Die Wiederentdeckung des ehemaligen KZ-Gusen als europäischer Erinnerungsort

While the former Mauthausen concentration camp has acquired a dominant position in
the Austrian culture of remembrance of Nazi crimes, Gusen concentration camp quickly
fell into oblivion. Until a few years ago, very few Austrians were familiar with the name
“Gusen”. In autumn 1939, work began to build a second concentration camp on Austrian
soil in Gusen, not far from the main Mauthausen camp. The Gusen concentration camp
was officially opened in May 1940. Prisoners had to perform forced labour here under
horrendous conditions, initially in the quarries and from 1943 onwards predominantly
in the armaments production of the German Reich. In total, more than 71,000 prisoners
from all over Europe were deported to the Gusen I and Gusen II camps between 1940
and 1945. According to the latest estimates, more than 35,000 of them died.
In the Austrian culture of remembrance, this camp was quickly forgotten, and a policy
of repression set in that was to last for several decades. Whereas in the victim nations'
cultures of remembrance, Gusen always had a similar significance to Mauthausen. This
led to numerous conflicts in the immediate post-war period about the existence of a
memorial and its extent. Shortly before the turn of the millennium, more and more
attention has been drawn to Gusen. Ultimately, this led to the Republic taking over to
establish a memorial. Almost 20 years later, it was decided to comprehensively redesign
the memorial site. Almost 80 years after the liberation, a worthy memorial to the victims
is now to be created.