Death marches

in German:
Todesmärsche

 

In spring 1945 the concentration camps in Vienna and eastern Austria were vacated ahead of the arrival of the advancing Soviet troops. Thousands of concentration camp inmates and thousands of Hungarian Jews who were working on the construction of the South-Eastern Rampart were sent on death marches through Lower Austria and Styria towards Mauthausen concentration camp. This time, not only the Nazi camp henchmen but, for the first time, also the civil population played a role in their horrific murder. The film follows the trail to these events with the help of eyewitnesses and recently discovered photographic documents.

in German:
Im Frühling des Jahres 1945 wurden die KZ-Lager Wiens und des östlichen Österreichs vor den vorrückenden sowjetischen Truppen geräumt. Tausende KZ-Häftlinge und tausende Juden aus Ungarn, die an der Errichtung des Süd-Ostwalls beteiligt waren, wurden auf Todesmärsche durch Niederösterreich und die Steiermark in Richtung des KZ-Lagers Mauthausen geschickt. An ihrer grausamen Ermordung waren nicht nur KZ-Schergen, sondern erstmals auch die Zivilbevölkerung beteiligt. Der Film folgt den Spuren dieser Ereignisse an Hand von Zeitzeugen und neu aufgetauchten Bilddokumenten.

Kurt Mayer Film

in German:
Kurt Mayer Film

Austria | show on map

15 May 2017

documentary film

Commemoration / remembrance

National Fund budget

The project contents and descriptions are based primarily on the submissions of the project applicants. These submissions are edited for publication and translated into English. Although it is subjected to rigorous checks, the National Fund does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided.