Lyla Lindsey
Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp located in Austria, on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, 20 kilometres east of Linz. The camp was established in 1938, following the Nazi incorporation of Austria. The site was chosen because of its proximity to a nearby granite quarry and the town of Linz. The camp was controlled by the German state and operated by the SS, with nearly 100 subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of establishment | 1938 |
| Location | Mauthausen, Upper Austria |
| Distance from Linz | 12 miles |
| Reason for location choice | Granite quarries, proximity to Linz |
| Type of camp | German Nazi concentration camp |
| Number of subcamps | 100 |
| Main function | Slave labour camp |
| Quarry owner | Deutsche Erd– und Steinwerke GmbH |
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What You'll Learn
Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp
Mauthausen was chosen as the site for the concentration camp due to its proximity to a granite quarry and the town of Linz. The camp was controlled by the German state, but it was founded by a private company, Deutsche Erd– und Steinwerke GmbH (DEST Company), as an economic enterprise. The company was led by Oswald Pohl, a high-ranking Schutzstaffel (SS) official. The quarry, known as the Wiener-Graben quarry, was rented from the City of Vienna, and the granite extracted from it was intended to be used in the reconstruction of major German towns according to Nazi architectural plans.
Mauthausen served as the main camp of a larger system that included nearly 100 subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany. The subcamps were established to accommodate the growing number of prisoners and to provide labour for various industries, especially those related to the war effort. The three Gusen concentration camps, located just a few kilometres from Mauthausen, held a significant number of prisoners within the complex.
The conditions at Mauthausen were harsh, and the camp had one of the highest mortality rates among the Nazi concentration camps. Prisoners were subjected to forced labour, malnutrition, and inhumane living conditions. In 1941, the SS began constructing a gas chamber and other installations for the systematic murder of large groups of people. The camp was liberated by the United States Army on May 5, 1945, and by that time, out of approximately 190,000 people imprisoned in Mauthausen and its subcamps, at least 90,000 had perished.
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It was located near a granite quarry
The Mauthausen concentration camp was located near a granite quarry, which was owned by the city of Vienna. The site was chosen for the camp because of its proximity to the quarry, from which granite was extracted for use in Hitler's plans to rebuild the city of Linz, which was close by. The granite was also used to build the Mauthausen camp itself.
The Wiener Graben quarry, as it was known, was leased to the SS by the City of Vienna in 1938, and the camp was founded by a private company as an economic enterprise. The company, Deutsche Erd– und Steinwerke GmbH, was an acronym for German Earth and Stone Works Inc. in English, and was led by high-ranking SS official Oswald Pohl.
Prisoners at Mauthausen were forced to work in the quarry, carrying large blocks of stone up the 186 "stairs of death", which were simply cut into the clay and rock and held in place by logs. The stairs were extremely difficult to climb, and prisoners were forced to ascend and descend at a rapid pace. The quarry was also the site of many deaths, as SS guards frequently pushed prisoners over the edge of the quarry to their deaths.
The granite extracted from the quarry was transported by train to the nearby Danube River, where it was loaded onto barges and sent to Vienna to be used for roads and buildings.
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It was founded by a private company
The Mauthausen concentration camp was established in 1938 following the Nazi incorporation of Austria. It was founded by a private company, Deutsche Erd– und Steinwerke GmbH (DEST), as an economic enterprise. The company was led by Oswald Pohl, a high-ranking official of the Schutzstaffel (SS).
The site of the camp was chosen for its proximity to a granite quarry and the town of Linz. The quarry was owned by the city of Vienna and rented by DEST in 1938, with construction of the camp beginning the same year. The company intended to exploit the granite extracted from the quarry using concentration camp labour.
Mauthausen was the main camp of a group of nearly 100 subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany. The camp system included three Gusen concentration camps, which at times held a significant proportion of prisoners within the complex. The Gusen site was expanded during the war to include the central depot of the SS, where goods seized from occupied territories were sorted and dispatched.
The number of subcamps expanded over time, and by the end of the war, the list included 101 camps, including 49 major subcamps, covering most of modern-day Austria. The subcamps were generally located near factories, quarries, and mines, and the prisoners were deployed as slave labour. Mauthausen and its subcamps were known for their harsh conditions, with inmates forced to work under conditions that caused many deaths.
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It was controlled by the German state
The Mauthausen concentration camp was established in Austria following the Nazi incorporation of the country in 1938. It was controlled by the German state from the beginning, but founded by a private company as an economic enterprise. The site was chosen because of its nearby granite quarry and its proximity to Linz. The quarry was owned by the city of Vienna and was rented by the DEST company, an acronym for Deutsche Erd– und Steinwerke GmbH. The company was led by Oswald Pohl, a high-ranking official of the Schutzstaffel (SS).
The SS, the Nazi paramilitary corps, operated the camp and acquired satellite camps throughout Austria, all collectively called Mauthausen. The camp provided slave labour to work in the nearby stone quarries. The SS commandant's office and the barracks for the SS administrative personnel and guard units were located west of the camp. The SS guards surrounded the entire complex, along with watchtowers. The camp was guarded by the 4th Regiment ("Ostmark") of the SS Death's-Head Units.
The SS also established and controlled nearly 50 subcamps in the Mauthausen concentration camp system, most of them in 1943 and 1944. These subcamps were generally located near factories, stone quarries, and mines, where prisoners were transferred from the main camp to work. The Mauthausen camp and its subcamps were used to incarcerate "traitors to the people from all over Austria," including political prisoners, homosexuals, and anti-Nazis from across Europe.
The SS played a significant role in the harsh conditions and high mortality rate of the camp. They subjected prisoners to starvation, beatings, medical experiments, and grueling work in the quarries. The SS personnel were responsible for the killing and execution of thousands of inmates, particularly those who were ill or weak.
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It was liberated by the US Army
Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp located in Austria, on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, 20 kilometres east of Linz in Upper Austria. The camp was established following the Nazi incorporation of Austria in 1938, several months after the annexation of Austria to the German Reich.
The liberation of Mauthausen by the US Army on 5 May 1945 marked the end of a horrific chapter in the history of the camp and its inmates. The US forces reached the camp, including its main site and the Gusen sub-camps, and brought an end to the suffering and atrocities that had taken place there.
In the final months before liberation, the conditions in the camp deteriorated further. The camp's commander, Franz Ziereis, prepared for its defence against a possible Soviet offensive, forcing the remaining prisoners to build anti-tank obstacles. Malnutrition and harsh labour took a devastating toll, and many inmates were exterminated as the camp struggled to accommodate newly arrived transports from other camps.
The liberation of Mauthausen by the US Army was not without its challenges. Prior to their arrival, the prisoners themselves had taken over the camp, repelling assaults by remnants of German divisions. The SS guards had deserted, leaving the prisoners to their fate. The US Army coordinated with an International Red Cross affiliate to secure the surrender of the camp and its SS guards.
The liberation revealed the dire state of the prisoners, with many still dying in the days and weeks after liberation due to their weakened condition. The US Army liberated approximately 25,000 prisoners at Gusen and 12,000 prisoners at Mauthausen, including Lieutenant Jack Taylor, an officer of the Office of Strategic Services, and Simon Wiesenthal, an engineer who later dedicated his life to hunting Nazi war criminals. The liberation of Mauthausen was a significant moment in the final days of World War II, bringing an end to the horrors endured by the inmates and serving as a reminder of the urgent need for liberation across other camps.
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Frequently asked questions
Mauthausen was located in Austria because the site was chosen for its proximity to a granite quarry and the town of Linz. The granite was to be used for Nazi construction projects.
Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp located on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Austria.
Mauthausen was established in 1938 following the Nazi incorporation of Austria.
Mauthausen was established to incarcerate "traitors to the people from all over Austria", including political opponents and groups of people labelled as "criminal" or "antisocial".
