Hallo von Mauthausen.
Hello from Mauthausen.
Please note, this is by no means a lighthearted post.
Today, Dalton and I went with a group of 50 other exchange students to Mauthausen Concentration Camp. It is about 30 minutes outside of Linz, and it was a truly somber experience.
Mauthausen was established on May 8, 1938 when Heinrich Himmler ordered several hundred prisoners from Dachau to Mauthausen to build a camp to supply forced labor to the Wiener Graben stone quarry. By the end of the war, Mauthausen had over 50 sub-camps in and around the town of Mauthausen. This was one of the largest concentration camp systems in Nazi Germany, conaining over 85,000 inmantes.
Mauthausen was a category three camp. This was the harshest level of camp and was "Rûckkehr unerwünscht" (Return not Desired) and "Vernichtung durch arbeit" (Extermination by Work). Every inmate sent to Mauthausen was to die there after having worked as much as they could.
Mauthausen was a category three camp. This was the harshest level of camp and was "Rûckkehr unerwünscht" (Return not Desired) and "Vernichtung durch arbeit" (Extermination by Work). Every inmate sent to Mauthausen was to die there after having worked as much as they could.
The inmates worked in the Wiener Graben stone quarry. The stone from this quarry built not only the camp itself, but was also sent all over Austria for construction, including the Nibelungen Bridge that crosses the Danube in Linz. The stairway at the edge of the quarry has gained infamy as one of the most deadly places in the camp. Known as Todesstiege (The Stairs of Death), inmates were forced to carry huge stones from the quarry, weighing over 100 pounds each, and climb the stairs as fast as possible. If one person fell (often they did from exhaustion or being pushed or tripped by SS guards) a line of prisoners would also fall like dominoes, usually resulting in many deaths.
Although the exact death toll cannot be known (SS officials burned as much documentation as possible before the liberation), it is estimated around 320,000 people for the Mauthausen system. These deaths included exhaustive labor, disease, starvation, hypothermia, hangings, shootings, medical experimentation, and gas chambers.
Mauthausen was the last concentration camp to be liberated on May 5, 1945. Today it remains as a memorial to the victims of the camp. Memorials from 58 countries who had citizens in Mauthausen are displayed on the walk to the main gates as a tribute to those lost.
Today, we saw the darkest part of Austrian history. The trip to Mauthausen was somber yet educational. It gave us an opportunity to see history up close where it happened and walk away appreciative of how far this society has come.
For more photos, see the Mauthausen Gallery.
Next weekend we are going to Vienna, the cultural center of Austria, so Auf Wiedersehen until then.