Prisoner blocks 6 and 7/8

Prisoner blocks 6 and 7/8, presumably spring 1943 (photo credits: SS-photo, Courtesy of Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona: Fons Amical de Mauthausen)From 1941, two large two-story brick buildings, which still exist today, were built to replace the original wooden barracks 6, 7 and 8. Initially, the three wooden barracks accommodated the prisoners who had been assigned to work on the construction of the camp and in the quarries. Once the brick buildings were completed in spring 1943, they accommodated the prisoners who had to work as skilled laborers in the armaments factories Messerschmitt AG and Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG.

Although we do not know why these particular barracks were rebuilt, it was certainly in the interest of the armaments factories to provide their prisoner workers with better accommodation and food for more efficient exploitation.

Prisoner block 7/8, presumably spring 1943 (photo credits: SS-photo, Courtesy of Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona: Fons Amical de Mauthausen)