In October, the Soviet military commander became the new mayor by order of Frederick Dethloff (KPD). The Soviet NKVD centre at "Kietzstraße 10", the "House of Horrors", was known for its tough interrogation and torture. By the end of the year, over 6,000 refugees from the eastern territories had entered the town. By the spring of 1946, there was a typhus epidemic that claimed many victims. The facilities of the "Memefa" and the steam mill and Thiele Buggisch were dismantled as war reparations and sent to the Soviet Union. The Rostock to Neustrelitz railway and the sections of line from Malchow to Karow and Möllenhagen to Neubrandenburg were closed and the track removed.