# Canonical recap data for Mauthausen Concentration Camp Liberated (1950)
# Source: https://recap.at/1950/mauthausen-liberation
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: mauthausen-liberation
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1950/mauthausen-liberation"
title: Mauthausen Concentration Camp Liberated
aliases:
- Mauthausen liberation
- May 5, 1945
- Mauthausen-Gusen
subtitle: Five years after Nazi defeat, Austria's most notorious death camp was formally recognized as a memorial site, anchoring postwar reckoning with genocide.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1950-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1950
decade: 1950
country:
name: Austria
slug: austria
summaryShort: Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen in Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany.
summaryLong: Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen in Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany.
lede: On May 5, 1945, Soviet forces liberated Mauthausen concentration camp in Upper Austria, discovering thousands of surviving prisoners in a state of severe deprivation. The camp and its nearly 100 subcamps had held over 200,000 prisoners since 1938, with an estimated 95,000 deaths from starvation, disease, forced labor, and executions. The liberation exposed one of Nazi Germany's largest and longest-operating concentration camp complexes.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/New_arrivals_to_Mauthausen_standing_against_a_wall.jpg/1280px-New_arrivals_to_Mauthausen_standing_against_a_wall.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Mauthausen concentration camp"
importance: 65
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Estimated deaths
  value: 95,000
- label: Total prisoners held across camp and subcamps
  value: 200,000+
- label: Number of subcamps
  value: Nearly 100
- label: Years of operation
  value: 1938–1945
- label: Liberation date
  value: May 5, 1945
- label: Liberating force
  value: Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front under Ivan Konev
- label: Geographic span
  value: Upper Austria and southern Germany
timeline:
- date: 1938-08-01
  title: Mauthausen established
  description: Nazi Germany opens Mauthausen concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen in Upper Austria as a forced labor camp for political prisoners and other designated groups.
- date: 1940-01-01
  title: Expansion begins
  description: Mauthausen begins establishing a network of subcamps throughout Austria and southern Germany, eventually reaching nearly 100 satellite facilities.
- date: 1944-06-01
  title: Camp population peaks
  description: Mauthausen and its subcamps hold their maximum prisoner population as Nazi Germany intensifies forced labor production amid deteriorating military position.
- date: 1945-04-01
  title: Soviet forces approach
  description: As Soviet armies advance into Austria, Nazi guards begin executing remaining prisoners and destroying evidence at Mauthausen.
- date: 1945-05-05
  title: Liberation by Soviet forces
  description: Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front commanded by Ivan Konev liberates Mauthausen concentration camp, discovering thousands of surviving prisoners in critical condition.
- date: 1945-05-10
  title: First documentation begins
  description: Allied soldiers and Soviet forces begin systematic documentation of survivors, corpses, and camp conditions for war crimes evidence.
- date: 1945-11-01
  title: Nuremberg trials preparation
  description: Evidence and survivor testimony from Mauthausen becomes central to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, establishing legal precedent for prosecuting genocide.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauthausen_concentration_camp"
  title: Mauthausen concentration camp
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The liberation of Mauthausen revealed the industrial scale of Nazi genocide to Allied forces and the world. Survivor testimonies and physical evidence from the camp became critical documentation for postwar war crimes tribunals, particularly the Nuremberg trials, shaping how the Holocaust would be prosecuted and remembered.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- genocide
- occupation
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- collapse
impactRadius: global
velocity: sudden
predictability: black_swan
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: death
metaDescription: Soviet forces liberate Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria on May 5, 1945, revealing 95,000 deaths.
wikidataQid: Q160139
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260516054954/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauthausen_concentration_camp"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-16
  label: Mauthausen concentration camp
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauthausen_concentration_camp"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/New_arrivals_to_Mauthausen_standing_against_a_wall.jpg/1280px-New_arrivals_to_Mauthausen_standing_against_a_wall.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/New_arrivals_to_Mauthausen_standing_against_a_wall.jpg/800px-New_arrivals_to_Mauthausen_standing_against_a_wall.jpg"
  caption: Mauthausen concentration camp
  credit: Wikipedia · "Mauthausen concentration camp"
  width: 330
  height: 236
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/KZ_Mauthausen%2C_H%C3%A4ftlingsbaracken_und_Lagerstra%C3%9Fe.jpg/1280px-KZ_Mauthausen%2C_H%C3%A4ftlingsbaracken_und_Lagerstra%C3%9Fe.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/KZ_Mauthausen%2C_H%C3%A4ftlingsbaracken_und_Lagerstra%C3%9Fe.jpg/800px-KZ_Mauthausen%2C_H%C3%A4ftlingsbaracken_und_Lagerstra%C3%9Fe.jpg"
  caption: KZ Mauthausen, Häftlingsbaracken und Lagerstraße
  credit: Dnalor 01
  width: 3554
  height: 2648
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Ebensee_concentration_camp_prisoners_1945.jpg/1280px-Ebensee_concentration_camp_prisoners_1945.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Ebensee_concentration_camp_prisoners_1945.jpg/800px-Ebensee_concentration_camp_prisoners_1945.jpg"
  caption: Ebensee concentration camp prisoners 1945
  credit: Lt. Arnold E. Samuelson
  width: 2843
  height: 2087
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/The_Mauthausen_Concentration_Camp_Complex_%E2%80%93_World_War_II_and_Postwar_Records.pdf/page1-500px-The_Mauthausen_Concentration_Camp_Complex_%E2%80%93_World_War_II_and_Postwar_Records.pdf.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/The_Mauthausen_Concentration_Camp_Complex_%E2%80%93_World_War_II_and_Postwar_Records.pdf/page1-500px-The_Mauthausen_Concentration_Camp_Complex_%E2%80%93_World_War_II_and_Postwar_Records.pdf.jpg"
  caption: The Mauthausen Concentration Camp Complex – World War II and Postwar Records
  credit: Amy Schmidt and Gudrun Loehrer
  width: 900
  height: 1350
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Approximate prisoners in camp at liberation
  thenValue: ~3,000 surviving inmates
  thenYear: 1945
  nowValue: 0 (memorial site only)
  nowYear: 2024
  note: The 3,000 liberation survivors represented a fraction of the estimated 200,000 total prisoners processed through the system
- metric: Annual visitors to memorial site
  thenValue: Minimal; informal site
  thenYear: 1945
  nowValue: ~250,000+
  nowYear: 2023
  note: Formal memorial established 1947; museum opened 1949
- metric: Documentation of victim names recorded
  thenValue: Scattered Nazi records, oral testimony only
  thenYear: 1945
  nowValue: Computerized database with ~100,000 documented deaths
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Mauthausen Memorial operates comprehensive digital archive of victims
consequences:
- title: Survivor testimonies shape Holocaust documentation
  year: 1950
  description: By 1950, survivor accounts from Mauthausen—including testimony from Simon Wiesenthal and other liberated prisoners—contributed significantly to early Holocaust historiography and victim documentation projects. These accounts proved essential for war crimes prosecutions and historical record.
- title: Camp preserved as authentic historical site
  year: 1970
  description: Unlike some concentration camps destroyed or heavily reconstructed after the war, Mauthausen was preserved largely in its original state—the quarry, barracks, watchtowers, and crematorium remained intact. This authenticity made it an invaluable educational resource for understanding Nazi camp infrastructure.
culturalContext:
topMusic: []
topFilms:
- title: The Murderers Are Among Us
  year: 1946
  note: German film addressing Nazi war crimes and perpetrators in immediate postwar period
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: The liberation of Mauthausen in May 1945 occurred in the final days of World War II in Europe. The immediate postwar period (1945-1950) was dominated by survivors' testimonies, war crimes trials, displaced persons crises, and emerging confrontation with Holocaust atrocities. Austria's complex relationship with Nazi responsibility became a defining political issue—the country initially portrayed itself as Hitler's first victim, delaying fuller accountability for decades. Mauthausen's preservation and early memorialization reflected both genuine efforts to document crimes and incomplete reckoning with Austrian participation in the Nazi regime.
