On our way to Mauthausen, we stopped in Gusen for a short break and noticed there was a memorial across the road. It turned out to be the Gusen Concentration Camp Memorial.
37000 people lost their lives in the stone quarries here.
An ex-prisoner built this model of the camp.
After this sobering visit, we headed off to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial.
It was a hot 33 degree day and it was a steep climb up to the Mauthausen Memorial. Proud of Ethan who zipped up the hill faster than we had expected and Tally who persevered pushing her bike up the steep slope!
At the grim gates of Mauthausen, we were reminded that the prisoners were also marched up the same hill under great duress after a long and difficult trip in cattle/ freight trains under much more trying circumstances.
Walking through the Nazi industrial efficiency for dehumanizing thousands of people we came face to face with the horror of what human beings are capable of inflicting on each other.
Camp Barracks
Showers for new inmates
The gas chambers
Crematorium
Quite chilling. I am so thankful I came here on a bright and sunny day. It would have been quite difficult otherwise…..
So many questions …. but maybe it’s more important to learn from History and work at making sure we never go down this path again.
Munich to Budapest 
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