The NKVD mass graves at Sachsenhausen are associated with the Soviet administration of the former Nazi concentration camp after World War II. Following Germany’s surrender in May 1945, the Soviet secret police (NKVD) established Special Camp No. 7, later renamed Special Camp No. 1, at Sachsenhausen. The camp operated from 1945 to 1950 and held approximately 60,000 prisoners. Those imprisoned included former Nazi Party members and officials, suspected opponents of the Soviet occupation, as well as many civilians who were arrested without formal charges or trial.
Living conditions in the camp were extremely harsh. Prisoners suffered from severe overcrowding, hunger, poor sanitation, disease, and a lack of medical care. As a result, an estimated 12,000 people died, primarily from malnutrition, tuberculosis, dysentery, and other illnesses rather than systematic executions. The dead were buried in mass graves in nearby forested areas, often without names or individual markers, leaving families unaware of their relatives’ fate.
During the Cold War, the existence of these graves received little public attention. After German reunification in 1990, historical research, archival evidence, and archaeological investigations identified many of the burial sites.
The mass graves are preserved as places of remembrance, commemorating those who died under Soviet detention while also documenting the earlier crimes committed at the Nazi concentration camp on the same site.
Visit
Access to the mass grave monument is located outside the park, along the road. It is always open and accessible via a forest path.
