Mauthausen Concentration Camp

In the little village of Mauthausen, Austria, we peered out the windows of the tour bus in awe of the beauty surrounding us. The village was full of beautiful cottages scattered along the hillsides and in the distance stunning views of the Alps painted the perfect picture of the country.

Once we made it through the village, we drove up a steep road that would lead us to our destination. We traveled through countless acres of farmland to find what, on the outside, looked like a castle. We knew, however, that this was no castle... This was Mauthausen concentration camp.

The camp was built by Jewish slaves, without a clue that they would probably die when they finished. Mauthausen's history starts in 1938, when it was first put to use. In the year 1945, the camp had upwards of 85,000 inmates. Death toll estimates about 320,000 people were killed in Mauthausen.

When I entered the camp I was thinking to myself, "Why didn't anyone stand up to the Third Reich?" and "Did the people living in the villages know what was going on?" The camp was huge and could be seen from miles around... Oh, the people knew.

During our tour and testimonials of the survivors, I found out that locals were able to use the prisoners for projects. Local farmers relied on slave labor to tend to their crops and livestock, giving them nothing in return. Many died working, due to malnutrition and disease. They were also required to work at a rock quarry, which I'll explain later on.

When roll was called, all of the inmates had to be accounted for before the line (Gershon Ron recalled in Birkenau it was 5 persons deep) could be dismissed. Whether dead or alive, they were still counted. The SS wanted to be sure that no one escaped the camp. Many people committed suicide by hanging themselves and running into the electric wire fences.

Perhaps the most uneasy feeling I have had this whole trip came from the gas chambers at Mauthausen. Innocent people, victims of hatred, those are the people that were disposed of here. The gas chambers at Dachau were chilling, but those were never used.

Where I was standing, people fought for their lives... Men, women and children tried to open the door, but they couldn't. They held their breath in hopes that they could outlast the poison round, but they couldn't hold it long enough. The able bodies tried to climb on top of others in order to get a fresh breath from above, but they didn't. They clawed at the tile, fighting for one more breath... And I was there. In the very same spot thousands of people lost their innocence.

The SS would lie to the prisoners, saying that they were going to get a shower. The gas chambers were even made to look like shower rooms, with fake plumbing and faucets. I can't even imagine how it would feel to be treated like they were. They couldn't do anything!

Another very horrifying visit came from the granite quarry in which the prisoners were stationed to work. Here we found the famous "Stairs of Death." Throughout the whole trip, no one mentioned a lot about what the stairs were, but I was horrified when I found out. The "Stairs of Death" was a steep, 186 stair climb up a mountain side that had been chipped away. The SS would have Jews and other prisoners walk up the stairs, carrying an estimated 100 pound rock. Once they reached the top, the SS would push them off, shoot them, or even have the person next to them do it. The bodies fell hundreds of feet, dying upon impact.

The "Stairs of Death" located just below Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria. Pictured above is Veteran Mickey Dorsy and other students on the Holocaust Memorial Tour.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my posts. Tomorrow I will be posting about our visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau. Keep praying for us as we near the end of our trip. Our Veterans and survivors have been a blessing for all.