Concluded projects
of the Institute of Conflict Research
Pilot study: “Female inmates of the Mauthausen concentration camp and its branch camps”
| Project Management: | Mag.a Dr.in Helga Amesberger Mag.a Dr.in Brigitte Halbmayr |
| Project Team: | Mag.a Dr.in Helga Amesberger Mag.a Dr.in Brigitte Halbmayr Mag.a Kerstin Lercher Mag. Andreas Baumgartner (Das soziale Forschungsbüro) |
| Financed by: | Federal Ministry of the Interior |
| Concluded in | February 2008 |
Very little is known as yet about the female inmates of the Mauthausen concentration camp and its branch camps. Hence it was the aim of the pilot study to explore, clarify and develop the basis for the (final) qualitative and quantitative research work on women in Mauthausen. The pilot project is based on four interwoven modules: Module 1, referred to as “registration by name”, comprises a database in which data from different sources (commemoration sites, other research projects, publications, etc.) about the several thousand women are being collected. Building regional networks (with NGOs, schools, local initiatives) in areas where branch camps or work commandos for women existed should help to research the history and living conditions in the former branch camps (Module 2). Another focus of the pilot study has been on a first analysis of interviews of female survivors, which were conducted under the Mauthausen Survivors Documentation Project in the years 2002/03 (Module 3). An international network of researchers was set up with a view to acquiring information on the specific historical-political context the interviewed women were confronted with before, during and after persecution in their respective home countries (Module 4). This information will guarantee a reliable in-depth-analysis of the interviews.
The project has revealed that there are many sources which have not been analysed by historians so far. The main project will consequently provide substantial new insight in the history of Mauthausen.
