Austria: Mauthausen Concentration Camp

When we finished our time in Prague, we boarded a tour bus and headed to Austria!  Our tour Guide, Fritz, was delightful, and he even turned on the Sound of Music for us to watch as we drove through the country side!  The rolling hills were beautiful and little towns that dotted the countryside were so charming. It was everything I imagine it would be.  I wanted to jump off of the bus and sing The Hills are Alive...!  

When we arrived in Austria, our first stop was Mauthausen, a concentration camp that grew to be one of the largest labor camps in German controlled Europe.  Mauthausen was mostly used for extermination through labor and the death toll is remains unknown though most sources estimate 320,000 for the entire complex.

Walking though the camp was a sobering and humbling experience.  The barbed wire and barred windows were in stark contrast to the rolling hills and wildflowers just outside the gates.  I was moved to tears as we walked by the fences where many were electrocuted. We walked along a wall where hundreds of prisoners were lined up and executed.  We walked down into the gas chamber and passed the incinerators where the bodies were burned.  We passed by countless photographs of victims and smelled the flowers that were still being placed there for loved ones.  

We looked through barbed wire fences saw watch towers and an ash dump.  We walked down to the quarry and saw the "Stairs of Death" Where Prisoners were forced to carry  blocks of stone weighing as much as 110 pounds up the 186 stairs.  We learned that the exhausted prisoners would often  collapse and fall on top of each other creating a horrific domino effect domino effect down the stairs.  We also learned that often the SS guards would force prisoners to race to the top of the stairs only to line up those who survived giving them the option of being shot or pushing the prisoner in front of him off the cliff.

As we walked through photographs that depicted the horrible events that took place here, I also saw quiet courage, and faith.  I was filled with pride as I watched the American soldiers liberate the camp, and I was touched as I read through the many monuments placed here by countries around the world.  I will never forget the quiet and tender feelings of my heart as I walked through this place and I promised myself that I would never forget.  

You can read more about Mauthausen here and here. You can see a map with a descriptions of each area and photographs here.