Demmin

Town
	Coat of arms
	Location of Demmin within Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district
	Coordinates: 53°54′18″N 13°02′38″E / 53.90500°N 13.04389°ECoordinates: 53°54′18″N 13°02′38″E / 53.90500°N 13.04389°E
Country	Germany
State	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
District	Mecklenburgische Seenplatte
Subdivisions	11 districts
Government
• Mayor	Thomas Witkowski (CDU)
Area
• Total	80.653 km2 (31.140 sq mi)
Elevation	8 m (26 ft)
Population (2006-12-31)
• Total	12,633
• Density	156.634/km2 (405.680/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	17109
Vehicle registration	DM
Website	www.demmin.de

Demmin (IPA: [dɛˈmiːn]) is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It was the capital of the former Demmin Rural District.

World War II

German troops destroyed the bridges over the Peene while retreating from Demmin during World War II. This way, the advance of the Soviet Red Army was slowed down when they arrived in Demmin on April 30, 1945. During that night and the following morning, Demmin was handed over to the Red Army largely without fighting, similar to other cities like Greifswald.

Although there were only a few pockets of resistance, nearly 900 people committed mass suicides in fear of the Red Army. Coroner lists show that most drowned in the nearby River Tollense and River Peene, where others poisoned themselves.^[1] This was fuelled by atrocities and rapes committed by Red Army soldiers until the city commander had the access to the rivers blocked on May 3.