concentration camp complex - National Archives and Records ...

sist of aerial photography of sites associated with the Mauthausen ring taken by
Allied reconnaissance missions during World War II. NARA microfilm publica­
tions can be grouped in two categories: filmed copies of original NARA records
and copies of World War II captured German records, the originals of which
have been returned to Germany and are in the custody of the German
Bundesarchiv. The latter include records of the SS and some private concerns
complicit in the use of slave labor at Mauthausen, and personnel files for SS
officers who served at Mauthausen and other camps. The National Archives also
maintains a microfilm collection of original concentration camp records in the
custody of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, Germany. A
catalogue of Mauthausen materials held by the ITS is provided in Appendix B.
Purposes of This Guide
I.12 RIP 115 is primarily intended as a comprehensive finding aid to
Mauthausen Concentration Camp records in NARA custody. The identifica­
tions and detailed descriptions herein highlight the depth and richness of
NARA’s holdings while making them easily accessible to researchers. It is impor­
tant to note that this Mauthausen guide, describing materials in 19 record
groups and over 95 records series, is a useful research template for those inter­
ested in NARA records pertaining to the other large concentration camps. Most
series described here (records of early releases, wartime intelligence, liberator
units, and so on) include similar materials on the Buchenwald and Dachau
complexes and other U.S.­liberated sites. We are also aware that in recent years
research interest in the Holocaust has been shaped by pressing international
concerns: the restitution of cultural properties and financial assets of victims,
compensation for slave labor, and investigations of corporate complicity in war
crimes. Archival collections of Holocaust­related materials, many at memori­
al sites of former concentration camps, have proliferated. Constant reproduc­
tion for archival, research and exhibition purposes makes it all the more imper­
ative to identify our original documents and discrete collections.
How to Use This Guide
I.13 With the exception of Part II (Original Records and Special Collections),
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