Postcard folder - Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Paris 1945

Folder containing 25 real photo postcards from the Mauthausen concentration camp during its operation under the Nazis. [Some of the postcards were taken on the day of the camp’s liberation and depict the horrific scenes witnessed by the Allied forces upon entering the camp.] Explanatory text on the reverse of the postcards appears in French, German, and Russian. Paris, 1945. Complete booklet. Rare. Most of the postcards in the booklet are harsh photos.

Postcards: A shackled prisoner during abuse, death camp crematoria, severely emaciated inmates at the time of liberation, amputee prisoners walking to freedom after being mutilated by the Nazis, naked inmates during morning roll call in the camp (photographed by the SS), gallows posts, bodies of victims, SS soldiers [Himmler and his entourage visiting the camp], aerial photograph of the camp barracks, the crematorium, the camp gate with the SS emblem – eagle and swastika, watchtowers, and more.

On the cover of the booklet is an illustration of a captive in prisoner uniform with smoke rising from the camp in the background, created by Bernard Albert. On the inside of the cover is an image of a prisoner in uniform with a guide describing the various parts of the clothing. At the opening of the booklet is an introduction in French describing the structure of the camp, its operation, and the number of victims categorized by country of origin.

The Mauthausen concentration camp [Konzentrationslager Mauthausen], located in Upper Austria, was primarily a forced labor camp. It was established in 1938 near the town of Mauthausen and initially served mainly for the incarceration of political opponents of Nazism. Starting in 1941, the policy shifted and the Nazis began imprisoning large numbers of Jews, primarily from Czech and Dutch communities. 38,000 Jews were murdered in the camp, most of them perishing from forced labor. The camp was liberated in May 1945 and was one of the last to be freed by the United States Army.

Folder: 16.5×10 cm. Good – very good condition.