Here is some information on the Mauthausen concentration camp:  Mauthausen was located about 20km from Linz, Austria.  It was established in 1938.  On May 5, 1945 Mauthausen was liberated by the First Platoon of Troop D, But we'll get to that later.  The camp had an estimated number of 150,000 victims.  Mauthausen had about 10 sub-camps that lasted for some weeks, and 49 permanent sub-camps. 

     On August 8, 1938 Himmler ordered a couple hundred prisoners to be transferred to the little town of Mauthausen. There was a plan to build a new camp so they could supply slave labor for the Wiener Grabben stone quarry.  By 1939, most of the prisoners were put to work building the camp and living quarters.  The main camp had 32 barracks surrounded by electric barbed wire fences.  There was also high stone walls and watch towers. 

     The guards would torture the prisoners by making them climb the 186 steps of Wiener Grabben with large blocks of granite on their backs.  Often the blocks would fall and crush the limbs of the prisoners behind.  The block's would even kill the prisoner.  The SS guards would have a competition to see who could get to the top first.  The survivors would be forced to jump off of the side of the quarry.  That spot is known as the "Parachute Jump."  Prisoners would often get taken to the top and would be told to fight.  When two fighters fell, all of the victors would be set free.  

 
Mauthauen
      In 1941 a large number of Soviet POWS attived at Mauthausen.  The POWS were the first group to be killed in the gas chamber in early 1942.  The gas chambers had been operated at Harthiem castle since 1948.  The exhausted prisoners would be transported to the Harthiem Castle.                            Mauthausen's Gates                                                          
        
     In the time between 1940 and 1942, many inmates weighed as mush as 90 lbs.  Very few weighed 60 to 80 lbs.  Around six months was the average survival time at Mauthausen.  The Spanish Republican Army was most of the population. This is because they were defeated by General Franco's Forces.  The Spanish fled to France and Germany.  When France and Great Britain went to war with Germany, most of the Spanish men fought on France's side.  When France surrendered the Spanish were taken as prisoners.   
    A large group of Hungarian and Dutch Jews were transferred to Mauthausen.  Most of the group died from the hard work that they had to do.  They also died from the poor conditions.  The prisoners would also get thrown off the sides of the Mauthausen quarry!  In the final months of the war, 20,000 prisoners were transferred gron other camps to Mauthausen.
    Mauthausen had three main sections.  Camp I was the actual main camp.  Camp II was the workshop area where prisoners were forced to work.  It was later converted to hold prisoners, in the spring of 1944. Camp III was a Quartile camp built to separate incoming prisoners from the main camp population.  It was also built in 1944.

    Mauthausen held the record for executions and deaths.  Most died from the labor and others were put in the gas chambers or shot.  There was 200.000 prisoners that passed through Mauthausen. 119,000 died with 38,120 Jews.  These numbers include the nearby Gusen camp.  More inmates died there than than at the main camp.   On the trial, 58 defendants were found guilty and received "The Death Sentence" and 3 received "Life In Prison."
    The killing of prisoners took place in many different ways. In the SS they were beat, hung, shot, had administered heart injections, poisoned with gas, froze to death, or died of hunger.  Prisoners were taken to Mauthausen because of their political activities, religious beliefs, homosexuality, race, or because they were prisoners of war.
    There are lots of survivors from the camp, but I'm only going to tell you a few.  Eva was born on April 29, 1945 at Mauthausen. Eva and her mother were the only ones to survive out of 15 people in their family!  Mike Jacobs was a Jew from Konin, Poland.  He was the founder of "Dallas Memorial Center for Holocaust Studies."  Jacobs now lives in Dallas Texas.  Sydney Fahn had been brought to Mauthausen from Aushwitz-Berkenou and had weighed  only 80lbs. She was so weak that she couldn't even greet the US liberators.

 
     Albert J. Kosiek was the leader of the First Platoon of Troop D, or better known as the Liberators of Mauthausen.  They were patroling the bridges at St. Georgan for intactness.  A motorcycle and a white car with a red cross on the hood pulled up.  The Germans in the car said the Mauthausen guards wanted to surrender.  Once the troop got there all the prisoners started to cheer.  They told the guards to give up all weapons.  The guards said if they did that they would have no control over the prisoners.  All of this happened on May 5, 1945.                                            Mike Jacobs
    In conclusion,  you can tell that Mauthausen was a brutal place for prisoners to be.  It had the most recorded deaths for the concentration camps.  The guards were the worst people there.  If any prisoner didn't do what the guard told them to do they would shoot the prisoner. 
Rachel Taylor
Rossville jr. High
Holocaust Project
2007-2008                                                                                                                                                                Next page