Mauthausen

1 Pages 291 Words

Immediately after Austria's "anschluss" to the German Reich in March 1938, Heinrich Himmler (Reichsführer-SS and chief of the German Police) and Oswald Pohl (chief of the SS-Administration Office, later SS-Main Administration Office for Economic Affairs) set off for Mauthausen and Gusen in order to inspect the quarries there.
On April 29, 1938, the "Deutsche Erd- und Steinwerke GmbH" (DEST) was founded in Berlin, and Oswald Pohl was assigned the task of organizing, financing and managing the company. End of May 1938, Oswald Pohl inspected the site for a second time with a view to setting up the concentration camp there.
On June 30, 1938, first negotiations for the supply of building material for a period of ten years were started between Albert Speer, the "Führer's Architect" and "General Buildings Inspector for the Remodeling of the Capital of the German Reich, Berlin", and DEST-company (Deutsche Erd- und Steinwerke GmbH). Albert Speer granted an interest-free loan of RM 9.5 million to DEST.
Subsequently, DEST leased Quarries named "Wiener Graben", "Marbacher Bruch", and "Bettelberg" owned by the City of Vienna. It later purchased the first two quarries leased. On the hill overlooking the "Wiener Graben", construction began on the main camp, requiring tons of granite for its stone buildings and walls.
The first prisoners, 300 Austrians and Germans came to Mauthausen on August 8, 1938 from the Dachau concentration camp, accompanied by 80 members of the SS "Death's-Head Detachment". Additional prisoners from Dachau arrived on October 5 and 18, 1938.
Arrival at the camp was a shock for every prisoner: Disinfection, registration, and clothing issuance were accompanied by beatings and intimidations by the SS.
On August 18, 1938, the first prisoner committed suicide. On November 15, 1938, the first prisoner was shot dead "while trying to escape"....