KZ Gusen III (Lungitz)

Establishment

This camp was established near the brick production-plant at Lungitz (some 4 km north of Gusen) with Summer 1943. Nevertheless it was December 16, 1944 that this camp was administered officially as a satellite of the KZ Mauthausen-Gusen complex.Prior to 1943, KZ Gusen inmates were already used as work-force in the brick production-plant. But when this plant became closed in 1943, nearly all of the plant was used to store aircraft parts for the Messerschmitt branch plant at KZ Gusen.

Purpose

The brick production-plant´s storage facilities stored Me-262 jet-planes´ parts that were assembled serially at the KZ Gusen II B8 BERGKRISTALL-ESCHE 2 underground plant at St. Georgen/Gusen.

Furthermore, the railway-station near KZ Gusen III (Lungitz) was used to direct railway-wagons that brought Me-262 parts from all around the Third Reich into the BERGKRISTALL underground plant at St. Georgen/Gusen.

In February 1945, a “bakery” was set into operation to bake bread for some 40,000 inmates of the KZ Mauthausen-Gusen I, II & III system of camps (in those days the KZ Gusen I, II & III camps with some 25,000 had double the number of inmates than the related Mauthausen camp with some 12,000 inmates).

Liberation

Camp Gusen III was the first camp in the Mauthausen-Gusen complex to be liberated on May 5, 1945 by S/Sgt. Al Kosiek and his 23 men of the 41st Recon Squad, 11th Ard Div, 3rd US Army.

On May 7, 2000 a monument was inaugurated at the place of this former concentration camp.