Life in the shadow of a death camp
The iron gates of its drive remain the same. The arch under its first floor window, and the long low cottage off to one side are still identical. Only the people inside are different.
Today the buildings are home to middle class Austrian families. Few would guess that until 1945, number 18 was the gatehouse to Gusen concentration camp, and the low cottage was its SS barracks.
Now after decades of silence, the residents are being forced to confront their village's brutal past, taking a new look at homes that once were, or were built on the foundations of, prisoner barracks, the camp brothel, or even its gas chamber. That is the result of a multimedia project that has gathered accounts from both victims and killers of a regime that murdered almost 40,000 people.
Related Links
Audiowalk Gusen: The Invisible Camp website