Salzburg (Mauthausen)
Trip Start
Nov 14, 2008
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47
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Trip End
Feb 26, 2009
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Salzburg,
Austria
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
An important part of this trip for me is visiting the camps my grandparents were in during the Holocaust, including Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria, where my father's father Braham was during the Holocaust. It took several hours to get there from Budapest, changing trains at Vienna (sitting next to 2 Brisbane girls also spending NYE in Munich!) and Linz along the way. Although I woke up at 7am, I only reached Mauthausen after 3pm.
Many of the buildings in Mauthausen were closed for repairs, nevertheless I followed the audioguide and went to several traumatic places, like the barracks, crematoria and gas chambers, and tried hard to keep my composure. The Gusen sub-camp, where my grandfather was, is closed for the next few months. I watched a film about Mauthausen, which was at least 20 years old and not as informative as I imagined, rather than visit the museum. By the time I went to the quarry, where my grandfather worked, it was getting dark. I told the lady at the office that I was going there, and she said the camp closes at 5:30. By the time I got back, it was 5:32 - everybody had left, and all the gates were locked!
Stuck in Mauthausen
It was dark and cold, and all I'd eaten all day was 1 sandwich. I thought I would be spending the night inside my grandfather's concentration camp. And the next day it would be closed for New Year's Eve, so who knows what would happen then.
Fortunately I had my bags with me so clothing wouldn't be a problem, and there was a quadrangle with some areas under cover to keep me warm. I called out to the driver of my booked taxi who did not respond, and he left after 15 minutes. There were signs saying "Exit through approach road" - not only did this not make sense, but I couldn't find any road not blocked by a locked gate. I was not too upset to sleep there, as very few descendants of survivors would have done so, and I thought it would be a unique experience that would allow me to empathise in a small way. I messaged Deutsch and Mich telling them what happened, and they were shocked.
I called up the police, just to state that if the lady at the office was concerned about where I was, then to tell her I'm alright. By that stage I had resolved that I'm spending the night in Mauthausen. She said she'd arrange to get me out. About an hour after the gates closed, I was picked up by the manager of the site, who dropped me at the train station - all I had to tip him with was a 20 Euro note ($40), so I had to give him that. It turns out that the "approach road" is a road around the camp that was well hidden.
A few hours later, I was in a hostel in Salzburg, with my Sound of Music tour booked for the morning. It was a long day I won't readily forget.
