A hitherto unknown mass grave of thousands of Nazi victims, mostly Jews, has been discovered in the Tyrol mountains, not far from the site of the recent winter Olympic competitions, it was disclosed here today.
The victims had been employed by the Nazis in building fortresses in the mountains to hold back the Allied armies advancing from the south. The Vienna Jewish community has taken over the care of the grave and has put up a temporary monument.
At a press conference here this weekend, Dr. Simon Wiesenthal, director of the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna, disclosed that the Nazis trained selected SS men in mass murder techniques at four “murder schools” in Austria and Germany. He said the “graduates” applied their training at three Nazi camps in Poland–Treblinka, Sobibor and Belzec–where 1,500,000 Jews were murdered between 1942 and 1944. One of the “schools” was in Hartheim in upper Austria, and the others at Hadamar, Graffenegg and Sonnenberg, he said.
He said he had turned over to Austrian Justice Minister Christian Broad a large dossier containing results of his research on the murder school at Hartheim, plus documentary evidence against 14 Austrians who were trained there who are still alive and free. Austrian authorities have started investigations.
He estimated that some 30,000 persons were killed at Hartheim during the war. Describing the training of the “professional murderers,” he said they had to live near a crematorium to get used to the smell, and that their first victims were Austrians or Germans. Alcohol and women were offered to the “students” as rewards, he added.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
