Lublin – Pod Zegarem

In 1940, Gestapo in Lublin took over a civilian administrative building called Pod Zegarem (under the clock) because it had a clock at the top. Gestapo renovated the building and adapted it to its needs before it officially became Gestapo headquarter. The head of the Lublin Gestapo was SS-Obersturmfuhrer, Herman Worthoff. The ground floor and the floors above were used as offices and interrogation rooms. The basement was converted into a prison with 14 cells along a corridor, including three cells without light. Other cells were of varying size and with limited light and no heating. Most of those sent to Pod Zegarem had been imprisoned in Lublin’s castle or sent directly to the headquarter.

The interrogations began, as usually at nine o’clock in the morning, and the prisoners were taken to the second or third floor for interrogations. To force out confessions or concessions brute force and torture were used if necessary. Prisoners screams could be heard down to the basement and had a psychologically destructive effect on prisoners yet in the cells. Depending on various factors, a prisoner could be held for anything from one day to several weeks before being sent released or sent to another prison och camp. Not infrequently, the prisoners were severely injured as a result of the assault they had suffered. It also happened that prisoners died at the headquarter as a result of interrogation. When the Soviet Read army approached Lubin in July 1944, Gestapo abandoned the headquarter.