KZ. Mauthausen, Bild und Wort – “Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Pictures and Words” by Simon Wiesenthal. Published by Ibis, Linz-Vienna, 1946. Disturbing Illustrations Depicting the Helplessness of the Prisoners in the Face of the Nazi Death Machine from the Perspective of the Prisoners Themselves, Drawn by Wiesenthal Himself. German. Incomplete Copy.
Simon Wiesenthal’s memoirs from the Mauthausen concentration camp, accompanied by haunting illustrations that he drew himself, some of which were created using photomontage techniques. These illustrations depict the horrors Wiesenthal witnessed in the concentration camp, the Nazi death industry, and the unimaginable cruelty: “The death factory operates relentlessly, day and night, like Himmler himself serving the devil…”. The book contains dozens of drawings, signed in the plate and dated 1945.
Each illustration is described on the corresponding page, emphasizing the harrowing scene from the prisoner’s point of view. For example, next to an illustration of an SS officer holding a whip, the text reads: “The viewpoint was terribly narrow, the horizon surrounded by high walls. As the procession of tormented people, exhausted to the point of collapse, trudged up the steep path to Mauthausen after the end of slave labor, their bowed heads saw nothing but the heavy SS boots, the guns, and the overseer’s whips. You were too tired to lift your head higher…”. Another illustration depicting a whip splitting into several heads at the top of the freezing prisoners’ heads is described: “The whip was the outstretched hand… The kapos and block elders were the worst collaborators, an extension of the whip!”. One of the most horrifying illustrations in the book (which later became famous across numerous platforms) depicts how the Nazis threw Jews off the high cliff near the camp: “On one day, March 31, 1943, 1,000 Dutch Jews were thrown from a height of over 50 meters in front of Heinrich Himmler’s eyes. The SS called them ‘paratroopers.’ The brownshirts enjoyed it, ” and more.
Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005), known as the “Nazi Hunter, ” was a Holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to collecting and documenting information about Nazi war criminals to bring them to justice. He succeeded in bringing more than 1,100 war criminals responsible for mass murders during the Holocaust to trial. He lived and worked in Vienna, Austria. Wiesenthal survived World War II in various concentration camps. In 1945, he reached Mauthausen and managed to survive until the camp was liberated. After his liberation, he began working for the U.S. Army, gathering material for the prosecution of war criminals. In 1947, he founded the “Jewish Documentation Center” in Linz, Austria.
[100] pages, 29 cm. Stains on the title page. Incomplete copy – missing front cover and 7 leaves. A tear with a slight loss at the edges of one blank page (no text damage). Handwritten descriptions on some pages. Stains on some pages. Spine reinforced with tape. Good – moderate condition.
