Austria's Dark Past: Uncovering Concentration Camp Horrors

Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its allies established a network of camps to incarcerate and exploit the forced labour of those deemed enemies of the state. One such camp was Mauthausen, a concentration camp in Austria, which was established in 1938 and liberated in 1945.

Mauthausen concentration camp

Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, in Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany.

The camp was established in 1938, several months after the German annexation of Austria. The first prisoners arrived on 8 August 1938, transferred from the Dachau concentration camp near Munich. These prisoners, who were all men, had to build their own camp and set up operations in the quarry. Their daily lives were marked by hunger, arbitrary treatment, and violence.

Mauthausen was one of the first massive concentration camp complexes in Nazi Germany and the last to be liberated by the Allies. It was also one of the most brutal and severe of the Nazi concentration camps. The camp authorities used several methods of killing, including gas chambers, lethal injections, shootings, hangings, starvation, and mistreatment. The camp's proximity to a granite quarry meant that prisoners were subjected to forced labour in unbearable heat or freezing temperatures, which led to exceptionally high mortality rates.

During the second half of the war, the prisoners, who now included women for the first time, were increasingly used as forced labourers in the arms industry. The number of prisoners at Mauthausen and its subcamps steadily increased, and by January 1945, the camps contained roughly 85,000 inmates. Of a total of around 190,000 people imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp and its subcamps over seven years, at least 90,000 died.

Gusen concentration camp

Gusen was initially populated by Polish prisoners, but also held large numbers of Spanish Republicans, Soviet citizens, Italians, and other nationalities. Conditions in the camp were harsh and brutal, with prisoners subjected to forced labour, starvation, and mass executions. The life expectancy of prisoners was as short as six months, and at least 35,000 people died in the camp. The SS used inventive and cruel methods of execution, including forcing prisoners to run carrying heavy rocks, standing under cold showers until they died, and using improvised gas chambers.

In 1943, the camp's purpose shifted towards armaments production for companies like Messerschmitt and Steyr-Daimler-Puch. This shift brought some benefits to prisoners, including increased rations and the allowance of food and medicine packages from outside the camp. However, the increased demand for labour also led to the construction of two additional camps, Gusen II and Gusen III, to accommodate the growing number of prisoners.

By the end of 1944, the Gusen camp system held more than 24,000 prisoners, who were forced to work in underground tunnels constructing factories for Messerschmitt. The conditions in Gusen II were particularly catastrophic, with a survival rate of approximately six months.

On May 5, 1945, the Gusen concentration camp was liberated by the United States 11th Armored Division and 26th Infantry Division. During the liberation, a number of former kapos (prisoner functionaries) were killed by surviving inmates. After the war, some SS personnel and kapos were tried and convicted for their crimes, but many went unpunished. The site of Gusen was redeveloped into a privately-owned village, with a small museum run by the Austrian government to commemorate the victims.

Political, social and racist persecution

The Mauthausen concentration camp was at the centre of a system of over 40 subcamps and was the main site of political, social, and racist persecution by the National Socialist regime on Austrian territory. The camp was established in 1938, shortly after the German annexation of Austria, and was liberated in 1945.

Political Persecution

The Mauthausen camp was initially established to incarcerate "traitors to the people from all over Austria", according to August Eigruber, the Upper Austrian Nazi Party district leader. The first prisoners were deemed "professional criminals" and "asocials", though the vast majority were convicted of petty property offences. The camp's purpose was to imprison political opponents, and it was used for the imprisonment and murder of the Nazis' political enemies.

The camp held political prisoners from a variety of countries, including more than 37,000 non-Jewish Poles, nearly 23,000 Soviet civilians, between 6,200 and 8,650 Yugoslav civilians, approximately 6,300 Italians, and at least 4,000 Czechs.

In 1944, 47 Allied military personnel, including 39 Dutchmen, 7 British soldiers, and 1 US soldier, were incarcerated at Mauthausen. They were all agents of the British Secret Operations Executive.

Social Persecution

Mauthausen was also used to incarcerate people deemed "asocials" by the Nazi regime. This included Jehovah's Witnesses, who were imprisoned for refusing to give the loyalty oath to Hitler and participate in military service.

The camp also held prostitutes, and other categories of "Incorrigible Law Offenders".

Racist Persecution

Mauthausen was used for the persecution of people on racial grounds. This included the incarceration of Jews, Romani people, and Spanish Republicans (socialists, communists, and anarchists).

In 1941, several hundred Dutch Jews were taken into custody and sent to Mauthausen, where they were abused by the SS. In 1944, 8,000 Hungarian and Polish Jews were transferred to the camp.

The Nazis also performed pseudo-scientific experiments on prisoners, including on Jehovah's Witnesses.

The Mauthausen Memorial

The main camp at Mauthausen had nearly 100 subcamps throughout Austria and southern Germany, including the three Gusen concentration camps in the village of St. Georgen/Gusen, just a few kilometres away. The entire complex was one of the first massive concentration camp networks in Nazi Germany, and the last to be liberated by the Allies.

The camp was founded by a private company as an economic enterprise, but it was controlled by the German state from the beginning. The site was chosen due to its proximity to a granite quarry, which was needed for the Nazi regime's construction projects. The first prisoners arrived in August 1938 and were forced to build their own camp and work in the quarry. Over time, the camp's population grew to include Jews, Roma, Sinti, LGBTQ+ people, Jehovah's Witnesses, and political opponents of the Nazis from all over Europe.

The conditions at Mauthausen were exceptionally harsh and deadly, even compared to other Nazi concentration camps. Prisoners were subjected to forced labour, malnutrition, overcrowding, and constant abuse and violence. They were forced to carry large blocks of stone up the 186 steps of the "Stairs of Death", resulting in many deaths. The camp also had a gas chamber and a crematorium, where thousands were murdered.

The exact death toll is unknown due to missing archives, but it is estimated that out of the 190,000 people imprisoned at Mauthausen, over 90,000 died. The camp was liberated by American forces on May 5, 1945.

The liberation of Mauthausen

In the final months before liberation, the camp's commander, Franz Ziereis, prepared for its defence against a possible Soviet offensive. The remaining prisoners were forced to build a line of granite anti-tank obstacles to the east of Mauthausen. Those who were too weak or ill to work were killed to free up space for new arrivals from other camps. Food rations were also catastrophically low, with prisoners receiving barely any bread and a small amount of soup.

On 3 May, the SS began to evacuate the camp, and the following day, the guards of Mauthausen were replaced with unarmed Volkssturm soldiers and an improvised unit formed of elderly police officers and firefighters. The police officer in charge of the unit accepted the "inmate self-government" as the camp's highest authority, and Martin Gerken, a kapo, became the new de facto commander. However, his attempt to create an International Prisoner Committee to govern the camp until liberation failed.

On 5 May, a reconnaissance unit of the US Army arrived at Mauthausen and Gusen. They were led by Staff Sergeant Albert J. Kosiek of the 41st Reconnaissance Squadron of the US 11th Armored Division, 3rd US Army. By this time, most of the guards had fled, and around 30 of those who remained were killed by the prisoners. The US troops disarmed the policemen and left the camp, and further units arrived in the following days.

The liberation of the camp came too late for thousands of prisoners. Overcrowding, lack of food, and rampant disease had led to mass death in the final months before liberation. Many prisoners were in such a weakened state that they died in the days and weeks after liberation, despite the medical care provided by the US Army. Of a total of around 190,000 people imprisoned in Mauthausen and its subcamps over seven years, at least 90,000 died.

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