Mauthausen concentration camp

Mauthausen was a group of 49 Nazi concentration camps situated in the small town of Mauthausen in Upper Austria about 20 kilometers east of the city of Linz.

It was established on August 8, 1938 and under the command of Franz Ziereis at the time it was liberated on May 5, 1945 by the United States 11th armoured division. Among those prisoners liberated was Simon Wiesenthal who published in 1946 a book titled "KZ Mauthausen, Bild und Wort" (Concentration Camp Mauthausen - pictures and words).

Estimated numbers of prisoners - 195,000, most of them were forced to do hard labour in a rock quarry. The living conditions were extremely squalid, all were undernourished and diseases without proper medical attention caused many deaths.

External links :

• http://www.mauthausen-memorial.gv.at/engl/index.html
• http://www.remember.org/camps/mauthausen/