Ebensee concentration camp

47°47′15″N 13°45′28″E / 47.78750°N 13.75778°E / 47.78750; 13.75778

Ebensee concentration camp
Concentration camp
Inmates of Ebensee concentration camp after their liberation by American troops on 6 May 1945
Location of Ebensee in Austria
Other names	Kalk, Kalksteinbergwerk, Solvay, Zement
Operated by	DEST cartel and the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS)
Commandant	Georg Bachmayer; Otto Riemer
Operational	November 1943 – May 1945
Inmates	Political prisoners from many countries, Jews
Number of inmates	about 27,000
Killed	between 8,500 and 11,000 (estimated)
Liberated by	US Army, 6 May 1945

Ebensee was a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp established by the SS to build tunnels for armaments storage near the town of Ebensee, Austria, in 1943. The camp held a total of 27,278 male inmates from 1943 until 1945. Between 8,500 and 11,000 prisoners died in the camp, most from hunger or malnutrition. Political prisoners were most common, and prisoners came from many different countries. Conditions were poor, and along with the lack of food, exposure to cold weather and forced hard labor made survival difficult. American troops of the 80th Infantry Division liberated the camp on 6 May 1945.

Residential homes now exist on the site of the camp, and a memorial cemetery is nearby. A memorial tunnel, created in 1994, and the Museum for Contemporary History Ebensee, created in 2001, provide information about the camp to visitors.