Invisible Past
Copyright: Didi Tolerian
Gusen near Linz: the unhurried pace of life in this small town would lead no one to suspect that only two generations ago this was the site of one of the darkest chapters in Austrian history. The project “Das unsichtbare Lager” [The Invisible Camp] draws attention to this part of our past.
Mauthausen, which is not far from here, is usually immediately associated with the Nazi concentration camp. With Gusen, things are different. Here too there was a large concentration camp complex consisting of two subcamps, Gusen I and II. Mauthausen was transformed into a memorial site after the war: the buildings in the camps at Gusen were pulled down or built over. Today the site of the former camp is occupied by rows of detached houses – the camp has disappeared without a visible trace. The project “Das unsichtbare Lager” aims to make audible what is no longer visible. Equipped with an mp3 player, without the additional help of sign posts or maps, visitors are guided across the site of the former camp. Historical facts and recordings of the accounts of camp survivors, contemporary witnesses and today’s residents make the past come palpably to life beneath the present-day idyll.The Invisible Camp
Daily until 30 September, Tue – Sun 9.30 AM – 5.30 PM
1 October to 31 March: open only on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays; closed 24 December to 6 January
Issue of mp3 players: Visitors’ Centre of the Memorial Gusen, Georgestraße 6, 4222 Langenstein
Outside opening hours mp3 players may be obtained from Gasthaus Pree (opposite the Visitors’ Centre) or Gasthaus Böhm (Linzer Straße 2, 4222 St. Georgen an der Gusen)
Details at www.audioweg.gusen.org
