Austria: Mauthausen
Sep 30, 2021 10:36:37 #
In 1975 I visited the former WWII concentration camp near Mauthausen, Austria, located a few miles north of the left bank of the Danube, across the river from Enns. At that time, the Polish government had sponsored a photographic exhibit in one of the prisoner barracks: "Children at War." It was one of the most tragic and disturbing experiences one could have.
I have returned perhaps a dozen times. Over the past 20 years I have taken many people to Mauthausen. Although Mauthausen was not an extermination camp, an estimated 125,000 prisoners dies there. It is a soul-wrenching experience. Several prisoner barracks still stand, along with many of the administrative buildings, including two cremation ovens and a Zyklon-B gas "shower." Each time I visit I cry, but I keep going back to take others to see and feel.
In the 1960s, many countries established memorials to their citizens who died in this camp. One that moves me is the one from the former German Democratic Republic (DDR). The task of that government, to find appropriate words representing people who were both victims and perpetrators, was surely difficult. The photo here is of the memorial the DDR built. Here is what the words say (left first, then right):
Oh Germany, pale mother!
How your sons have judged you
That you sit among people
A ridicule or a fear!
(Berthold Brecht 1933) [note: this was the year Hitler became Chancellor]
Your sons
Who here fought
And starved
Carried faith
in the true
Germany
Into the future
I have returned perhaps a dozen times. Over the past 20 years I have taken many people to Mauthausen. Although Mauthausen was not an extermination camp, an estimated 125,000 prisoners dies there. It is a soul-wrenching experience. Several prisoner barracks still stand, along with many of the administrative buildings, including two cremation ovens and a Zyklon-B gas "shower." Each time I visit I cry, but I keep going back to take others to see and feel.
In the 1960s, many countries established memorials to their citizens who died in this camp. One that moves me is the one from the former German Democratic Republic (DDR). The task of that government, to find appropriate words representing people who were both victims and perpetrators, was surely difficult. The photo here is of the memorial the DDR built. Here is what the words say (left first, then right):
Oh Germany, pale mother!
How your sons have judged you
That you sit among people
A ridicule or a fear!
(Berthold Brecht 1933) [note: this was the year Hitler became Chancellor]
Your sons
Who here fought
And starved
Carried faith
in the true
Germany
Into the future
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.