The Bautzen Memorial is in the former East German political prison known as Bautzen II, a few minutes' walk east of the old town. The building was used by the Nazis to hold political prisoners; after 1945 the Soviets and then the East German Ministry for State Security ran it as a high-security prison for political detainees, with conditions of strict isolation.
The memorial has been open since 1993, with cells preserved as they were and exhibitions covering both the Nazi and East German periods. Among the more sobering museums in eastern Germany, and one of the few places that addresses the postwar Communist repression as directly as the older Nazi crimes. Free admission; closed Mondays.