Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria: photo. Prisoners of Mauthausen concentration camp

The Mauthausen Concentration Camp was one of the most terrible death camps. It was located on the territory of Austria and was the largest in this country. For all of Mauthausen's existence, more than 100 thousand prisoners died in it. All prisoners were held in inhuman conditions, subjected to torture, excessive work and all sorts of bullying.

The creation of a concentration camp is a crime against humanity. Now there are several memorial complexes in memory of the victims of the Nazi regime.

History of creation

The first concentration camps were created in the territory of the Third Reich in the thirty-third year. Initially, there were placed dissidents with the Nazi regime. However, later the prisons began to be reformed. Innovations dealt with Theodor Eike, the creator of the SS squad "Totenkopf". By the thirty-eighth year the number of prisoners had risen sharply. After the "night of broken mirrors" all Jews in the territory of the Third Reich began to be persecuted. Many were taken to concentration camps. After the Anschluss of Austria prisoners almost doubled. In addition to Jews and open oppositionists, people sent to camps were sentenced to people suspected of disloyalty.

Expansion

Due to the huge number of SS prisoners, new camps were required. They were built all over the country on an urgent basis. The Mauthausen Concentration Camp was built by the prisoners themselves, who were brought from Dachau. They erected barracks and fencing. The place of construction was not chosen by chance. Nearby was the railway junction, which allowed prisoners to be delivered by trains. Also the area was sparsely populated and flat. For some time there were quarries. Therefore, the local Austrian population did not even know that the Mauthausen concentration camp was near them. Lists of prisoners were confirmed in secret, so even the Austrian authorities had a vague idea of the prison.

Initial use

On the site of the construction of Mauthausen were deposits of granite. For many centuries it was developed by local quarries. According to all documents, new buildings were considered state buildings.

However, the German businessman bought the design himself. Sponsoring construction was carried out from several private accounts. In particular, the German branch of the international organization Red Cross has allocated a considerable amount to the Mauthausen concentration camp. Lists of prisoners initially included only criminals. And the camp itself was designated as labor.

However, by the end of the thirty-eighth the orders began to change drastically. After the arrival of Jews, Gypsies and political prisoners, the standards of production became tougher. Eyke began to carry out reforms in all camps. Initially, he completely reorganized Dachau. Discipline became tougher, torture and mass executions began to be applied. The guard was engaged in special elite SS units.

Transformation

In the thirty-ninth year, Mauthausen became a separate camp. Now its branches are being created all over Austria. In all there were almost fifty auxiliary camps. They were located on the territory of mines, industrial plants, other enterprises, which required heavy physical labor. The main complex was intended for the maintenance of prisoners. Almost all prisoners from other countries and theaters of military operations were first brought to the Mauthausen concentration camp. After the attack on Poland, the ethnic composition of the prisoners changed dramatically.

From the east, Polish prisoners of war and members of underground resistance began to arrive. Also a huge number of Polish Jews. The camp's capacity was growing. By the end of the thirty-ninth there were up to 100 thousand people. The outer perimeter was surrounded by a stone wall with barbed wire. Through small intervals there were sentinel towers. After the fence will be called the "Wailing Wall". Every day, the prisoners had to line up three times along the wall and conduct a roll call.

At this point, cruel executions took place. Because of disobedience, poor health or even without any reason, prisoners were shot on the spot. Also, some prisoners were often stripped and poured cold water in the cold, and then left to die from the cold.

Crimes against humanity

It was after the torture with cold water that General Karbyshev , brutally tortured by fascists in the Mauthausen concentration camp, died . According to eyewitnesses, he, along with other prisoners, was kept in frost and watered with water from a hose. And those who dodged the jet were beaten with clubs. Now on the territory of the former camp, a monument stands to the general.

Directly beyond the territory, in the lowland, was a quarry. Almost all the prisoners worked on it. A long descent into the stairs was called the "ladder of death." The slaves lifted the stones from below upwards. Bags weighed more than fifty kilograms. A lot of prisoners died on this ascent. Because of the terrible conditions of detention and hard work, they simply fell on the steps. Those who fell often were killed by SS men.

Atrocity atrocities

The prisoners of the Mauthausen concentration camp forever remembered the break in the gorge. A high vertical plummet of the Nazis was mockingly called "a wall of paratroopers." The prisoners were thrown down here. They either broke up on the ground, or fell into the potholes with water, in which they sank. Usually people were thrown from the rock, who could no longer endure the hellish labor. The number of victims of the "wall" is unknown. Historians have established that only in 1942 several hundreds of Jews, brought from Holland, died here.

But the most terrible place in the camp was block number twenty. At first he was no different from other barracks. It housed Soviet citizens who were brought to the Mauthausen concentration camp from the Eastern Front. The list of prisoners was sent to Berlin. If it had interesting personality intelligence, they were taken away. The rest remained in the camp.

In the forty-fourth barrack number twenty was enclosed by a stone wall. There was also a crematorium. The unit translated potentially dangerous prisoners. The majority before that took part in the escape from the ordinary camps for prisoners of war. "Death Barrack" was used as a place for training new fighters of the units "Dead Head". They were allowed at any time of day to run into the territory of the block and kill as many slaves want. Later such orders were introduced on the territory of the whole camp.

Preparing for an escape

Inhuman conditions, hard work, malnutrition, endless torture, exemplary executions and executions were to break the will of all prisoners. The task of protecting the camp was to deprive prisoners of any hope. And they succeeded. People understood that they were surviving the last days and could be killed at any moment. However, in addition to fear and despair, there was also courage. A group of Soviet prisoners of war started an escape from the camp.

In the block number twenty were prisoners who had already made shoots and were recognized by the Germans as dangerous. Their barrack was a prison inside the prison. Prisoners were given only a quarter of that meager diet that was intended for others. "Food" was usually garbage and spoiled remains. At the same time, she was thrown to the ground and, only when she froze, was allowed to eat. The floor of the barrack was poured cold water in the evening so that the prisoners slept in icy water.

Escape from the concentration camp of Mauthausen

Unable to endure anymore, Soviet officers decide to escape. The leaders of the mutiny were newly arrived pilots. Discussed the escape in a short space before going to bed. The Germans allowed the prisoners to run around the yard to somehow warm themselves. It was decided to flee as soon as possible. Those who were captured only recently, told that the allies are already approaching the Face.

It was pointless to hope for release. Before leaving, the SS men shot prisoners in special blocks.

It was decided with the help of improvised means to attack the guards, and then escape into the woods. The twentieth barrack was right at the edge of the wall. The three-meter-high walls were crowned with barbed wire with a current flowing through it. Four hundred and nineteen people preferred hope to fear. About seventy cellmates, who could not move from torture and exhaustion, gave them their robes and said goodbye. In addition to Soviet prisoners of war, the uprising in the Mauthausen concentration camp was supported by Polish and Serb prisoners.

freedom or death

On the night of the second of February, the rebels smashed the wash basins. From the shell fragments they made weapons. Also in the course were pieces of bricks, coal and everything that could be found. I managed to get two fire extinguishers. With a deafening cry of "hurray" the prisoners rushed into the last battle. Surprisingly coherently acting, the Red Army immediately broke several searchlights and destroyed the guard post. With the help of fire extinguishers it was possible to suppress the machine gun nest. Having seized him, the rebels destroyed the guard of the other two towers.

To overcome the wall and the wire under tension, the prisoners went to the trick. They wet the blankets and pieces of clothing, and then threw them on the fence, which led to a short circuit. After that more than three hundred people escaped. They ran to the nearby forest. One group attacked the anti-aircraft gunshot. After hand-to-hand fighting, they seized several guns, but soon found themselves surrounded by SS men who had arrived in time.

Reaction of the local population

The Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria was located in the middle of farmlands and small settlements. Therefore, immediately after the escape, the SS announced the beginning of a special operation to catch fugitives. To do this, local units of the Volkssturm, the Hitler Youth and regular units were mobilized. The local population was also notified. More than a hundred people died at the walls of Mauthausen. And the prisoners who remained in the block were shot on the spot. Forests and landings were combed round the clock. Every day new fugitives came across. At the same time, the local population actively helped in the capture. Often with the caught were brutally massacred. They were hammered with sticks, knives and other improvised means, and the tortured bodies were put on public display.

Brave hearts

However, some residents still helped the Soviet people, despite the mortal danger. One of the fugitives hid in the house of Austrian farmers. An eyewitness of these events - a 14-year-old girl at the time, remembered that the prisoners knocked on the door in the middle of the day. Mother let them in despite the catastrophic consequences.

When asked why they decided to knock on this house, Soviet soldiers answered that they did not see Hitler in the window of the portrait.

Release

By early May, the American troops were already approaching Linz. Wehrmacht hurriedly retreated. Learning about the approach of the allies, the SS also decided to rush into flight. Almost all left the camp on the first of May. Some prisoners were going to be evacuated by the "death march". That is to force to go on foot many kilometers. As practice showed, because of exhaustion, most of the prisoners died. On May 5, the Americans approached the camp. The prisoners raised an uprising against the remaining SS men and killed them. On May 7, the Infantry Division of the US Armed Forces liberated the Mauthausen concentration camp. The photo of the camp flew around the world. Many soldiers, who were shocked by what they saw, never again showed mercy towards the captured Germans. A memorial complex was established on the territory of the camp.

Mauthausen, concentration camp: list of prisoners

Now the territory of the former death camp is a memorial complex. Every year it is visited by tens of thousands of tourists. There are monuments in many different languages. The most horrible places remained unchanged, for the edification of future generations. Lists of the Mauthausen concentration camp can be asked in the local archive. They contain all the names of prisoners in alphabetical order. Many Russian descendants of prisoners were able to learn the fate of their ancestors thanks to these archives.

However, the difficulty lies in the fact that the Germans did not always correctly transliterate Russian names. The memory of the prisoners is also immortalized in the nearby villages.

In 1995, a film appeared in Austria, telling about the infamous uprising.