopieniceKatowiceGleiwitzPolitical BureauCentral CommitteeCommunist Party of the Soviet UnionGerman Democratic RepublicSoviet occupation zone in GermanyKruglovshow-trialsWaldheim prisonSiberiaSpecial camp (disambiguation)German atrocities committed against Soviet prisoners of warMass killings under communist regimesSüdwestdeutscher RundfunkWayback MachineThe New York TimesNorman M. Naimark