The Mauthausen concentration camp was a Class III camp where prisoners classified as "Return undesired" were sent. It was a punishment camp where the inmates had to do hard time in a granite rock quarry. Those on the punishment detail had to carry granite boulders up steep stairs on their backs – the stairs are known as “The Stairs of Death”.
There is a sign (in German) at the bottom of the stairs that reads:
Here worked prisoners of various nationalities. With disregard of even the most primitive safety precautions, and with complete brutality, extreme work performance was demanded of the prisoners.
Here one had the best possibility to liquidate prisoners in the fastest manner. With a boulder weighing often up to 50 kg on the shoulder, while being forced to run through the quarry under constant beatings, the victim soon collapsed only to die in some corner unaided. (thanks Elke).
This leads into the quarry. You can see the distorted Menorah at the top quarry. This is where the camp is – to the left, is where I made the plate below.
"186 Steps of Death" - Mathausen Death Camp - 8"x10" Black Glass Ambrotype
Mauthausen is a beautiful area, this absurd and evil thing takes all of that beauty away for me.
This was even more disturbing than Dachau in some ways. Being worked to death and used for profit adds a dimension of evil that exceeds simple execution. Don’t get me wrong, we walked through the gas chambers here and saw the table where they removed skin with tattoos and gold teeth, too. There were several places where they murdered the victims, hanged them, shot them, gassed them, and tortured them. Mauthausen has it all and then some. I will never look at granite the same way again in my life.
I didn’t make any photos inside the concentration camp. Only this 8x10 wet plate in the quarry and the color digital images outside of the camp.