KL Mauthausen

At the order of del Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, KL Mauthausen was installed in 1938 in a granite quarry less than three kilometres from the Austrian town that would give it its name. The first Polish prisoners arrived within a year, and along with the Soviets would be the two largest groups to be sent there. The next largest were the Spaniards, and their number, along with their decisive role in the construction of the camp and the fact that no other nationality would have so many of their number in important administrative positions there, led to it becoming known as “the Spaniards’ camp”.

Like many other camps, Mauthausen would not acquire its definitive configuration until 1942. By then it already had an imposing wall, on its western and southern sides, eight rows of electrified barbed wire, an expansive network of watchtowers and a fearsome bunker, as well as the barracks, showers, kitchens, water tanks and an infirmary required to keep the camp running. Its most distinctive feature, however, was the granite quarry (Wiener Graben), the property of the SS-owned company German Earth and Stone Works (DEST), and the 186 steps designed to punish those who, like slaves, were assigned to work there. The photo, taken in 1942, shows prisoners carrying blocks of granite.

At first, the heavy blocks were carried up a ramp, but this was son replaced by a staircase of 160 irregularly spaced steps which was increased o 186 in 1941. Every day, a string of exhausted and underfed prisoners carried blocks weighing more than 20 kilograms, their lunch pails and, at times, the cadavers of their comrades, while being beaten by SS guards.

Immediately after the outbreak of the war, the camp experienced a second phase of construction. The focus in this phase was to erect permanent structure such as the administrative buildings, garages, the entrance, and, above all, the walls which, along with the barbed wire and watch towers, turned Mauthausen into a true fortress.

Until then, the camp’s defences were highly provisional, and security lay exclusively with the SS, the barbed wire, and the ability of life in the camp to grind down the prisoners. The objective was clear: no one should enter or leave Mauthausen without being seen, and no effort was spared to achieve it.

GGB