REPUBLIK ÖSTERREICH BM.I BUNDESMINISTERIUM FÜR INNERES

MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL | KZ-GEDENKSTÄTTE MAUTHAUSEN MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

PUBLISHER Federal Ministry of the Interior, Section IV/7

DIRECTOR Barbara Glück

AUTHORS Christian Dürr, Florian Freund, Harald Hutterberger, Yariv Lapid, Ralf Lechner, Stephan Matyus, Bertrand Perz, Barbara Glück, Jörg Skriebeleit, Franz Sonnenberger, Heidemarie Uhl, Robert Vorberg

GRAPHIC DESIGN & TYPESETTING Federal Ministry of the Interior, Section I/8 (CP)

TRANSLATION FROM GERMAN Nick Somers

EDITING & PROOFREADING Betti Moser

PRINTING Digital print centre of the Federal Ministry of the Interior

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Framework concept for the redesign of the Mauthausen Memorial

Vienna 2012

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4 CONTENTS

FOREWORD ...... 6

INTRODUCTION ...... 7 DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW CONCEPT ...... 7 MAUTHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP 1939–1945 ...... 9 MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL ...... 10 COMMEMORATIVE CULTURE AT MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL ...... 12

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE REDESIGN ...... 14 REDESIGN GUIDELINES ...... 14 DEALING WITH THE SITE ...... 15 BASIC EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF MEMORIAL WORK ...... 18 SATELLITE CAMPS AND GUSEN ...... 21

THE DECENTRALISED EXHIBITION CONCEPT ...... 24 INTERPRETATION OF THE HISTORICAL SITE ...... 25 THE NEW “MAIN ROUTE” ...... 26 OVERVIEW EXHIBITION: HISTORY OF MAUTHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP FROM 1938 TO 1945 ...... 30 THEMATIC EXHIBITION: MASS EXTERMINATION AT MAUTHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP ...... 32 THEMATIC EXHIBITION: INMATES OF MAUTHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP ...... 34 THEMATIC EXHIBITION: THE STONE QUARRY ...... 36 THEMATIC EXHIBITION: SS PERSONNEL AT THE CONCENTRATION CAMP MAUTHAUSEN ...... 38 THEMATIC EXHIBITION: HISTORY OF THE MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL ...... 40

INFRASTRUCTURE ...... 42 VISITOR CENTRE: FUNCTIONS AND FUTURE UTILISATION ...... 42 ENTRANCE AREA ...... 43 MUSEUM DEPOT ...... 43 ACCESSIBILITY OF THE MEMORIAL ...... 44 WEBSITE ...... 44

MEMBERS OF THE WORKING GROUP ...... 46

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FOREWORD

The silence was uncomfortable, almost countless approaches and alternatives. oppressive, at the end of my interview Mauthausen Memorial and its exhibition, with the former inmate and concentration installed in 1970 and mostly unchanged camp survivor Hans Maršálek, arranged since then, has long been the object as part of a discussion event. I had a of discussion, sometimes animated lump in my throat as I watched this and sometimes less so, and, sadly, of ninety-four-year-old man with tears in sometimes political, but mostly scientific his eyes as he spoke of the blindness dispute. It is now the last of the major of those who persist in living in the past concentration camp memorials to be and of some young people. It is moments redesigned – although this fact is nothing like these that remind me starkly of my to be proud of. The concept described here motivation for this work: making sure provides the basis for this redesign. There we never forget, and the important have been twelve of us who have drafted, assertion: “Never again!”, which must discussed, argued about and fine-tuned not be allowed to fade away and which we it, experts from different disciplines with must never become indifferent to. different approaches to the subject, and with great energy, motivation and sense I have been responsible for the of responsibility. Bertrand, Heidemarie, Mauthausen Memorial for the last four Christian and Stephan, Franz, Jörg and years. As a historian and as someone Florian, Robert, Harald and Ralf, Yariv – I born in 1978, a long time after the events thank you all. that took place there, I have been asking myself from the outset what Mauthausen The coming years will therefore stands for. Is it a collection of old see changes in Austria’s largest buildings that recall a terrible era? Is it concentration camp memorial. We will a place of learning for the 200,000 or so provide information about our work, visitors who come to see and form their seek dialogue with survivors, with the impressions of the site every year? Or is public and with our partners, who are it primarily a memorial and cemetery? To so important to us, and we will also give what extent can we call it an “open-air our best. Together we hope to succeed in museum”? ensuring that this memorial to humanity and human dignity and against exclusion A lot of questions that in a complex and intolerance has a “promising future” and extended process have produced – in spite of everything.

Barbara Glück

6 INTRODUCTION

DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW CONCEPT approach to the memorial education concept, were initially moved down the For the last two decades, prominent list of priorities. researchers and interest groups within society have been pointing to the need In 2008, Federal Minister Günter Platter to redesign Mauthausen Memorial. Yet initiated a project for the redesign of numerous proposals developed in the Mauthausen Memorial and commissioned past have never been implemented. In Section IV/7 of the Federal Ministry of 2001 the then Federal Minister Ernst the Interior, the department responsible Strasser inaugurated an initiative to for concentration camp memorials, redesign the memorial. to devise a concept. A working group was established with members of the The first concrete and quickly department and external experts from implemented results included the different disciplines (history, memorial erection of new visitors’ centres in education, museology). Altogether the Mauthausen and Gusen, recording the working group had thirteen members, recollections of hundreds of survivors a manageable number that permitted of the camp as part of an international efficient discussion and decision-making. interview project, setting up the website By including experts in memorials and www.mauthausen-memorial.at and museums from Germany it was possible establishing an advisory committee, to benefit from the experience they had which later became part of the larger gathered in the course of their own International Forum Mauthausen. Other restructuring processes. important areas, such as the urgently needed redesign of the permanent The initial meetings focused on basic exhibition or a more professional questions such as the educational © Fotoarchiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen/Stephan Matyus Mauthausen/Stephan der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Fotoarchiv

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aims of the redesign, the special archive provide an important basis for features of Mauthausen concentration communicating historical content. camp and its history, and the national and international significance of the The work on the new concept for the memorial. On the basis of these general Mauthausen Memorial has been carried discussions it was then possible to turn out in close cooperation with external to the specific features of the site. A experts and institutions from various focus of the work here was the definition disciplines. This will be extended and of the relevant historical content to be intensified during the implementation taken into account in the redesign, and phase, since without it a lasting redesign its integration in the topography of the of the site will not be possible. memorial. This document is the result of the discussions in the working group and The concept outline that follows will act the joint decisions made there. as a guideline and contextual framework for the redesign of the memorial. With Apart from defining the basic principles this objective in mind and taking into for dealing with the historical site account the comments and suggestions and the content needed to present made during its presentation at the the history of the camp, the group Dialogforum Mauthausen, the concept also considered it important to define will serve as a basis for elaborating specific implementation measures and individual projects in detail. Owing to essential preliminary work (conversion the extent of the measures, the concept and refurbishing, research and collection will have to be implemented in stages, requirements, etc.). commencing immediately after its presentation. The working group will In parallel to developing the concept, continue to exist so as to define these specific projects were initiated, the stages, elaborate the projects and results of which provide the basis for subprojects in detail and implement them the coming redesign of the Mauthausen in cooperation with Section IV/7. Priority Memorial. Of particular note in this will be given to the implementation of regard is the archaeological investigation the decentralised exhibition concept, of the ground and buildings on the starting with the overview exhibition memorial site that has been carried and new signage of the historical site, out since autumn 2008 in collaboration and the implementation of the overall with the Institute of Prehistory and Early educational concept. History and the Institute of Contemporary History at the University of Vienna. Two plots of land have also been purchased by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, Family and Youth that had previously been the location of significant camp areas such as the Ash Dump and camp III. These can thus be incorporated in future in the memorial concept. Finally, the ongoing research and collection activities by the Mauthausen Memorial

8 MAUTHAUSEN CONCENTRATION Nazi concentration camp system. The CAMP 1939–1945 mortality during this time was amongst the highest of all concentration camps in The first inmates from Dachau the German Reich. concentration camp arrived in Mauthausen on 8 August 1938, As in the other concentration camps, five months after the “Anschluss” the inmates of Mauthausen were put (Annexation) of Austria to Nazi Germany. to work increasingly in the armaments industry after 1942–43. Several satellite The siting of Mauthausen, and of its camps were erected and the number of satellite camp Gusen in 1940, was chosen inmates increased dramatically. At the because of the nearby granite quarries. end of 1942 there were 14,000 inmates The inmates were initially put to work in Mauthausen, Gusen and a few satellite erecting the camps and then to produce camps. In March 1945 there were over building materials for the SS company 84,000. Deutsche Erd- und Steinwerke GmbH (DeSt), for use in the monumental and From the second half of 1944, thousands prestige buildings of the German Reich. of inmates, evacuated from other concentration camps to the east of The political function of the camp, Mauthausen, began to arrive. Moreover, the continuous persecution and in early 1945, the satellite camps east of incarceration of actual or supposed Mauthausen and the forced labour camps political and ideological opponents, had for Hungarian Jews were closed. priority until 1943. Mauthausen and Gusen were for a time the only “category The inmates were driven in death III” camps, making for the most severe marches towards Mauthausen. This led conditions of confinement within the to sudden and terrible overcrowding in © Museu d‘Història de Catalunya, fons de Amical de Mauthausen, Barcelona de Amical fons de Catalunya, © Museu d‘Història Soviet prisoners of war in the roll-call area, SS photo, October 1941

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Mauthausen, Gusen and the satellite MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL camps Ebensee, Steyr and Gunskirchen. Hunger and disease caused the mortality In the days and months after liberation, rate to rise sharply. the US Army was occupied with taking care of the survivors, burying the dead In contrast to the original idea of in a special cemetery, documenting the establishing a camp for Austrian men, the crimes and repatriating former inmates. majority of the 200,000 inmates deported to Mauthausen came from over forty When the occupation zones were countries, particularly Poland, the Soviet determined, the Mauthausen camp came Union and Hungary. Large groups of under Soviet administration, served as Germans and Austrians, French, Italians, a barracks for several months and then Yugoslavs and Republican Spaniards stood empty until it was handed over to were also interned in Mauthausen. the Republic of Austria in 1947. The local Jewish inmates from Hungary and population saw the former camp as a Poland began to arrive in large numbers source of valuable building materials from early 1944. The same year several and dismantled large parts of it. This thousand women were transferred to pragmatic phase ended on 20 June 1947 Mauthausen. when the Soviet occupying forces handed the camp over to the Republic of Austria Thousands of inmates were beaten to on the condition that it was turned into a death, shot, killed by lethal injection worthy memorial. or died through hypothermia as part of the “death bath actions”. Over 10,200 Between 1947 and 1949 the Republic of inmates were killed in the gas chamber Austria established a national memorial in the main camp, in Gusen or Hartheim on the site, while at the same time Castle and in gas vans driving between demolishing further areas of the camp Mauthausen and Gusen. But most of the and selling practically all of the SS inmates succumbed as a result of the and inmate barracks. Because of the ruthless mistreatment and brutality that anticipated high maintenance costs, only accompanied the exploitation of their areas of the camp that were considered labour, of deficient diet and clothing, of great historical importance and clearly and the absence of medical care. expressed the martyrdom and suffering Altogether around 100,000 inmates died of the inmates were retained. These in Mauthausen, Gusen and the satellite surviving relics thus took on even greater camps, half of them in the last four importance as testimony to the history of months before liberation. Mauthausen the camp, and this was further enhanced was liberated by the US Army on 5 May by renovation work and structuring of the 1945. site.

As a further commemorative area a sarcophagus was erected in the roll- call area and a chapel and secular consecrated area installed in the former laundry building.

10 © Archiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen/Ralf Lechner der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Archiv Memorial park at Mauthausen, 2008

The Public Mauthausen Memorial was In the early 1960s a cemetery was opened in early 1949. Mauthausen was established in part of the former thus one of the first national concentration inmate camp to which the remains camp memorials in Europe. of concentration camp victims were transferred from the American After the opening of the memorial, cemeteries in Mauthausen and Gusen however, public interest in Mauthausen and the mass graves set up by the SS. dwindled. During the Cold War the More than 14,000 victims are buried in memorial had no place in the iconography camp II and in the area of inmate barracks of the reconstruction of Austria and was 16 to 19. side-lined by a commemorative culture whose most visible expression came An initiative of former inmates, in the form of the erection across the accompanied by the founding of country of memorials to those who had the non-partisan Österreichische fought and died in the war. Lagergemeinschaft Mauthausen in 1964, led to a permanent exhibition on the On the initiative of former inmates from history of the camp being commissioned various countries, led by France, national by the government in the mid-1960s. memorials were erected in Mauthausen The exhibition, which was installed at this time. The memorial park on the in the former infirmary under the site of the former SS barracks today direction of former Mauthausen inmate also includes monuments to groups of Hans Maršálek, was opened in 1970. In victims rather than nationalities – Jews, addition to its function as a cemetery Roma and Sinti, and young victims – and and memorial, this permanent exhibition is regarded as a special feature of the of Nazi crimes in Austria now made Mauthausen Memorial site. The original Mauthausen into a site for political and concept, which saw the camp relics in historical education. themselves as an appropriate memorial to the suffering of the inmates, was This “museum” represented the starting thus abandoned in favour of symbolic point for the memorial’s evolution into a memorials. central site for confronting the history of

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Nazi crimes in Austria. The importance COMMEMORATIVE CULTURE AT of this was reflected in the increasing MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL number of visitors. The growing relevance of the memorial for historical and Mauthausen Memorial is not merely political education could also be seen in a historical site commemorating the the regular official recommendations by crimes of the Nazi regime – as well as the Ministry of Education since the 1970s, survival and resistance. It is also, and encouraging schools to visit the site. above all, a cemetery dedicated to the memory of the victims. Survivors and At the same time, interest in the relatives of Mauthausen inmates from Mauthausen Memorial as a platform all over the world still visit the site to for various political and cultural events remember the dead. also increased. The annual liberation celebrations were now attended by high- Just as former inmates were ranking politicians and representatives instrumental in the establishment of public life. The swearing-in of soldiers and development of the memorial, the in 1983 and the visit by Pope John Paul commemorative culture, too, has until II in 1988 also drew public attention recently been mainly driven by survivors to Mauthausen. Even controversial and their organisations. The first events, like the concert by the Vienna commemorative celebration took place Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000, further on 16 May 1945 as a farewell celebration demonstrated that at the end of the in the roll-call area for the former twentieth century the Mauthausen Soviet prisoners. This International Memorial had become a focus of official Solidarity Rally already contained all of Austrian commemorative culture and the elements that were to characterise remains so today. Since 1997, the date the “official” international component of on which Mauthausen was liberated later liberation celebrations, such as the has become the official national day for ritual entrance into the camp of former commemorating the victims of National inmates and their mustering in the roll- Socialism. call area.

Since the 1990s, against the background Since 1946, international liberation of international political upheavals and a celebrations instigated by organisations change in attitudes to Austria’s Nazi past, of former inmates have taken place each discussions about the need to reform the year in May, around the date the camp memorial led, amongst other things, to was liberated. In the first decades the the construction of the Visitors’ Centre socialising practice of commemoration in 2003, which also laid the foundation was essential to the creation and for a more fundamental redesign of the maintenance of group identity within the memorial. victim associations. At the same time these events signalled to the outside world that the suffering at Mauthausen concentration camp could not simply be forgotten.

In the first decades after the war, participation in the liberation

12 © Fotoarchiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Fotoarchiv Procession of former inmates at the liberation commemoration in May 1955 celebrations and visits to the former and to the events at the very places where concentration camp and its satellite they occurred. camps in general were restricted for the most part to survivors and relatives In Mauthausen, and particularly at the of persons deported to Mauthausen. sites of other camps like Gusen and the Involvement by the people of Austria and satellite camps, the commemorative official bodies in these annual events was culture has been fostered and cultivated small until the 1970s. The presentation since the 1980s increasingly by later of the former Mauthausen concentration generations. In 2000, the Österreichische camp as a site commemorating victims, Lagergemeinschaft Mauthausen particularly during the liberation handed over its agenda to the follow- celebrations, conflicted directly with the up organisation, Mauthausen Komitee experience of most of Austrian society, Österreich. who had been active participants in National Socialism. It was not until the The material expression of this changing historical awareness in Austria commemorative culture can be seen in in the 1970s that the commemorative particular in the erection of memorials culture in Mauthausen was recognised and monuments at the sites of former more by society and politicians. This was satellite camps. In Mauthausen itself, accompanied by the establishment of apart from the official memorials and the memorial as a place of historical and commemorative areas, sites have been political education. created for specific forms of collective and individual remembrance, such as the This reorientation is not just an Austrian area of the former crematorium. phenomenon. The fundamental dis- cussions taking place on attitudes These places and the associated forms to National Socialism in the national of remembrance are an essential consciousness in the course of the component of the memorial. They are political upheavals in the early 1990s nurtured by a living commemorative have given impetus in many European culture that will need to be consolidated countries to new ways of commemorating in future. the victims of the Nazi regime. Holocaust memorials, commemorative museums, In particular, the redesign will need to and the redesign of exhibitions and take account of hitherto neglected areas memorials are illustrative of a new of commemoration, such as the former European commemorative culture since Ash Dump, which should be made the 1990s. Memorials to the crimes of accessible so as to make clear their National Socialism are seen as places significance in the camp’s history and as that provide first-hand access to history a place of the dead.

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BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE REDESIGN

REDESIGN GUIDELINES 1. The historical buildings are to be preserved. The redesign of Mauthausen Memorial 2. Building measures, including is part of an ongoing process of change renovation and conservation, should be that the site has undergone since it was subject to a prior expert assessment. handed over to the Republic of Austria 3. The reference point for the redesign in 1947. The redesign measures must is the documented status of the camp therefore be seen as part of a continuing on 5 May 1945, with allowance for historical process. reconstruction and interference with the historical substance after that date. The concept working group decided 4. The existing memorial areas and to draft guiding principles that should cemeteries are to be preserved as such remain valid beyond the redesign project and maintained in a dignified manner itself. The guidelines will thus not only in commemoration of the victims. determine the nature and extent of 5. Any information provided must refer measures carried out during the present to the historical site and not compete redesign, but will also govern future with it. decisions and provide a framework for 6. The information should be organised responsible management of Mauthausen to target different visitor groups. Memorial. As such they form the 7. Rules for design interventions are to be parameters against which all future work drafted and bindingly observed during can be verified. implementation. 8. All future design measures must also involve a documentation of the previous status quo.

14 DEALING WITH THE SITE gas chambers had their installations hastily dismantled. This makes it THE REMAINS OF THE CAMP difficult to set a starting point for the AFTER 1945 archaeological remnants from which to The concentration camp liberated by survey subsequent changes. The date the US Army on 5 May 1945 was not of liberation, 5 May 1945, nevertheless completed as the original SS plans presents itself as an appropriate baseline. intended. Construction work was carried out continuously at the camp between For the US Army the liberated camp was 1939 and 1945, not only to accommodate above all a crime scene, the site of Nazi the increasing number of inmates but atrocities. Many liberated inmates saw also to adapt the camp to requirements the former camp first of all as a place of presented by the steady enlargement of suffering, and the remains stood for the the camp’s functions. crimes committed there and thus took on the status of relics. Before it was liberated, Mauthausen concentration camp had already been In conflict with the interests of former modified in an attempt to remove the inmates in preserving the remains of traces of the crimes committed there. the camp, they were seen by others as The SS had incinerated large amounts a source of valuable building materials of documents and photographs and the which were in very short supply in the © Fotoarchiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen/Stephan Matyus Mauthausen/Stephan der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Fotoarchiv Ash Dump with commemorative stone and cross, 2006

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immediate post-war period. Until the site is intended, and necessary structural was handed over to the Republic of Austria measures should be kept to a minimum. in 1947, the remains of the building were arbitrarily destroyed. The erection of the DEFINITION OF THE CAMP BOUNDARIES memorial between 1947 and 1949 was The boundaries of the Mauthausen also accompanied by the dismantling of Memorial defined between 1947 and significant sections of the camp, justified 1949 enclosed only part of the former both by financial considerations and also concentration camp. Many sections were by differences in interpretation of the returned to their earlier owners, including historical significance of the remaining part of the inmates’ camp and the former buildings as symbols of the inmates’ tent camp and camp III (purchased by suffering. Moreover, the renovations the Republic of Austria in 2009). The during conversion of the former camp Ash Dump and execution area, many into a worthy memorial and thereafter did administrative buildings, workshops and not comply with present-day standards technical installations were outside the for handling historical buildings. memorial. The Wiener Graben quarry, a central symbol within Mauthausen, was The historical site was changed and not integrated in the memorial until the modified several times in this way, but 1950s, and part of the site, along with the for a long time the interventions were not SS barracks (today Bernaschek housing adequately documented. estate), still remained outside.

PRESERVING THE BUILDING REMAINS This redrawing of the memorial AS PART OF THE REDESIGN boundaries determined which buildings One of the aims of the redesign of and structures were retained and which the memorial is to ensure that the were left in disrepair. Even within the surviving buildings and camp features memorial, however, parts of the camp are preserved and protected as set were transformed or changed after forth in national and international laws 1945, making them difficult to identify as and conventions. The baseline for this belonging to the former concentration consideration is the status on 5 May camp. This applies, for example, to the 1945, with account taken of the memorial area of the former hospital camp, which areas and cemeteries as an essential was burnt down by the US Army to prevent component of the subsequent history epidemics. of and attitude to the camp. The aim is to clearly differentiate these different The original structure and extent of the epochs and hence to make them camp is to be made visible again through recognisable. restrained landscaping and historical interpretation, although once again The restoration of the original state, such avoiding any form of reconstruction. as the removal of the asphalt on the roll- These interventions are part of the call area laid in the 1980s, is justified by overall landscape design concept that is educational and scientific arguments to be developed. and will take place solely on the basis of prior archaeological and architectural A prerequisite that considerably assessments. Apart from measures to facilitates the achievement of this aim shore up the buildings, no reconstruction is the long-term intention of gradually

16 purchasing the sites not belonging to the above-mentioned functions being the Republic on which parts of the camp sacrificed at the expense of another. were situated. Access to the gas chamber, execution site and morgue will be restricted, A further prerequisite is the but they will still be viewable from the archaeological investigation that is outside. The existing areas of personal already underway in a collaboration contemplation such as crematoriums I between the memorial and the Institute and III will retain this function and visitor of Prehistory and Early History and the access will be controlled in such a way Institute of Contemporary History of the as to preserve the dignity of the sites and University of Vienna, which will supply the historical building substance. more detailed information about the topography and surviving traces of no As far as the opening of hitherto longer recognisable parts of the camp inaccessible areas and buildings is (hospital camp, camp III, tent camp). concerned, questions of conservation and safety and of the contextual relevance for ACCESSIBILITY OF CAMP AREAS AND the memorial’s educational concept must BUILDINGS first be considered. Whilst allowing for Certain areas of the Mauthausen these considerations, the basement area Memorial have both historical significance of the kitchen barracks and the camp and modern-day functions. These former commandant’s room will be incorporated places of death and suffering are now in the exhibition concept as part of the archaeological remains used for museum “Inmates of Mauthausen concentration purposes, as well as being a memorial camp” and “SS camp” exhibitions. and place of contemplation. In addition, all other rooms should be One central and sensitive place of this made accessible in principle for guided type is the area of the crematorium, tours on specific themes. gas chamber and execution site, where these different functions coincide in a particularly striking manner. The way in which these areas are accessed today fails to do justice to their multifaceted significance. The crowds of visitors wishing to see these confined areas jar with their function as a place of quiet contemplation. Access by visitors to the gas chamber is problematic from an educational point of view and also for reasons of piety. In addition, the volume of visitors in these areas also threatens the building structure and hence important traces of the crimes that were committed there.

The new design will reorganise access to this area of the camp without one of

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BASIC EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF develop an educational infrastructure. MEMORIAL WORK The following aims were defined:

In the last twenty years there has been Evaluation increasing debate surrounding the ex- The memorial is visited by individuals pectations society has of memorials to and groups with different backgrounds, victims of the Nazis. It has been questioned expectations and needs, which makes whether a visit to a memorial on its own it necessary to devise a nuanced is enough to promote a humanitarian and educational concept. This will be defined democratic attitude. In parallel with the in the course of a future evaluation development of educational departments project. within the memorials, it has become evident that mere confrontation with the Professional guides crimes committed in these places does For the last few decades the educational not necessarily make visitors sensitive to work at the memorial has relied mainly the concept of human rights. Memorials on volunteers performing community face major challenges in their efforts to service as an alternative to military communicate and present the historical service. The increasingly young age of events appropriately. They must fulfil these volunteers and the limits to their several, often conflicting functions. On training because of the short period of the one hand, they are burial grounds service are at odds with the professional and places of mourning, respect and education concept the Memorial aspires restraint. At the same time, however, to. Since 2007 a pool of communicators they need to create an atmosphere has been established with the appropriate conducive to open and critical learning. knowledge, empathy and sensitivity to They should trigger empathy and the site and its educational objectives. understanding for the victims but also a confrontation with the history of the Diversity of the educational perpetrators. They should incite political measures thinking and action by referencing A varied educational agenda has to be current events, while at the same time developed to meet the different needs of underlining the uniqueness of the Nazi visitors. The accompanying educational crimes and avoiding simplifications programme should be oriented towards or generalisations. Finally, they must the target groups and also offer the combat the trivialisation of the events possibility for thematic focuses. In but, at the same time, function as addition to the different types of guided public cultural sites capable of handling tours, the programme should also offer thousands of visitors, offering food and workshops and seminars. sanitary facilities as well as literature about the genocide and information Collaboration with the Federal about the daily experience of torture and Ministry of Education, Art and death in the concentration camps. Culture Around one third of the visitors to the RESTRUCTURING OF EDUCATIONAL memorial are Austrian schoolchildren. In WORK the past they were often confronted by the In autumn 2007, a department was Mauthausen Memorial without adequate established at Mauthausen Memorial to preparation. The existing collaboration

18 with the Federal Ministry of Education, the memorial and will include seminars Art and Culture and the communication for teachers in which they will be made project “erinnern.at” is to be stepped up aware, amongst other things, of the need so as to create an appropriate framework for preparation and follow-up of visits, for school visits to Mauthausen. This will as well as the provision of educational start with age guidelines for visits to material on the memorial website. © Fotoarchiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen/Stephan Matyus Mauthausen/Stephan der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Fotoarchiv Community service volunteer giving a guided tour to a school class, 2008

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Other collaborative partnerships Cooperation with other organisations and interest groups involved in memorial education will be intensified. Collabora- tion with the Mauthausen Komitee Österreich regarding the training of communicators should be sought. The development of common standards and quality criteria for education and communication at the memorial is particularly important in this respect as a means of fostering the exchange of knowledge and coordinating the educational provision at the memorial.

Public archive and research facilities for visitors to the memorial Apart from the exhibitions, there are no other facilities at the Mauthausen Memorial where visitors can carry out their own research into the history of Mauthausen concentration camp. Research on relatives or specific questions about the history of Mauthausen can currently be carried out only at the archive in Vienna. Material for further research is not presently available at the memorial itself.

In future this will be provided by a public archive designed specially for visitors to the memorial. It will offer the means for independent but guided research to follow up the information communicated during the visit to the memorial. The content must first be collated and prepared. The detailed concept for the public archive must therefore be developed in close cooperation between the archive in Vienna and the educational department at the memorial.

20 SATELLITE CAMPS AND GUSEN system. The site for its construction was chosen in 1938 at the same time as the Mauthausen concentration camp was main camp in Mauthausen. It was run a system consisting of a main camp in largely as an independent camp from 25 Mauthausen, a branch camp in Gusen May 1940. Mauthausen and Gusen were and around forty satellite camps. The first closely related in function, however, of these satellite camps, established in because of the granite industry and the 1941, served the SS. With the increasing class III categorisation of both camps. importance of the war industry for Nazi Of the 71,000 or so inmates in Gusen, Germany, a growing network of satellite around half died in the camp. camps was created. Of the over 84,000 inmates in the Mauthausen camp system In spite of the large number of victims in March 1945, 65,000 were in the satellite and its special significance for certain camps and Gusen. groups of victims, Gusen was sidelined for a long time as a memorial. GUSEN MEMORIAL Gusen had a special status within While the Republic of Austria centralised the Mauthausen concentration camp commemoration of the victims of the Nazi © Archiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen/Ralf Lechner der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Archiv Mauthausen concentration camp and its satellite camps

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concentration camps in Mauthausen, concept must therefore be more closely Gusen had only an unofficial memorial to linked to the Mauthausen Memorial in its victims. keeping with the camp’s historical role.

In the 1960s, survivor associations There are several measures that could erected the Mémorial de Gusen in the be introduced to increase the number area of the former crematorium barracks. of visitors to the Gusen Memorial. At this time the remains of the camp had The new entrance to the Mauthausen already disappeared, with the exception Memorial will be of significance here, as of a few structures. The majority of the information about the Gusen Memorial former site is now privately owned and can be provided at this point, but also is used for commercial or residential as part of the pre-visit information. purposes. Groups on a tight schedule should be pointed towards the exhibition in the It is only since 1997 that the Republic Gusen Visitor Centre. Those with a of Austria has met its commitment to larger amount of time at their disposal commemorate the victims of Gusen who wish to find out more should also concentration camp by declaring the be made aware of the Audioweg Gusen. Mémorial de Gusen a public monument. Furthermore, the existing website However, the remaining buildings www.gusen-memorial.at should be in Gusen are not listed as historical better incorporated in the Mauthausen monuments and are in danger of being Memorial website. Finally, the standard destroyed. To consolidate Gusen as a tour of the Mauthausen Memorial and place of remembrance in future it is the overview exhibition and Mauthausen vital that the remaining buildings are quarry exhibition should all point out the preserved. topographical and functional connection between the two concentration camps. A visitor centre was built close to the memorial in 2004 and a permanent MEMORIALS IN FORMER SATELLITE exhibition on the history of the camp CAMPS was installed there a year later. The Apart from Mauthausen and Gusen, “Audioweg Gusen”, established in 2007 the Melk memorial and Ebensee on the site of the former camp, also concentration camp cemetery also fall provides information on its history and on under the responsibility of Mauthausen the treatment of the remains of the camp Memorial. In cooperation with the after the war. Mauthausen Komitee Kärnten/Koroška, the erection of a memorial at the former These measures address the history of Loiblpass Nord satellite camp is currently the camp in a manner appropriate to being planned. Many other former its significance. In the last few years, satellite camps have fallen into oblivion however, it would appear that the today. Mauthausen Memorial must also exhibition at the Gusen Memorial has take responsibility for the sites of former not been highly frequented. The Gusen Mauthausen satellite camps.

22 The following objectives will be set to commemorate these places of terror:

• PRESERVATION: The surviving building remains in the former satellite camps must be preserved. • DOCUMENTATION: The building remains must be documented, interpreted and placed in the context of their original historical status. Source documentation on individual camps in the Mauthausen Memorial archive will need to be systematically enhanced and added to. • INITIATION OF LOCAL PROJECTS: At the regional level, confrontation with and research into the history of the satellite camps should be stimulated. This can occur through direct cooperation with local initiatives or by offering targeted support. • INFORMATION: Information should be provided at the sites of the former satellite camps. This task should be carried out by local initiatives, with the quality of the information and communication verified by the Mauthausen Memorial.

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THE DECENTRALISED EXHIBITION CONCEPT

Every year the Mauthausen Memorial presentation levels and a differing receives around 200,000 visitors. They degree of detail. The overview exhibition come to Mauthausen above all to find should examine the structural context out about this historical site and its of the camp and its history. This involves installations and buildings. An important the overarching hierarchy of the Nazi aim in the redesign of the museum must concentration camp system as a whole, therefore be to develop the twenty-eight- the particular historical situation in the hectare site so as to provide visitors with Ostmark and regional characteristics of an idea of both the topography and the Mauthausen concentration camp. Finally, history of the camp. the overview exhibition will take account of Mauthausen’s structure with its main The core idea of the decentralised camp and satellite camps. exhibition concept is to enable exploration and discovery of the historical site. The The thematic exhibitions will investigate surviving buildings and installations are specific contexts relevant to each theme, to be seen as exhibits used to explain the with particular emphasis on placing history and functioning of Mauthausen. experiences and events in the context Inscriptions and comments will provide of Mauthausen, thereby providing a contextual information about the connection to the site itself. In terms of historical significance and topographical content they will focus on forced labour situation of individual camp installations. and extermination as central functions Key information on the history of the of the camp on the one hand and on the camp – and also to some degree the stories of victims and perpetrators on the memorial – should be available without other. An additional thematic focus will visiting an exhibition or taking a guided be the history of the memorial itself and tour. attitudes to Mauthausen concentration camp after 1945. A further essential component of the concept is a system of decentralised exhibitions providing in-depth infor- mation. These will consist of a historical overview exhibition and five detailed thematic exhibitions. The decentralised exhibition concept provides a basis for addressing the history of the camp at different analytical levels and from different perspectives, allowing an understanding of the history of Mauthausen as a whole. It also takes account of the fundamental difference between the victim and perpetrator perspectives.

The relationship between the overview exhibition and the individual thematic exhibitions must be established in particular on the basis of different

24 INTERPRETATION OF THE HISTORICAL be labelled as exhibits and provided with SITE contextual information. Interpretation will be designed to communicate historical The sites, surviving buildings and information along the recommended new installations in the camp are exhibits circuit (see below) through the main sites that provide a framework for presenting and installations of the camp. the history of the concentration camp from 1938 to 1945 and also, to a lesser ESSENTIAL MEASURES extent, of the memorial since 1947. As As part of the redesign, new information specific sites of individual and collective points will replace the various existing suffering, however, they also need to inscription systems from the decades be placed in a context that reflects the since liberation. The old inscription inmates’ experiences. systems and information panels will be removed as far as possible and archived The inscriptions and commentaries in the new museum depot (see below). relate to the entire memorial site and Historically significant old information in some cases, such as the tent camp, panels or those that cannot be removed beyond it. Surviving installations as well must be explained. as no longer visible areas of the camp will © Archiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen/Ralf Lechner der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Archiv Different signage systems at the Memorial, photo 2005

25 MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

THE NEW “MAIN ROUTE“ important installations and buildings and associated content. It can be assumed that all visitors, regardless of their age and situation, One of the most important guiding cultural and national origins, education principles in this regard is the significance and motivation, have a basic interest in of individual areas of the camp in the the historical site and the story it tells. subjugation, dehumanisation and killing One of the key objectives of the redesign of its inmates. The circuit will therefore is therefore to devise a new route that be designed to include the main sites that satisfies this interest while taking account characterised the life of camp inmates, of the time constraints of the majority of for example their arrival at the camp, the visitors. Whether taking part in a guided stone quarry and the killing sites. tour or exploring the site individually, visitors should, at the end of the route, Important sites and thematic be familiar with the basic historical areas facts and hence capable of positioning The starting point for the new circuit and assessing the events. Those who will be the new entrance in front of the wish to know more about the history of camp. From there the route will lead past the camp will find detailed indications the main camp buildings to the edge of along the route on where to find further the Wiener Graben stone quarry, which information, either at other sites or in prompted the selection of Mauthausen as the various exhibitions. The new circuit is a site for a concentration camp in 1938. It the main discovery route and hence the will continue through the commemorative educational core of the memorial. grove to the camp gate and from there to the roll-call area. Then the circuit will Visitor behaviour in concentration camp effectively follow along the route the memorials is similar to that in open- inmates would have been taken after their air museums. In contrast to classic arrival at the camp. The next stations will museums, channelling visitor movement focus on their everyday experience (lack is very difficult because of the distances of food, mass accommodation, diseases, involved. Visitors who discover a site forced labour, etc.) and the sites where on their own, i.e. without a guide, often the subjugation and killing machinery of decide spontaneously to investigate – the concentration camp is most evident or ignore – a particular area or offer of (bunker, killing installations). The circuit information, depending on, for example, will return via the roll-call area to the their curiosity about a specific object or commandant’s building, where the focus its ease of access. A manifest interest will shift to the perpetrators. The route in discovering the historical site in will end at the gate to the Garagenhof accordance with an educational plan, through which the American troops however it might be structured, cannot entered on 5 May 1945 to liberate the be automatically assumed. It is therefore camp and its survivors. all the more important to devise the new circuit in such a way that visitors follow Possible additions it effectively of their own accord. This is At suitable points, the new circuit will possible only if the route is presented indicate additional sites and information as a logical sequence of historically for those wishing to explore the subject

26 more thoroughly. The following sites Orientation system might be considered: In keeping with the memorial’s central • hospital camp function as a place of discovery, the new • Wiener Graben stone quarry circuit should permit clear orientation • Ash Dump within the memorial site. This will be • former execution site achieved through a new signage system to be developed in coordination with the The new circuit will also lead to the new landscape design concept for the site entrance areas of all exhibitions. as a whole. A design competition will be Visitors will be provided with a brief organised to determine the typography idea of the content and form of the and form of the new interpretation system, different presentations and encouraged which should not only communicate the to investigate them immediately or at a key information but will also be a highly later date. The entrance areas should important instrument for guiding visitors therefore be designed so as to offer a through the site. It will also signpost preview of the exhibition contents. the main infrastructural facilities at the memorial. Nature of the visit For groups without a guide and for Audio/multimedia guide individual visitors, the new circuit will Many individuals visit the Mauthausen offer the most important means of Memorial without taking part in a guided understanding the topography and tour. The multimedia guide will offer context of Mauthausen concentration these visitors a virtual guided tour of camp and its history. The new audio/ the entire site. Apart from the new main multimedia guide to be provided in future circuit, the multimedia guide will offer will assist in this, particularly for the visitors additional alternative routes. many non-German-speaking visitors, It must therefore be capable of leaving who in the past had no access to sufficient a recommended route at any time and and adequate information in their own returning to it. language. Printed plans will also be handed out to visitors who do not wish to Apart from general orientation aids, make use of the audio/multimedia guide. the multimedia guide will also provide historical context information about each The educational content offered by the station as well as additional material memorial staff will also be organised (photographs, films, etc.) according to the new circuit. As most visitors to the Mauthausen Memorial tend For the first time, this guide will enable to be in guided groups, a large number visitors who do not speak German or of people will be moving around the site English to listen to the commentaries at at one time, and at peak periods at the the information points, and particularly end of the school year many groups will in the exhibitions, in their own language. be more or less in the same place at the same time. The communicator training should therefore enable them to choose alternative routes in the case of crowding or for specific educational aims.

27 MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

Mauthausen Memorial, site map

28 29 MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

OVERVIEW EXHIBITION: HISTORY OF The main task of the exhibition on MAUTHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP the camp history will be to provide an FROM 1938 TO 1945 overview of the history of the Mauthausen concentration camp system as a whole The history of the Mauthausen camp and as an instrument of domination complex cannot be explained solely on and persecution by the Nazi regime. In the basis of the surviving buildings. A particular, it should present the various modern historical museum is required to changes in function of the camp from an set the context in which the camp existed. internment and forced labour camp to a killing centre and a complex system of As part of the redesign of the memorial satellite camps in which inmates worked as a whole, the new overview exhibition increasingly for the armaments industry. will be of central significance. At the same time, it must be devised from the A further important function of the outset with the other information and exhibition will be to place Mauthausen exhibition modules in mind. in a wider context. It should position the © Fotoarchiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Fotoarchiv Detention camp with roll-call area under construction, SS photo, 1940

30 content of the thematic exhibitions within system as a whole before the start of the the Mauthausen concentration camp war and the annexation of Austria to the system as a whole and also situate the German Reich. Mauthausen/Gusen concentration camp complex within the overall context of the While the forced labour in the SS Nazi camp system. quarry, the ideologically motivated extermination, structural changes in the Content armaments industry and expansion of the The overview exhibition should provide Mauthausen camp complex are narrated a compact representation of the history in their structural context, their specific of Mauthausen from 1938 to 1945. impact on the life of the inmates offers Mauthausen is to be understood here as a contrasting and supporting alternative the Mauthausen/Gusen camps and the commentary. network of satellite camps, which in turn are part of the overall Nazi concentration A further focus will be the final phase, camp system. The exhibition must cover from winter 1944–45 until the liberation all aspects of the camp’s history from of the camp, during which time the 1938 to 1945 and its relationship to the evacuation transports from other history of Nazi concentration camps as concentration camps made Mauthausen a whole, even if some of these aspects the last central camp within the German are dealt with in the additional thematic Reich, and the death marches and exhibitions. The distinction between the overcrowding caused an unimaginable overview exhibition and the thematic rise in the death rate. exhibitions is provided through the narrative perspectives, the type of Site and construction measures narrative and the degree of detail. In contrast to the thematic exhibitions, the historical overview exhibition will be The question of the specific and housed in a comparatively neutral place. characteristic features of the Maut- In keeping with the forty-year tradition of hausen camp system will permeate using the former infirmary as a museum, the entire exhibition. In an extensively the new overview exhibition will be chronological narrative the various housed on its ground floor. phases of the camp’s history will be presented by way of examples and A new spatial concept is required for this short commentaries. The history of purpose, not least so as to offer places Mauthausen/Gusen will be set within where visitors can stop and rest, and the context of the changing historical, groups or individuals can pursue their political and ideological framework. In research at a more intense level. this regard the presentation of inmates, perpetrators and their regional and economic surroundings is of particular significance.

The selection of the site and establish- ment of Mauthausen concentration camp will be discussed in the context of the enlargement of the concentration camp

31 MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

THEMATIC EXHIBITION: MASS high in the final phase of the Mauthausen EXTERMINATION AT MAUTHAUSEN concentration camp system, from the CONCENTRATION CAMP end of 1944 until the camp was liberated, and around half of the 100,000 victims Around half of the people deported to died during these last few months. Mauthausen concentration camp died there, in Gusen or in one of the satellite The extremely high mortality rate camps. The mortality was particularly compared with other concentration National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD Park, College Administration, and Records National Archives Extract from the report by US secret service officer Jack Taylor with photo showing gas-delivery apparatus, May 1945

32 camps was not only a consequence of the graves, organisation and concealment of detention conditions but also of targeted the mass murder, perpetrators. individual and mass extermination. Site and construction measures Many visitors to the memorial come to This exhibition will be located in a see the crematoriums, gas chamber part of the basement of the former and execution sites. These places are infirmary, because this area is close important areas of remembrance, but also to the crematoriums. Access will be focal points of revisionist historiography. organised (possibly through structural This is the reason for a thematic exhibition alterations) so that visitors can enter on mass extermination. It will highlight the crematorium area only after having the systematic killings in the context of passed through the exhibition, making the underlying extermination logic of for a cognitive transition to the “aura” of the concentration camp and will also the crematorium area. function as preparation for a visit to the remains of the gas chamber/execution site and crematorium.

Content Because the mass extermination exhibition is so physically close to the overview exhibition, it needs to be clearly separated from it in terms of content. While the overview exhibition describes the systematic mass killing at Mauthausen concentration camp and its satellite camps, this thematic exhibition will concentrate on the surviving written, pictorial and material sources that document it. It will shed light on the secrecy and attempts at concealment by the SS and also provide a direct response to revisionist denials which are based on these attempts. Particular importance will be attached to the contextualisation of the physical remnants (crematoriums, gas chamber, hospital camp, execution sites, etc.).

The exhibition will touch on the following themes: “unnatural deaths”, Mauthausen as death camp (hospital camp), “shot while attempting to escape”, official executions, killing through poisonous gas, “everyday dying”, removal of corpses: crematorium ovens, mass

33 MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

THEMATIC EXHIBITION: INMATES OF The inmates of the camp were MAUTHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP permanently exposed to and in danger of death. Hunger, exhaustion, disease, More than 200,000 people from over forty violence, mistreatment and fear were a countries were deported to Mauthausen, constant part of their daily life. The terror Gusen and the satellite camps between regime within the concentration camp August 1938 and May 1945, including was designed to systematically destroy thousands of women, adolescents and the inmates both physically and mentally. children. © L‘Humanité Unidentified inmates in front of the “Wailing Wall”, SS photo

34 The exhibition will focus on the inmates of will provide a nuanced picture of the Mauthausen and their experience of the camp reality. concentration camp. This will ensure a different narrative approach to the one in Site and construction measures the overview exhibition. This perspective This exhibition will be housed in the not only respects the dignity of the former kitchen barracks. Because of inmates but will also offer a personalised the building’s condition and indoor and biographical approach to the fate of climate, structural alterations will be individuals and groups of inmates. required there. The hitherto inaccessible basement, as an essential component of Content food logistics in the former concentration The enforced community of inmates camp, will be incorporated in the was not a homogeneous group in which exhibition and thus placed directly in the everyone was equally exposed to the context of the inmates’ living conditions. extermination and regime of terror. In reality the situation changed continuously and was dependent on a number of factors. A picture of the reality of camp life can be formed on the basis of these parameters. Focal points will include the composition of the community and changes in it, the origins and socialisation of the inmates, the deportation story of individual groups of inmates and the hierarchy imposed by the SS within the community.

These overriding factors and their impact on the community will be contextualised and contrasted by means of a narrative of everyday life in the concentration camp. This narrative will be built around central concepts such as the loss of individuality, hunger, lack of material provisions, life in the block, daily schedule, fear, life in the presence of death, disease, hygiene, sexuality, solidarity, survival strategies, competition, resistance, and individual and collective escape attempts.

Apart from the sociological description of everyday life, the narrative of individual fates will be an important aspect of this exhibition module. The subjective viewpoint of the inmates and typical biographies of male and female inmates

35 MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

THEMATIC EXHIBITION: THE STONE played an increasing role. In its early QUARRY stages Mauthausen was characterised by the persecution of large groups of Mauthausen concentration camp was people and their exploitation as forced established at a phase in the Nazi labour in the quarries of the Deutsche terror system in which – alongside the Erd- und Steinwerke owned by the SS, systematic extension of the persecu- whose political and economic objectives tion policy – economic considerations combined and influenced daily life at © Museu d‘Història de Catalunya, fons de Amical de Mauthausen, Barcelona de Amical fons de Catalunya, © Museu d‘Història Wiener Graben quarry, SS photo, 1941

36 Mauthausen in the most brutal manner. of the inmates in the quarry in a political However, the two components of forced and economic context. A further focus labour on the one hand and the physical will be the organisation of the work, and mental destruction of inmates including specific procedures and on the other were by no means in deliberate killings in the quarry. This alignment. The historical development of will also involve looking at individual Mauthausen between 1938 and 1945 was experiences of inmates working in the marked by a permanent clash of different quarry. As a separate theme, work as interests that had a great impact on the a deliberate form of psychological and survival conditions and experiences of physical torture and the systematic the inmates. destruction of certain groups of inmates will also be dealt with. In addition, the The Wiener Graben quarry epitomises exhibition will show the transformation the combination of economic exploitation of the camp and quarry from 1943 into and extermination. Its development an armaments production site and the reflects the evolution of the camp. In the associated changes in the forced labour. post-war iconography the quarry is also a central symbol of the suffering and Site and construction measures exploitation of the inmates. The Wiener Graben quarry itself is the ideal site for this thematic exhibition, Content either outside or indoors. It will be The Wiener Graben quarry was the accessible from two sides: either through primary forced labour site in Mauthausen. the quarry access road from below or on In view of its symbolic significance foot down the “Stairs of Death”. Basic and iconographic transformation, the information about its topography and original industrial installations in the history will also be provided at the edge of quarry need to be visualised and set in the quarry, between the GDR monument their historical context. The exhibition and the start of the Stairs of Death. will start with a topographical discovery Visitors should also be able to survey the of the quarry by means of models and entire quarry from above. other visual media with a view to giving an idea of what the quarry used to look like. The infrastructural links with the DeSt branches in Gusen and St. Georgen will also need explaining.

The exhibition will describe the economic and political function of the quarry and its central significance in the experience of different groups of inmates. Particular attention will be devoted to the various actors such as DeSt, the SS personnel, civilian companies and other beneficiaries with their differing interests.

A summary representation of the wider conditions will place the forced labour

37 MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

THEMATIC EXHIBITION: SS PERSONNEL making it the camp with the highest AT THE CONCENTRATION CAMP number of SS personnel, even if many of MAUTHAUSEN them were stationed during their careers in other camps as well. Over 10,000 members of the SS worked for various lengths of time in the This exhibition will deal with the general Mauthausen concentration camp system, subject of “the perpetrators”. There © Museu d‘Història de Catalunya, fons de Amical de Mauthausen, Barcelona de Amical fons de Catalunya, © Museu d‘Història SS parade in the Garagenhof, the commandant’s barracks, at this point still a wooden building, are visible at the top left, SS photo, 1940

38 is no single type of perpetrator but a and the authorities and companies complex combination of institutions and involved also need to be examined. The actors, willingness to kill and structural following themes will be addressed: the conditions, individual intent and group concentration camp as a place of work, dynamics. While it will be made clear “crime as work”, shared responsibility that those involved in the crimes at for the conditions in the camp, mortality Mauthausen concentration camp did so and deliberate killings, but also everyday in complicity because of the functional life and leisure activities of the SS, such division of labour, the personal as their relationship to and contact with responsibility of individual perpetrators the local population. must also be pointed out. A further point relates to the SS personnel The crimes at Mauthausen were not after the war and the treatment by the only committed by members of the judiciary of the actions and perpetrators SS, however; they formed part of a in Mauthausen, as well as the life and complex network. This institutional and careers of the SS personnel after 1945. administrative framework will also be explained. Site and construction measures The exhibition is to be sited so that the Content theme of the SS personnel does not The former commandant’s building compete for attention with or overshadow functions as an exhibition building and the victims and their suffering. The an exhibit in its own right whose room ideal site would be the ground floor arrangement reflects the organisation of the commandant’s building. For of the SS personnel in the camp. In the this, archaeological investigation of presentation of the various organisation the building, which was constructed units, departments and/or sections in 1942–43, is required. The original of the camp, their involvement in the room structure will be retained and crimes committed at Mauthausen must major alterations and additions after be indicated. To ensure that individuals liberation will be removed. In addition, are not hidden behind the organisational the camp commandant’s briefing room structures, they should be named in a (Ziereis Room), which is mostly intact biographical context and with respect to but has hitherto been inaccessible, their direct responsibility for individual will be incorporated in the exhibition, crimes. ensuring that its conservation is not endangered but without imbuing it with A general overview of the organisation an inappropriate aura. and ideology of the SS and its development is essential for an understanding of the complex network in which the SS personnel acted. The focus of this module, however, will be on the presentation of the situation in Mauthausen and the actors involved in it. In addition to the commandant’s staff and the guards, the civilian camp personnel from the surrounding region

39 MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL REDESIGN

THEMATIC EXHIBITION: HISTORY OF destroyed, symbolically transformed THE MAUTHAUSEN MEMORIAL and redefined. They are an amalgam of historical remains, cemetery, memorial Concentration camp memorials are not and museum. “authentic sites” in which the former conditions can be preserved directly and The Mauthausen memorial itself, erected without alteration. in 1949, can now look back on a sixty-year history. It is a historical testimony in two The sites of the former camps have been senses. The present-day Mauthausen extensively modified, in some cases Memorial represents both the time of the © Fotoarchiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Fotoarchiv Aerial photo of Mauthausen Memorial, late 1950s

40 concentration camp and the post-war It will examine remembrance strategies attitudes and interpretations. Because outside of Mauthausen as a place but of this dual significance of concentration having an influence on Mauthausen and camp memorials it is important to provide its satellite camps – such as the debate information not only about the Nazi on the use of the remains of the camp and era but also about post-war attitudes. the erection of a memorial, the respective The birth and history of the memorial national commemorations, formation of and its forms and symbolisation must remembrance associations, their rituals be examined along with the attitude of and symbols, forms of honouring the Austrian society and the Austrian state dead, conversion into a museum, and to the Nazi era, for which Mauthausen political education. The discussion on stands as a representative example. restitution and compensation for victims should also be addressed here, as well During the exhibition “The memory of as political and revisionist interventions Mauthausen” in 2004, a module for the in connection with Mauthausen as history of the Mauthausen Memorial was a historical and symbolic place of developed, which can currently be seen remembrance. in the Visitor Centre. Some of the most important elements in this exhibition Site and construction measures could be used for the exhibition on the In order to distinguish it from the thematic history of the mauthausen memorial. exhibitions devoted to the history of the Additions and clarifications as well as camp before 1945, this module should extensions to the former exhibition are be housed in a building constructed after required, however. 1945. The current bookshop in the Visitor Centre would be ideal for this purpose. Content The enlarged exhibition module on remembrance and attitudes to Mauthausen concentration camp will deal on two levels with the history since May 1945. The first level will involve a chronological narration of the development of the memorial, with the following themes: liberation, handing over of the former site to the Republic of Austria in 1947, founding of the memorial in 1949, erection of national monuments during the Cold War, establishment of a contemporary history museum in the 1960s, and its evolution into a central Austrian place of remembrance, learning and presentation.

The second level will look at the wider historical context of Mauthausen’s development into a place of remembrance.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

VISITOR CENTRE: FUNCTIONS AND and events, service facilities and finally FUTURE UTILISATION a modern administrative structure. The building was also designed to serve as The Visitor Centre was opened in 2003 a portal, i.e. the start and end point of a on the site of the former SS workshop visit to the memorial. barracks. The main aim in creating this new building was to physically In future, the Visitor Centre can be used separate the historical site from the to best advantage only by focusing on its modern infrastructure and to provide core functions as a teaching centre and a clearly defined service tailored to the venue for special exhibitions and cultural different visitor groups. It was designed events. In addition, the necessary to offer museum, teaching, logistic and functional infrastructure for visitors administrative functions. and those pursuing historical research should be made available there so as to The new building provided space for relieve the historical parts of the site. An visitor information, additional permanent important step in this regard is to remove and temporary exhibitions, public archive its portal function. Its future functions and library, film projections, seminars should be: © Fotoarchiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen/Stephan Matyus Mauthausen/Stephan der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Fotoarchiv Mauthausen Memorial Visitor Centre, which opened in 2003

42 • teaching centre/“clearing house”: In addition to these logistical functions, public archive with library, audiovisual the entrance area will also set the mood centre, infrastructure for seminars for the visit to the memorial. and workshops; • extended museum: venue for events Site and special exhibitions with flexible The majority of visitors arrive by car or exhibition space; bus. The car park is thus important as • administrative offices; the starting and end point for a visit to the • thematic exhibition on the history memorial. of the Mauthausen Memorial in the current bookshop; The entrance area will be to the west of • cafeteria. the car park in the direction of the route normally chosen by visitors on their way ENTRANCE AREA to the historical buildings. As such it will be ideally situated for providing initial Following construction of the Visitor information about the memorial. Centre, most visitors still went right past this building in spite of being directed to For this purpose a small but adequately it. The relocation of the car park in 2006 to proportioned building must be a lot south of the Visitor Centre improved constructed. the situation somewhat, but half of the visitors to Mauthausen still fail to make MUSEUM DEPOT use of the Visitor Centre. This might be partly attributable to the nondescript The Mauthausen Memorial does not have appearance of the building, chosen a professional museum depot equipped deliberately out of consideration for the in accordance with conservation and historical substance. The entrance must archiving standards. To rectify this therefore be removed from the Visitor fundamental shortcoming, a museum Centre to the car park area. archive is to be installed in the former infirmary. Functions The entrance area will be the starting A research project is currently underway point for a visit and the logistical hub for at the Mauthausen archive to make a controlling the flow of visitors. All relevant complete inventory and documentation information such as key historical of all artefacts at the memorial and in the data, infrastructure, exhibitions, archive in Vienna. In future, these objects communication and in-depth research are to be stored all together in the new facilities, arrival and indications of events museum depot on site. The establishment must be offered there. Entrance tickets, of the depot will also provide the urgently audio guides and written information required infrastructure for future material will also be available. This will collection activities during the redesign be provided by memorial staff in direct project. contact with visitors. The bookshop currently located in the Visitor Centre will also be moved here.

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ACCESSIBILITY OF THE MEMORIAL online in 2003. The entire site was recently translated into English. It The memorial is not currently accessible contains contributions by renowned by public transport, nor is the road to it experts and offers comprehensible systematically signposted for private background information about the cars. As part of the redesign it would be history of Mauthausen, its satellite useful to provide local signposting for camps and the memorial and also Mauthausen and Gusen with uniform has photos and drawings, interviews design and typography. with former inmates, and important practical information in preparation for Public transport to Mauthausen a visit to the memorial, an online visitor should also be improved. A shuttle bus registration system and the latest news. service from Mauthausen station to the A separate website for Gusen Memorial memorial should be set up as a pilot www.gusen-memorial.at went online in project in collaboration with the public 2005 and is linked to from the Mauthausen transport authorities. A bus service with site. Mauthausen Memorial as an official bus stop would make the memorial more The website will be supplemented in visible to visitors and would provide the future through the addition of further long overdue access by public transport. information to prepare for a visit to the memorial, teaching material and WEBSITE research functions.

The new Mauthausen Memorial website www.mauthausen-memorial.at went © Fotoarchiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen/Stephan Matyus Mauthausen/Stephan der KZ-Gedenkstätte © Fotoarchiv Everyday utensils from Mauthausen concentration camp

44 Mauthausen Memorial website

Gusen Memorial website

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MEMBERS OF THE WORKING GROUP

CHRISTIAN DÜRR RALF LECHNER

Freelance member of Mauthausen Freelance member of Mauthausen Memorial staff since 2000; responsible Memorial staff since 2000; responsible for the archive since 2002; co-editor of for the archive since 2002; co-editor of the Mauthausen-Studien series; curator the Mauthausen-Studien series; curator of the permanent exhibition at Gusen of the permanent exhibition at Gusen Memorial and of the exhibition “The Memorial and of the exhibition “The crematoriums of Mauthausen”. crematoriums of Mauthausen”.

FLORIAN FREUND STEPHAN MATYUS

Historian at the Institute of Contemporary Freelance member of Mauthausen History at the University of Vienna; Memorial staff since 1997; responsible involved in research projects since for the Mauthausen Memorial photo 1981; researcher at the Documentation archive since 2000; co-editor of the Archive of Austrian Resistance from Mauthausen-Studien series; co-curator 1987 to 1999; member of the editorial of the international photo exhibition “The board of the magazine Zeitgeschichte Invisible Part”; co-author of the concept and the Gesellschaft für Zeitgeschichte for the future Loibl-Nord memorial. since 2000; member of the Historical Commission of the Republic of Austria BERTRAND PERZ from 1999 to 2002. Deputy director of the Institute of HARALD HUTTERBERGER Contemporary History at the University of Vienna since 2006; deputy chairman Administrative director of Mauthausen of Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Memorial since 1988; curator of Holocaust Studies; member of the numerous exhibitions on resistance board of the Documentation Archive of and persecution under the Nazis and Austrian Resistance; member of the Art the post-war history of Mauthausen Restitution Committee of the Federal concentration camp; involvement in Ministry of Education, Art and Culture; historical exhibitions at Stadtmuseum member of the Historical Commission Nordico, Linz; awarded the Prix de of the Republic of Austria from 1998 to la Fondation Auschwitz – Jacques 2003. Rozenberg, Brussels, 2003.

YARIV LAPID

Responsible for the educational infra- structure of Mauthausen Memorial since 2007; prior to that work for Israeli NGOs dealing with religious and political conflicts in Israel; director of cooperation with German-speaking countries at the International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem.

46 BARBARA GLÜCK HEIDEMARIE UHL

Since 2005 head of the section within Historian at the Austrian Academy the Federal Ministry of the Interior of Sciences in Vienna, Institute for responsible for the Mauthausen Cultural Studies and Theatre History Memorial; co-editor of the Annual Report and lecturer at the universities of the Mauthausen Memorial; member Vienna and Graz; Fellow of the IFK of the Austrian delegation in the Task Internationales Forschungszentrum Force for International Cooperation on Kulturwissenschaften in Vienna since Holocaust Education, Remembrance 2000 and the Centre for Comparative and Research since 2008; overall History of Europe at the Free University responsibility for the redesign of the of Berlin since 2006; guest lecturer at the Mauthausen Memorial. Institute of Contemporary History at the University of Vienna since 2007 and the JÖRG SKRIEBELEIT Hebrew University Jerusalem since 2009.

Director of the Flossenbürg Memorial ROBERT VORBERG since 2000; responsible for the fundamental restructuring of this Collaboration in projects of “Die Aus- European place of remembrance; steller” association; freelance member overall responsibility for the permanent of the Mauthausen Memorial archive exhibition “Flossenbürg concentration staff since 2006; curator of the exhibition camp 1938–1945”; member of the “The crematoriums of Mauthausen”. advisory committee for the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

FRANZ SONNENBERGER

Appointed to the Museum Industriekultur in Nuremberg in 1981; head of “museen der stadt nürnberg” since 1994 and responsible for their successful restructuring and renewal; initiator of the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rallying Grounds opened in 2001; one of the main initiators of the planned “Memorium Nuremberg Trials”; early retirement since autumn 2008.

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