Danube River Cruise: Mauthausen
In this fifth post of a multi-part series, Bethany explores Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria on her Active and Discovery on the Danube Cruise on Avalon in 2018.
The Active and Discovery on the Danube cruise was the second river cruise I did with Avalon. This cruise sailed from Linz, Austria to Budapest, Hungary in the summer of 2018. Join me as I explore many wonderful stops in the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary along the way!
Active and Discovery on the Danube Full Itinerary
Below is the full itinerary for the trip. This post includes details about my morning in Mauthausen, Austria (the afternoon in Grein will be covered in the next post).
- July 26 & 27: Prague, Czech Republic
- July 28: Český Krumlov, Czech Republic
- July 29: Linz & Steyr, Austria (embarkation)
- July 30: Engelhartszell & Schlogen Oxbow, Austria
- July 31: Mauthausen & Grein, Austria
- August 1: Wachau Valley, Krems, & Vienna, Austria
- August 2 & 3: Vienna, Austria
- August 4: Komarno, Slovakia & Visegrad, Hungary (disembarkation)
- August 5: Budapest, Hungary
Warning
As a fair warning, this post covers a visit of a WWII concentration camp. Some of the images and descriptions provided here may be disturbing to some. While nothing presented here is overly graphic, it may still be disturbing.
Arrival In Mauthausen
The morning of July 31st dawned sunny and bright as we arrived at Mauthausen, Austria. I enjoyed some pretty views from the upper deck before heading out for the morning excursion. I chose to do the excursion to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp this morning. There were two other excursions also offered at this time, so people on the cruise could choose a different option if they wanted to. I felt it was important to choose this option, as I had not yet seen a concentration camp in person and wanted to learn more about it.
Mauthausen Concentration Camp
The sobering experience started with a short bus ride from the port to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. Once we arrived, I was immediately struck by how beautiful the grounds and the area are. It is up on a hill, and the grounds are lush and green. As we walked from the parking lot to the main entrance, we passed by a large, concrete-lined hole in the ground – our guide explained that this was a water retention pond used in case of fires, but that the officers often used it as their swimming pool. We also passed by a large green field – our guide explained that this was an area used by the officers to play soccer. It was definitely gut-wrenching to begin to understand how much the officers actually enjoyed this area while so much suffering was going on just on the other side of the gates.
Quarry
The views from here are also stunning. I had to keep reminding myself that this was, indeed, the site of a concentration camp. But again, the sobering reality of what this location was actually used for was placed front and center when our guide told us about the area shown in the picture below. This was one of the quarries. It includes the “Stairs of Death,” which are 186 steps prisoners were forced to climb with huge slabs of granite on their backs. You can make out the steps near the center of the photo below.
Monument Garden
Along the perimeter of the camp, where the officers’ quarters used to be, many countries have now erected monuments to those who died here. It was incredible to see all of the different monuments and to read the heart-felt inscriptions on many of them.
The Main Gate
After walking through the monument garden, we arrived at the main gate. This is where every prisoner entered. They came via trains and walked about three miles from the train station to get here. Just inside the main gate is an area that now contains many memorial plaques and other items of remembrance that hang just under the barbed wire electrical fences. There were nearly 100,000 deaths here.
Barracks
Once inside the gates we continue walking through the complex. This was the hub of 49 Nazi labor camps in WWII, one of the largest complexes in German-controlled Europe. It was a labor camp, so everything was built by the prisoners themselves. There are several rows of barracks which housed prisoners. We went inside one, and the room would have held 300 prisoners sleeping on bunk beds. There were also large stone basins in the washroom area.
Crematorium and Gas Chamber
We then went inside another building. Here we saw many artifacts, including the registration book pictured below. Then we made our way into the rooms of the crematorium. More memorial plaques and mementos, each dedicated to a specific prisoner, line the walls. We also saw the gas chamber and could step inside the eerie yellow room to see it close up. It was horrifying to stand in that room and imagine the atrocities carried out here.
The “Room of 80,000 Names”
Then we saw the “Room of 80,000 Names.” Large table-like structures fill this room. Inscriptions of over 80,000 names of prisoners cover the surfaces.
Garages
Our tour ended up near the back of the complex. Officers used this area to store and maintain their cars and trucks.
The Back Gate
We then concluded the tour by walking through the back gate. When the camp was active, there was a huge statue of a swastika eagle proudly displayed over this gate. The iron bars sticking out now are all that remain of that statue; it was torn down when the camp was liberated by the Allies (the United States, in May 1945).
Conclusion
While this was an incredibly sobering and gut-wrenching experience, it was also very eye-opening to learn more about the history and the atrocities that can never be forgotten. I was also surprised to see just how absolutely beautiful the complex is…the buildings themselves are very stark and bleak, of course, but the grounds are lush and green, and the views of the Danube and the surrounding area are amazing. The juxtaposition of the beauty of the location and the horror of what took place here is astonishing. While a tour of a concentration camp is not for everyone, I am glad I had this experience and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the history.
Links
Ready to continue the journey? Click the button below to read the next post in the series:
Missed any of the journey so far? Click the button below to read the earlier posts in this series:
Click the buttons below for more information about Avalon, and to read about my other fabulous Avalon river cruises:
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