Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Michael Hirsh
Publication Date
March 2022
Date
March 2008
Abstract
Duane Mahlen was a tank gunner in the 11th Armored Division, which liberated Mauthausen on May 6, 1945. His unit had been on the way to Linz when their major got a call about the camp and decided to see it, so they arrived a few hours after the camp was discovered. As they drove through the main gate, the first thing Mahlen saw were the stacked corpses. He walked all through the men's and women's sections but did not approach or speak to any of the prisoners. After the war ended, he stayed in Europe on occupation duty and was assigned to Flossenbürg in December 1945, where he guarded SS officers waiting for trial. Mahlen has spoken to school children about Mauthausen and is an active member of the 11th Armored Division Association, of which he is a past president.
Keywords
World War II (1939-1945), Holocaust (1939-1945), Concentration camps, Concentration camps--Liberation, Veterans, Genocide, Crimes against humanity, United States. Army. Armored Division 11th, Mauthausen (Concentration camp), Flossenbürg (Concentration camp)
Extent
00:45:28; 22 page transcript
Subject: geographic
Mauthausen (Austria); Linz (Austria); Flossenbürg (Germany)
Language
English
Digital Date
2022
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
Digital Only
Identifier
C65-00082
Recommended Citation
Mahlen, Duane, "Duane Mahlen Oral History Interview" (2022). Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project. 70.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/concentration_OH/70
Rights Statement
