Sobering WWII Reminders at Mauthausen
We don't think that many (or perhaps any) of the people in our tour group were looking forward to visiting Mauthausen. Compared to the majesty of the Alps or a summer luge ride near a castle, visiting a concentration camp and being reminded of the millions who were mercilessly killed in these camps during World War II is a gloomy prospect. But a trip through Germany and Austria without acknowledging and remembering the atrocities of the Holocaust would have simply been wrong. If remembering history is a way to prevent us from repeating it, this was a day well spent.
Our favorite thing: While it is hard to call such haunting experience a favorite, this was the most emotional day of our trip
Our favorite thing: While it is hard to call such haunting experience a favorite, this was the most emotional day of our trip
Visiting MauthausenUnlike the more famous concentration camps at Dachau and Auschwitz, which are largely reconstructions, Mauthausen still stands almost exactly as it did from 1938 to 1945 when it operated as a Nazi concentration camp. It was haunting walking through this space and imagining what it had once been. While it's quiet today, Mauthausen was the hub of Austria's concentration camp system. Mauthausen was originally a work camp where Jewish, Gypsy, homosexual and other undesirable Austrians were worked to death as they manually carried stone from a deep quarry to supply Nazi building projects. One of the most affecting moments for most of us was seeing a memorial marking the top of what Nazi soldiers called "parachuters' hill" where prisoners were pushed to their death from a great height into the quarry below. Near the end of World War II as Germany realized it was losing, cremation ovens and other means of quickly killing prisoners were also installed. Walking these spaces and the modest graveyards put in after the war was challenging to process and remains difficult to describe. Most of our trip took us through the soaring heights of what humans can accomplish from Constantine's grand cities to Mozart's symphonies; Mauthausen was a reminder of the need for vigilance against our capacity for hatred, violence and cruelty.
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Happy Birthday, Jody!Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. - Chili Davis
Spending my birthday at a concentration camp was not something I was looking forward to. However, I did grow up a bit that day. Mauthausen is a necessary stop in Austria, surrounded by reminders of the war and having travelled so close to the Eagle’s Nest. Upon leaving the concentration camp, Donald announced that we would be stopping for lunch at “the world’s best truck stop” and that dessert would be his treat. Everyone ordered some comfort food and saved a little room for dessert. We celebrated Mark's 26th birthday and my 60th with huge slices of chocolate mousse cake. As it was the best dessert of our trip, Rick asked our waitress what the cake was called. She said “chocolate cake.” |