Publications
The Mauthausen Memorial's publications seek to promote critical engagement with the history of the Mauthausen concentration camp. They are aimed both at a specialist, academic audience and a broader readership with an interest in the subject.
Publications in print are available from the Mauthausen Memorial Shop or from good book stores.
Mauthausen-Studien
In the series "Mauthausen-Studien", the Mauthausen Memorial publishes research on the history and subsequent use of the Mauthausen concentration camp, the Gusen branch camp and the more than 40 subcamps. Through the series, the Mauthausen Memorial aims to make its own research more visible, to promote the academic analysis of the history of the Mauthausen concentration camp system, and to provide a platform for academic researchers working in this field of history.
The "Mauthausen Studien" publishes both current research findings and translations into German of standard works from other languages. The series takes both a macro view, looking at the concentration camp system as a whole, and a micro view, focusing on individual aspects of the history of the Mauthausen concentration camp complex, thematising the history of those deported to the camps alongside that of the SS or civilian society. Particular value is placed on the interdisciplinarity of the articles, presenting not only historical approaches but pedagogical, philosophical, psychological and sociological perspectives. In addition, the series aims to offer publishing opportunities for early-career scholars.
Fifteen volumes have been published in the "Mauthausen-Studien" series to date. The series is curated by Christian Dürr, Elisa Frei, Gregor Holzinger, Katharina Kniefacz, Andreas Kranebitter and Ralf Lechner.
Mauthausen-Erinnerungen
In the series "Mauthausen-Erinnerungen", the Mauthausen Memorial publishes texts that look at the experience of being deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp. The main focus is on former prisoners and the expression of their memories – Erinnerungen – in language as a means of dealing with their experience of the camp. The texts reflect the diverse national, cultural and social backgrounds of the Mauthausen concentration camp prisoners, as well as the different histories of deportation and differing conditions of imprisonment.
The series encompasses all forms of linguistic expression. Texts of a literary nature are published alongside autobiographies or what are known as ego-documents, texts not originally intended to be read by a wider audience such as personal diaries. By moving beyond the traditional boundaries of genre in the "Mauthausen-Erinnerungen", the Mauthausen Memorial aims to publish works that span the entire repertoire of formats within "memoir literature".
The texts highlight questions that arise from the extreme experience of concentration camp imprisonment: How does this experience become inscribed in the identity of the former prisoners? How is it narrated as an episode of an individual biography and what status does it have within this overall story? To what extent does the biographical break shape the life that follows? What are the different "camp realities" at the level of individual experience? What linguistic means are used to try to lend expression to this experience? How does the individual account relate to cultural, social, national or otherwise pre-formed narratives?
Five volumes have been published in the "Mauthausen-Erinnerungen" series to date. The series is curated by Christian Dürr, Elisa Frei, Gregor Holzinger, Katharina Kniefacz, Andreas Kranebitter and Ralf Lechner.