Gusen was a camp established in Germany as the first branch of the Mauthausen camp. Gusen was 2.8 miles to the west of the main camp and was put into operation on March 9, 1940. During 1940, 5,000 prisoners were brought to Gusen, where they were put to work in local quarries and brickyards. During that period, 1,507 prisoners died in the camp. Later, Messerschmitt and Steyr plants were established at the camp, which employed many of the prisoners in the manufacture of aircraft parts and machine guns. The prisoners dug five large subterranean tunnels to house the production of airplanes which had been curtailed by Allied bombing. A second camp (Gusen II) was opened on March 9, 1944 with 10,000 prisoners, followed by a third (Gusen III) in December, 1944, with 262 prisoners. A total of 67,677 persons were imprisoned in the Gusen camps, nearly half of whom were listed as having died there. The camps were liberated on May 5, 1945, by American troops.
Below is a thumbnail of the front of a cover from prisoner #4242. The cover is identified in Lordahl as Type E3bx with a Type C2 censor mark and Type SC5a special cachet limiting the number of letters or cards to one. The envelope contains a lettersheet identified in Lordahl as Type S3b with a Type C2 censor mark. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Envelopes" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of various types of folded letters from prisoners at the various Gusen camps. The first is from A. Jodtowski dated August,1942. This folded letter is identified in Lordahl as Type F2bx with a Type C2 censor mark. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Letter 1" in the left frame to return.
The second folded letter is from G. Guziuska postmarked May 23,1943, to Posen. This folded letter is identified in Lordahl as Type F2bxy with a Type C2 censor mark and a Type SC5a special cachet limiting the number of letters or cards to one. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Letter 2" in the left frame to return.
The third folded letter is from J. Gardo postmarked January 2,1943. This folded letter is identified in Lordahl as Type F5bxy with a Type C2 censor mark. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Letter 3" in the left frame to return.
The fourth folded letter is from Heinrich Wisniewski postmarked November 11,1944. This folded letter is identified in Lordahl as Type F7b with a Type C4 censor mark. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Letter 4" in the left frame to return.
The fifth folded letter is from Josef Trzebiatowski postmarked December 15,1944, to Krakau. This folded letter is identified in Lordahl as Type F7bx with a Type C1b censor mark. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Letter 5" in the left frame to return.
The sixth folded letter is from Anton Lisiecki postmarked December 15,1944, to Posen. This folded letter is identified in Lordahl as Type F7bxy with a Type C4 censor mark. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Letter 6" in the left frame to return.
The last folded letter is from M. Baranowski postmarked December 20,1944, to Posen. This folded letter is identified in Lordahl as Type F9bx with a Type C2 censor mark and a Type SC5a special cachet limiting the number of letters or cards to one. This same prisoner was transferred to Gusen from Auschwitz, as I have a postcard from the prisoner postmarked from Auschwitz on April 2, 1944 to the same addressee in Posen. As the eastern front moved westward in 1944, it is likely that the prisoner was transferred to Gusen, since Gusen was an important center for the production of war material. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Letter 7" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a postcard (Lordahl type P4Bb) to France from a prisoner at Gusen, Maurice Adam, postmarked August 8, 1944. The card is a multi language card (German and French) and bears a Lordahl type C1b censor cancel. Gusen is identified by the camp identity "G". Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Postcard" in the left frame to return.
Erik Lordahl, German Concentration Camps 1933-1945, History and Inmate Mail (2000). Referred to as Lordahl.
Feig, Hitlers Death Camps (1979)
http://linz.orf.at/orf/gusen/index.htm
Http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/camps/gusen/gu30101x.htm
Http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/gusen_cruelties.html
Copyright © 2002 Edward Victor