concentration camp complex - National Archives and Records ...

agencies, and engaging in clandestine operations in support of planned mil­
itary operations.
III.24 Intelligence reports of the Research and Analysis Branch (R&A) are
arranged in lettered series (“Regular,” “L,” and “XL”) and accessed by card
indexes. R&A: Name and Subject Card Index (Entry 14, location:
190/3/6/1) describes the R&A Intelligence Reports Regular or “R” Series
(Entry 16, location: 190/3/11/4). Reference cards filed under “Austria”
direct the researcher to a wide variety of individual documents relevant
to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp complex (camp locations, local
conditions, the reported use and treatment of foreign and forced labor by
munitions and armament manufacturing concerns, etc.) Much of the
information was provided by escaped or repatriated prisoners. Of special
interest is a report on “The Austrian National Committee at Mauthausen
Concentration Camp” included in 15th Army Group Intelligence Summary
No. 2, “Survey of Conditions in Austria,” June 2, 1945 (R Series 132969 S,
Entry 16, box 1531, location: 190/04/07/05). This report describes the out­
standing personalities and political program of a group of seven promi­
nent Austrian political prisoners at Mauthausen. Dr. Hans von Becker (his
personal account is included in the XL Series below) was said to be the
spokesperson for the group. (Note: Records of the R&A Branch Regular
Series are reproduced on the 391 rolls of National Archives Microfilm
Publication M1499.)
R&A Name and Subject Card Index (Entry 17, location: 190/4/10/7)
describes contents of the R&A Intelligence Reports XL Series (Entry 19,
location: 190/4/12/6) and L Series (Entry 21, location: 190/4/23/6).
Individual items filed under “Austria” provide locations and descriptions of
industrial concerns on or near the Mauthausen camp sites that used foreign
and forced labor. The XL Series includes four items of particular interest:
XL 10738: An account by Dr. Ludwig Soswinski of personal experiences
in Concentration Camps Dachau, Flossenburg, Auschwitz, and
Mauthausen, where he arrived in January 1945 (Entry 19, box 147, loca­
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