Amicale de Mauthausen
Encyclopedia
The Amicale de Mauthausen is a French
association
in memory of the history of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
.
Shortly after the end of World War II
, on 1 October 1945, the institution named l’Amicale des déportés politiques de la Résistance de Mauthausen et de ses kommandos dépendants was founded. The original members were particularly survivors of KZ Mauthausen and its subcamps.
The Amicale de Mauthausen discovered that 198,000 people of 25 different nationalities (10,000 of them French) were deported to KZ Mauthausen. 118,000 people died from forced labor or in one of the gas chambers, which were installed inside of the camp.
Particularly in the post war years, but also today, the Amicale helps families of the missing or their children.
Meanwhile, the Amicale has already been teaching about the crimes of national socialism
for 60 years.
The Amicale appears on different international dispositions, like commemorations of the liberation of Mauthausen. They also arrange different excursions to Mauthausen.
In the year 2000, there was an official generation change. Because of their age the survivors of the camp handed over their functions to their children. There are still about 500 deportees
and their families working for the association, to commemorate their suffering.
The French Amical is a member of the Comité International de Mauthausen with around 1,700 members in total. The head office is in Paris
, but there are many members elsewhere too.
At the head office, there is the possibility for Austria
ns to serve for a short time instead of the military service as an Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant
.
The first Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant started to work in Paris on 1 September 2008.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
association
Voluntary association
A voluntary association or union is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement as volunteers to form a body to accomplish a purpose.Strictly speaking, in many jurisdictions no formalities are necessary to start an association...
in memory of the history of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
.
Shortly after the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, on 1 October 1945, the institution named l’Amicale des déportés politiques de la Résistance de Mauthausen et de ses kommandos dépendants was founded. The original members were particularly survivors of KZ Mauthausen and its subcamps.
The Amicale de Mauthausen discovered that 198,000 people of 25 different nationalities (10,000 of them French) were deported to KZ Mauthausen. 118,000 people died from forced labor or in one of the gas chambers, which were installed inside of the camp.
Particularly in the post war years, but also today, the Amicale helps families of the missing or their children.
Meanwhile, the Amicale has already been teaching about the crimes of national socialism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
for 60 years.
The Amicale appears on different international dispositions, like commemorations of the liberation of Mauthausen. They also arrange different excursions to Mauthausen.
In the year 2000, there was an official generation change. Because of their age the survivors of the camp handed over their functions to their children. There are still about 500 deportees
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
and their families working for the association, to commemorate their suffering.
The French Amical is a member of the Comité International de Mauthausen with around 1,700 members in total. The head office is in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, but there are many members elsewhere too.
At the head office, there is the possibility for Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
ns to serve for a short time instead of the military service as an Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant
Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
The Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service is an alternative to Austria's compulsory national military service / alternative service founded in 1992. Since 1998 it is part of the Austrian Service Abroad...
.
The first Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant started to work in Paris on 1 September 2008.
See also
- La Fondation pour la Mémoire de la DéportationLa Fondation pour la Mémoire de la DéportationThe Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation was founded on 17 October 1990 on the initiative of former French prime minister Michel Rocard and the former minister of the Interior...
- International concentration camp committeesInternational concentration camp committeesInternational concentration camp committees are organizations composed of former inmates of the various Nazi concentration camps, formed at various times, primarily after the Second World War...