Gusen

The "Jourhaus"

View of the Jourhaus from outside the camp, presumably spring 1943 (photo credits: SS-photo, Courtesy of Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona: Fons Amical de Mauthausen).View of the Jourhaus from outside the camp, presumably spring 1943 (photo credits: SS-photo, Courtesy of Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona: Fons Amical de Mauthausen)The so-called "Jourhaus" was the center of political SS power in Gusen, and as such also symbol of the power over the prisoners. It accommodated the SS camp command and the administration. The camp prison, the so-called “Bunker”, was located in the cellar. Prisoners were systematically abused and murdered there. The large gate located in the middle of the Jourhaus was the camp’s main entrance. For the prisoners, this gate symbolized both the path to freedom and the hopelessness of actually achieving it. Today, this building is a private mansion.View of the Jourhaus from within the detention camp, presumably spring 1943 (photo credits: SS-photo, Courtesy of Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona: Fons Amical de Mauthausen).View of the Jourhaus from within the detention camp, presumably spring 1943 (photo credits: SS-photo, Courtesy of Museu d’Història de Catalunya, Barcelona: Fons Amical de Mauthausen).