This book takes place in Hamburg, Germany. The prison that Helmuth was kept at was Plotzensee that was built between the years 1868-1879. It was located right outside of Berlin. The penitentiaries are characterized and have long term isolated sentences, while prison inmates serve short sentences. In the first few years a total of 45 perpetrators were executed, and the number kept growing. By 1945 almost 3 thousand peeople were sentenced to death. Prisons that had many open areas could house 1200 inmates. The Berlin senate decided to build a memorial in Plotzensee in 1945.