Columbia concentration camp

Originally called Strafgefängnis Tempelhofer Feld the building, which contained 134 cells, 10 interrogation rooms and a guardroom, had been built as a military police station but fell empty in 1929.

[1] The prison, initially staffed by both Schutzstaffel and Sturmabteilung members,[2] was largely unregulated until 1934 when it was placed under the command of Walter Gerlach[1] and his adjutant Arthur Liebehenschel.

Run as a prison by the Gestapo, it was notorious in the city for the torture meted out to its detainees, most of whom were Communists, Social Democrats, or Jews,[3] including the rightist Max Naumann who spent time as an inmate.

On 8 January 1935 Reinhard Heydrich announced that Konzentrationslager Columbia was to be adopted as the official name, in preference to Columbia-Haus.

[5] At lower levels camp guards included Richard Baer, Max Kögel[6] and Theodor Dannecker.