International Mauthausen Commemorative Symbols

The name ‘Mauthausen’ alone is enough to evoke the largest former Nazi concentration camp on Austrian soil and the associated horror and terror that it inflicted from August 1938 to May 1945. Of around 190,000 people who were deported to the Mauthausen and Gusen concentration camps or one of the more than 40 Mauthausen subcamps, at least 90,000 died. The prisoners came from more than 40 nations across Europe, the Soviet Union and beyond.

In the prisoners’ countries of origin, ‘Mauthausen’ carved a deep wound whose scars can be felt to this day. The internationality of the victims makes itself felt by anyone visiting the Mauthausen Memorial today because of the many different national monuments and the collective and individual commemorative plaques. The effects of ‘Mauthausen’ outside Austria, however, the traumas in the families it touched, can only be guessed at here. In the various countries of origin, by contrast, they are visible thanks to the memorials and commemorative symbols dedicated to the victims of the Mauthausen concentration camp, and in remembrance ceremonies which – deviating from the Austrian tradition of celebrating the liberation – are often associated with other dates, for example dates of round-ups, deportations and other traumatic or personal events.

The project ‘International Mauthausen Commemorative Symbols’ has been developed by the Commemorative Department of the Mauthausen Memorial in close collaboration with representatives of the victim nations, the embassies, and survivor and victim associations. The aim is to create an open-air exhibition featuring examples of commemorative symbols with a direct connection to the Mauthausen concentration camp or its subcamps. This exhibition of symbols from the home countries of those people murdered in the Mauthausen concentration camp system will be located next to the national monuments in the Memorial Park at the Mauthausen Memorial. Given the number of commemorative symbols, it is impossible to include everything. The exhibition therefore aims to direct visitors’ attention away from the national monuments at the Mauthausen Memorial and towards the active memory work in the victim nations themselves, and to honour this work. The focus is on the victims or victim groups and thus on their relatives and the people who work to keep alive the memory of the National Socialist crimes.

By working with us on the exhibition, representatives of the victim nations are active participants in the Memorial Year 2025. The exhibition opens in May 2025 on the occasion of the 80th liberation ceremony, and will be on display for the rest of the year. Plans are also in development to continue the collaboration and create a longer-term presentation of the results.

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