On 24 April 1945, the Red Army reached the Wittenau Sanatoriums. The soldiers occupied the grounds and released the patients.

The end of the war

During their advance, the Red Army had already opened prisons and released political prisoners. Now, they also opened the gates to the Wittenau patients. The soldiers had thought they were political prisoners because of the prison clothing and the “Pol.” printed on their medical records. However, “Pol.” only meant that they had been “admitted by the police”. A workers and soldiers’ council was founded in the sanatoriums, and a patient is said to have taken over as director for a few weeks.

At the same time, misery, hunger and the threat of infectious diseases increased for the Wittenau patients. They were cut off from care by the black market that was becoming established. The result was an enormous increase in the death rate. Between the end of the war and December 1945 alone, 1,608 sick people died. In 1946 and 1947, the conditions were similar. The number of dead was so high that they had to be stacked on carts and driven to the small institutional cemetery where they were buried in mass graves.