German Resistance Memorial Center
- Exhibitions

"THE BLOODY NIGHTS OF PLÖTZENSEE, 1943" and "THE CZECH VICTIMS OF PLÖTZENSEE"

Two exhibitions by the German Resistance Memorial Center, under the patronage of the Czech embassy in Berlin

THE BLOODY NIGHTS OF PLÖTZENSEE, 1943

Between 1933 and 1945, more than 2,800 people were beheaded or hanged in Plötzensee prison after death sentences passed by the unjust National Socialist justice system. This is the largest number of victims of any civilian execution site in the Nazi regime. After the severe air raids on Berlin in the early fall of 1943, which damaged the prison and enabled a number of escapes, 250 condemned prisoners were hanged in groups of eight between September 7 and 10, 1943. This was the most comprehensive coordinated murder campaign in Berlin during the National Socialist dictatorship. For the first time, this exhibition shows the background and process of these murders, and commemorates the victims. They included many German, Czech, Polish, and French prisoners.


THE CZECH VICTIMS OF PLÖTZENSEE

Almost half of the 250 prisoners hanged in Plötzensee prison during the coordinated murder campaign from September 7 to 10, 1943 were Czech. With more than 670 Czech men and women murdered in Plötzensee, they also formed the largest group of foreign victims as a whole. The great majority of them were political prisoners. The exhibition shows the background and breadth of resistance in the Wehrmacht-occupied territories of Bohemia and Moravia, and commemorates the Czech victims. It came about as a Czech-German cooperative project, under the patronage of the Czech embassy in Berlin.

The exhibitions will be on display in the special exhibition space on our 1st floor from July 18 to March 10, 2024.