| Original caption: “Some of the bodies being removed by German civilians for decent burial at Gusen Concentration Camp. Men were worked in nearby stone quarries until too weak for more, then killed.” At Konzentrationslager Gusen, wagons and carts full of dead prisoners, some starved and some gassed to death, were all over the camp. Gusen was a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp operated by the Schutzstaffel (SS) between the villages of Sankt Georgen a der Gusen and Langestein in the Reichsgau Ostmark (“Eastern March District,”) currently Perg District, Upper Austria). Primarily populated by Polish prisoners, there were also large numbers of Spanish Republicans, Soviet citizens, and Italians. Initially, prisoners worked in nearby quarries, producing granite which was sold by the SS company Deutsche Erd und Steinwerke GmbH, (DEST; “German Earth and Stone Works”). Conditions were worse than at the Mauthausen main camp due to the camp’s purpose of extermination through labor of real and perceived enemies of Nazi Germany. The life expectancy of prisoners was as short as 6 months, and at least 35,000 people died there from forced labor, starvation, and mass executions. From 1943, the camp was an important center of armaments production for Messerschmitt and Steyr-Daimler-Puch. In order to expand armaments production, the camp was redesignated Gusen I, and additional camps, Gusen II and Gusen III, were built. Prisoners were forced to construct vast underground factories, the main 1 being the Bergkristall, intended for the production of Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter aircraft. Nearly a 1,000 fuselages were produced there by the war’s end. The camp was liberated by the United States 11th Armored Division early in the morning of May 5, 1945. Staff Sergeant Albert J. Kosiek (October 9, 1918 – October 19, 1982), in charge of a platoon A Troop, 41st Cavalry Squadron, 11th Armored Division, was ordered to investigate a suspected enemy strongpoint near Mauthausen, and to check the bridge near Gusen which was intended to be used by American tanks. He 1st reached Gusen III, where the newly recruited guards, formerly firemen from Vienna, were very willing to surrender. Only 2 American soldiers were left behind to escort them to the American brigade’s headquarters. North of Saint Georgen, Kosiek encountered a Red Cross representative who told him that there was a concentration camp at Mauthausen and 400 SS who wanted to surrender. Because he did not have enough men to accept the SS surrender, Kosiek tested the bridge and bypassed Gusen II and Gusen I on the way to Mauthausen. Over the next 24 hours, the remaining SS burned all documents relating to the Messerschmitt 262 in the Gusen crematorium. Kosiek accepted the surrender of the 800 SS at Gusen while returning to headquarters the next day. More American forces arrived at Gusen later the same day. They found a situation of complete chaos, as prisoners killed each other with weapons abandoned by the fleeing SS. Many of the sickest prisoners had been sealed in barracks without food or water; when the American soldiers opened them it was rare to find more than 1 or 2 still alive. A group of Kapos responsible for atrocities barricaded themselves in Block 32. Some committed suicide while others were torn apart by the mob. On May 8, Nazi Party members were ordered to bury the dead in the potato field between Gusen I and II while local citizens were forced to watch. After the war, some SS personnel and Kapos were tried for their crimes, although most went unpunished. The site was redeveloped into a privately owned village, although there is a small museum run by the Austrian government. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0551.jpg |
| Image Size | 890.61 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2231 x 2892 |
| Photographer | Sam Gilbert |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 12, 1945 |
| Location | Konzentrationslager Gusen |
| City | Sankt Georgen an der Gusen |
| State or Province | Ostmark |
| Country | Austria |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-204811 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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