Chugalug2:
Off duty they were teaching the Russians the game of darts, much to the cost of the walls of the BASC building. It had been the Prussian equivalent of the Old Bailey and was used by the NAZI People's Court for the trial of those involved in the 20 July Bomb Plot. Once convicted they were to be hung (by piano wire, "like cattle!") within two hours on Hitler's express orders. Executions were to be carried out across town at Moabit. With round the clock bombing this created a logistical problem and was partially overcome it is suspected within the Court building itself, for in the basement there was still a crudely made braced beam high up on the wall. Our guide explained that in the top of the beam were grooves as though worn into it by wires under tension...
I visited BASC about ten days before the Berlin wall came down, during my RAF time. We were given a guided tour of the building and as we walked along the corridor, I suddenly experienced a very strange and unsettling choking sensation, the likes of which I'd never had before (and not had since). At that stage I hadn't been made aware of the ghastly history of that room. I did go in but couldn't stay there for long; I found the atmosphere too oppressive.