While GDR research mainly focused on the MfS's pre-trial detention, the "normal" penal system has so far been neglected, especially the time of the Soviet occupation zone. For this reason, the prison system in the Soviet occupation zone under judicial administration and the prison regime in the prisons of the GDR Interior Ministry are now being analyzed in detail. The focus is on the penal system in Saxony and the three Saxon districts in the Ulbricht era. It shows how the detention system developed and changed since the end of the war. It becomes clear that the judicial administration tried to treat the prisoners in a humane manner, despite the desolate general prison conditions.