KZ GUSEN MEMORIAL COMMITTEE

within ARBEITSKREIS FUER HEIMAT-, DENKMAL- UND GESCHICHTSPFLEGE (AHDG)
and Local-International Platform ST. GEORGEN/GUSEN, Austria

KZ Mauthausen-GUSEN Info-Pages

Jerzy Wandel, Italo Tibaldi, Martha Gammer and Major Hutsteiner at the 1999 Commemoration

Highlights of the Local-International Commemoration
May 7-8, 1999

American Nurses from
131st Evacuation Hospital at Gusen

2nd Lt Louise Birch with 1st Lt Mary Traub at Gusen


Former 1st Lt. Mary Traub (right) and former 2nd Lt. Lousie Birch (left) returned from the United States to take part in the 1999 local-international commemoration at Gusen.

Together with many others, including ladies from the local population, they saved the lives of thousands of inmates after the liberation.

Both ladies were at KZ Gusen from mid-May to the end of June 1945.

Mary Wood Traub:

July 8th, 1942, I entered the United States Army as a 2nd Lieutenant in Fort Dupont in the state of Delaware.  January 13, 1943 sailed on the USS Ancon to North Africa. German subs were sited on the crossing to Oran, Algeria, in North Africa. We arrived Jan. 26, 1943, and were immediately assigned to the 32nd Station Hospital Unit.  During the next ten months the hospital unit took care of soldiers returning from battle.  Saw General Patton for the first time. Nov. 28, 1943, returned to the United States on a hospital ship. Worked in the US Army hospitals doing operating room duty with Eye, Nose and Throat surgey. June 6th, 1944 at West Point (Army) College saw General Eisenhower's son graduate and saw Mrs. Maimie Eisenhower. Very impressive sight. Dec. 16, 1944, sailed to England as a 1st Lieutenant to work in hospitals doing surgery. March 22, 1945 moved into France setting up EVAC hospitals. Moved into Germany and followed the troops.

May 19th, 1945 moved to Camp Gusen working in the operating room doing reconstructive surgery on the inmates who had been operated on by the Germans.

I remember the talented musicians amoung the prisoners and the music they would play for us after many long hours of work. I remember the first church service that the camp had. I will never forget the horrible conditions or the cruel surgery that the Nazis performed on the people. There was an SS trooper working in the kitchen whom the people recognized while we were there. They took him, stripped him, and hanged him in the yard for all to see. There were many still dying while we were there and there was so much we tried to do. June 22nd we left to go to Linz.

God Bless them all...... 

Louise Birch arrived at Camp Gusen May 16, 1945, as part of a team of 47 nurses of the 131st Evacuation Hospital, 3rd Army, U.S.A. A temporary hospital had been set up outside the walls of the compound in barracks formally used by the guards. This had been done by the men and officers of the hospital, who had been there since May 9th, and  the 11th Armored Division. We had been a small tent hospital and now were completely overwhelmed by the huge numbers of patients - and by their condition.

Most of our actual nursing care was delegated to the local population who were pressed into service.

Unfortunately, we never learned the names of most of our patients as the language barrier made it hard to communicate. But I hope they knew we were there to help them. Our unit left Gusen June 22, 1945.

International Youth-Meeting


Youngsters from Poland, Italy and Austria prepared different performances.

Polish Youngsters from Plock gave evidence of their rich folkloristic heritage

Also the art work of several workshops that were held in the week before
with youngsters from Emopli, Italy and St. Georgen/Gusen were presented.

Young Italians from Sesto San Giovanni (MI) at their performance

Prior to the commemoration, nearly all of the youngsters attended historical excursions
to the remnants of the KZ Gusen and KZ Mauthausen camps in the days before.

Scouts from Poland at their historical excursion

Conference with Survivors

Participants listen carefully to suvivorīs statements

This year, Mrs. Mary Traub (First Lt., 131st Evac. Hospital at Gusen, from Webster NY), and Mrs. Luise Birch (Second Lt., 131st Evac. Hospital at Gusen, from Tamworth NH), Mr. Jerzy Wandel (Survivor Gusen I, Vienna), Mr. Karl Littner (Survivor Gusen II, Los Angeles), Mr. Dusan Stefancic (Survivor Gusen II, Slovenia), Prof. Bruno Gerdovic and Mr. P.S. Choumoff (Survivor Gusen I and Vice-President of the International Mauthausen Committee, Paris) answered the many questions of people from Poland, Sweden and Austria.

Movie "Au revoir mes Enfants"
to commemorate Lucien Bunel (Pere Jaques)
who suffered in KZ Gusen I

Pere Jacques on his writing desk (courtesy USHMM, Washington)

Many youngsters from different countries attended the movie in the historic cinema of Katsdorf, Austria, the town nearest to the former KZ Gusen III concentration camp at Lungitz, to pay tribute to that great man who helped so many in the final month of his life at KZ Gusen I.

An exhibition with the newest KZ Gusen documents was presented in the parish center of St. Georgen/Gusen

American liberators and nurses (upper right) in May 1945 at the 131st Evacuation Hospital Gusen

Special commemorational addresses were given in the presence of: by: Furthermore:

This local-international commemoration was supported and made possible by:


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Most recent updates of this page were made on
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Martha Gammer, Siegi Witzany-Durda and
Jan-Ruth White with her students in US-Alabama