Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Stasi Prison Complex Museum, Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany

• Special Camp No. 3
In June 1945, at the conclusion of World War II, the Soviet Secret Police took over the Hohenschönhausen area of Lichtenberg and transformed it into a detainment and transit camp, called Special Camp No. 3. The camp served as both a prison and transfer point. Over 20,000 people passed through Special Camp No. 3 on their way to other Soviet camps, including one at the former Nazi concentration camp at Sachsenhausen
Living conditions in the camp were deplorable, with death from malnutrition, disease, or cold common. Although official statistics list 886 deaths at the camp between July 1945 and October 1946, independent estimates put the toll as high as 3,000. Bodies were disposed of in local bomb craters.
The camp was closed and prisoners relocated other camps in October 1946. After the closing of Special Camp No. 3, the Hohenschönhausen compound served as a Soviet prison during the winter of 1946-1947. The former cafeteria was converted to the underground prison area ("submarine") by prison labor.