Main camp

 Second World War 1939-1945, concentration camp

Viennese born Hans Marsalek, a Mauthausen survivor, describes this rhythm in his book “History of the concentration camp Mauthausen”:
In the main camp and most of the outer camps, bells were used to wake the inmates. At 4:45 a.m. from spring to autumn, at 5:45 a.m. during the winter months. You had to get up right away, and the same hectic ritual would repeat itself every day: straw sacks had to be smoothed with boards, edges squared and blankets folded neatly. You then had to line up for the toilet and the washroom, wash quickly, dress and line up again for soup or coffee, clean your bowl and put it in your locker as told. You then had to fall into line in front of the barracks and were marched off to the roll-call square to be counted. All this was accompanied by pushing and shoving and orders from the block staff such as: raus, schnell, bistro, rapido, march off, etc..
In summer and winter, come sunshine or rain, the scene never changed: prisoners lined up in rows of twenty, by barracks, on the left and right side of the roll-call square, waiting for the SS to appear.
These hectic moments were followed directly by the roll call which never lasted less than an hour and during which nobody was allowed to move.

Then it was “hats off, hats on” and the end of the roll call was sounded in as the camp eldest shouted “line up for the work command” for everyone to hear. And the square turned into an anthill: running about, pushing, shoving, angry shouts from the Kapos counting their prisoners.



The evening ritual was the same as above in reverse order:

After the evening roll call, inmates drew their rations (mainly bread) followed by a maximum of one hour of free time. In reality, though, most of it was spent lining up in front of the washrooms again. Some fetched laundry, others cleaned their clothes, their shoes or their lockers or had to make beds as a kind of punishment. Others again tried to visit one of the camp doctors, or used their free time to beg or steal food. Some even tried their luck on the “black market” for extra food or cigarettes. Once every 4 to 6 weeks, inmates were taken to the showers by blocks. Some received mail once or twice a month, and from December 1942 onwards, even food parcels. Everyone had to be in their barracks by 8:45 p.m., in bed by 9:00 p.m..... Unless the Blockührer (command staff) or the block staff ordered a lice, clothes or locker check or some other harassment. Night rest itself was often no more than 6 hours, sometimes much less.