Because of the approach of the allied forces the guards evacuated all of the approximate 1200 prisoners on 10. April 1945. Following the foot march to Schandelah train station they were transported to Wöbbelin in animal trucks. Here they and prisoners from other concentration camps were freed on 2. May 1945 by the American army.
Dr. Zschirpe and the Mayor of Schandelah and farmer Heinrich Jürgens were executed on 12. April 1945 for sabotage and defeating behaviour by nazis. The two men had had road blocks removed which had been erected before the Americans arrived. Shortly after the end of the war they were honoured as nazi victims by having roads named after them. In a local history book from 1999 they were both mentioned in the village chronicle written by H. Fischer. He wrote about both men in an undifferenciated way and ended his contribution with a question from a speech by the former German President Weizsäcker from 8. May 1985. The fact that Jürgens was Mayor (the first man in the village and in this position a supporter of the nazi regime) from 1928 until his death in 1945 was not mentioned. The nazi compliant became a victim. There is a memorial stone for both men at the church in Schandelah. Here the following words can be read: Dr. Zschirpe and the Mayor Heinrich Jürgens lost their lives for freedom and justice und for the good of the community on 12, April 1945. The inhabitants of Schandelah have not bothered about the victims of the concentratin camp on their doorstep for 40 years.
Ursula Schaefer, municipal green party member asked the church officials from Schandelah in September 1984 if they would agree to the erecting of a memorial objekt near the plaques for the dead from both world wars and the memorials for Dr. Zschirpe and the Mayor Jürgens. Her proposal was rejected by the church representatives.