After the liberation of the mauthausen concentration camp and its subcamps, the allies had the task of politically rehabilitating the austrian people by informing them of the atrocities committed by the nazis and their hero, adolf hitler. Kz gusen ii survivor modesto melis visiting the bergkristall tunnels. The author contributed to many publications and documentations on radio and tv and is currently requesting the opening of the bergkristall tunnels to the public. It was initially selfpublished as the highfield mole in 2005, and. A network of underground tunnels and bunkers used by the nazis to.
On the right plan of the b8 bergkristall tunnel project in nearby st. Jfk, the cold war and the berlin wall in his new book, journalist greg mitchell has excavated a story of daring escapes and media manipulation which speaks directly to the era of. This differentiation is important because the true story of gusen finally comes to light after so many years of being overlooked. In late 1944, roughly 11,000 of the gusen i and ii inmates were working in underground facilities.
Inmates from the nearby mauthausen camp were moved to a satellite camp adjacent to the village of gusen, where they worked in a stone quarry. Relocating arms production underground gusen memorial. At this point in time, more people were interned in this little known concentration camp than in the main mauthausen concentration camp. The three gusen concentration camps in and around the village of st georgengusen, just a few kilometres from mauthausen, held a. Vast underground complex where the nazis developed wmd is. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout austria and southern germany. Nazis built underground nuclear weapons facility using slave labour. Mauthausen concentration camp the reader wiki, reader. Januarymay 1945 like other concentration camps in the interior of the german reich, gusen was the destination for thousands of concentration camp prisoners in 1945. According to the local gusen gasthause owner, he counted that gusen kzs had 12 tunnels with one large tunnel that the local locomotive would drive into. Holocaust survivors and victims database mauthausen.
It has a fantastic plot which constantly keeps the reader into it. Gusen concentration camp wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. These three are overshadowed and lumped into mauthausen as sub camps. I wrote aboute the holocaust in my book hungary 4445 the forgotten tragedy by my own. Georgengusenmauthausen takes that 1989 overview written in german, and brilliantly expands it to a comprehensive study in english, of the story of the st. By the end of world war ii the prisoners had dug 29,400 square metres 316,000 sq ft to house a smallarms factory. New interpretive plaques for bergkristall tunnels gusen. Concentration camp mauthausen reconsidered by haunschmied, rudolf a. When chester and will were searching in the house of dr. This first book in the tunnels series boasts an intriguing premise.
Burrows chester finally found hidden hall to the darkness. Survivor visited kz gusen ii bergkristall tunnels on september, 2014, kz gusen ii survivor modesto melis from carbonia in sardinia former inmate no. Secret nazi nuclear bunker discovered in austria by. After i finally received the book and hold it in my hands i was more then exited for the final chapter of the tunnels series. On 5 may 1945, us army troops liberated over 20,000 concentration camp prisoners at gusen, most of whom were severely malnourished and seriously or critically ill. The book tunnels i found on a shelf in a public library, i read a little summary. If the title tunnels seems vaguely familiar, it may be because youve. The book ends with a plea to open the tunnels and let the people see and live the. What are those mysterious sounds heard within them.
The facility was apparently found following descriptions of secret tunnels hidden near the old mathausen gusen concentration camp, near st. Find out whats just below the surface of the town, because if you look underneath, there is so much more. The liberation of mauthausen, may 5, 1945 scrapbookpages. The tunnels at gusen were initially used for the production of messerschmitt bf 109 fighter aircraft. Open discussion re concentration camp ss rifles archive. Visits to the bergkristall tunnel system news kzgedenkstatte. These plaques give now basic information about this huge former underground complex of kz gusen ii to visitors in the languages german. Prisoners cheer 11th armored division on may 6, 1945. I heard that it was going to have been made into a movie at one point, but was really disappointed when it got canceled, however, this is a book that one must read. Weston dentist shares tale of holocaust survival news.
According to sulzer, the facility was described as hitlers largest secret weapons facility, where scientists were reportedly using the site to try and smash atoms to. Tunnels including the whole series is another incredibly wellwritten and plotted series for its age group and genre. Cover of book survival with art slave work for messerschmitt gmbh at kz gusen. The 15 miles of tunnels lie under the nearby gusen concentration camp site, a subcamp of the notorious mauthausen where tens of thousands of people were murdered. It includes a topsecret underground war production plant. I was very enthusiastic about the ending and couldnt wait until the last pages. Even though some characters died during the final clash, the book still had its grip. The underground tunnels were built by thousands of prisoners under appalling working conditions, with about 10,000 of these prisoners losing their lives. The infamous mauthausen stairs of death amusing planet. He thought there were about 20 or more tunnels but had only crawled around 12 of them personally, as a boy. On november 15, 1947, the tunnels where the factories were located at gusen were destroyed by the soviets. Nazis built underground nuclear weapons facility using slave labour austrian documentarymaker believes he has uncovered a sealed complex of underground tunnels in the town where notorious gusen.
The tunnels is a serialized docudrama about the mysterious tunnels that can be found underneath a small town in georgia. Austria, mauthausengusen concentration camp death record. About austria, mauthausengusen concentration camp death record books, 19381945 historical background. In late 1943, construction of the kellerbau system commenced near the kastenhof quarry. The nazi plan to blow up jews in a cave in austria.
Look inside the tunnels isis uses to launch sneak attacks. Citizens of linz, austria view photos of nazi atrocities. Secret nazi nuclear bunker discovered in austria by filmmaker the. It is believed that the complex is connected to the b8 berkristall factory. In july 1947, the final transport of equipment from gusen to the soviet union was completed. Today, very little of the camps original buildings structures remain or are visitable except for a recently added small visitor centre next to. Saunders will share his grim tale of survival during the holocaust at a talk oct. Mauthausen was a nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of mauthausen roughly 20 kilometres 12 mi east of linz, upper austria. But this is not correct, because they are their own camps. Two underground tunnel projects were started in the area of st. The video shows two rather large tunnels inside a captured, bombedout mosque, from which the ypg claim that isis had been using. Austrian documentarymaker believes he has uncovered a sealed complex of underground tunnels in the town where notorious gusen ii.
Work on the tunnels was begun by the kellerbau kommando at the original gusen camp, which had a high mortality rate. In 1996 and 1997 he founded two citypartnerships and was member of reforminitiative mauthausen at the interior ministery in 2000. Georgen gusen with a special permission continue reading. In gusen i, the prisoners were ordered to build several large tunnels beneath the hills surrounding the camp codenamed kellerbau. Gusen concentration camp project b8 bergkristall tunnel system. Memorial book for the dead of the mauthausen concentration camp.
Tunnels is a subterranean fiction novel by british authors roderick gordon and brian williams. Burrows, has recently disappeared, and the boy has reason to believe that his dad may have discovered the entrance to this underground. Georgen who were mainly jews deported from poland and hungary. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the. In march 1944, the camp gusen ii was opened to accommodate the prisoners building the tunnels in st. It is known that a 75acre network of tunnels was dug by concentration camp inmates to house nazi munitions and fighterjet factories. The camp was located on the edge of a granite quarry where camp inmates were sent to work. Mauthausengusen concentration camp wikimili, the best. The three gusen concentration camps in and around the village of st georgen gusen, just a few kilometres from mauthausen, held a. It is a story about a boy will burrows and his father roger who are mystified researchers history. In addition to planes, some 7,000 square metres 75,000 sq ft of gusen ii tunnels served as factories for various war materials. Georgen and gusen, to kill any potential witnesses at later trials.
Gusen was a subcamp of mauthausen concentration camp operated by the ss schutzstaffel. Gusen was nominally a satellite camp of mauthausen concentration camp in austria, though it eventually was even larger than the main camp. The barbaric group, aware of the ypgs sensitivity towards people. Georgen gusen mauthausen takes that 1989 overview written in german, and brilliantly expands it to a comprehensive study in english, of the story of the st. It was initially selfpublished as the highfield mole in 2005, and rereleased as tunnels by chicken house in 2007. Gr 59roderick gordon and brian williams fantasy chicken house, 2007 is an exciting story about two 14yearold boys, will and chester, who discover, while digging a tunnel, a strange and dangerous civilization underneath modern london. Nazis built underground nuclear weapons facility using. The soviet union also took charge of the quarry at gusen and continued to take stone from it, operating under a company called granitewerke gusen. Theres just something about underground caverns and civilizations thats almost automatically appealing, and this is a particularly rich and nasty one, with cultish overtones and hints of an ancient history. Two tunnels systems were planned for the area near the kz gusen.
1183 1397 264 1336 425 989 1454 808 652 869 1497 612 718 1468 791 517 439 448 1358 1326 1532 447 181 853 80 690 586 403 872 764 787 1409 402 762 107