concentration camp complex - National Archives and Records ...

RECORD GROUP 407, RECORDS OF THE
ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE, 1917–
III.56 The Adjutant General’s Office (AGO) provided administrative and
support services to the Department of the Army including overseeing his­
torical activities and the army records management program.
III.57 World War II Operations Reports, 1940–1948 (Entry 427A)
The operations reports include records of U.S. Army combat and medical
units involved in the liberation of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp
complex. (File designators are provided for each item. The general location for
the series is 270/50/24/05).
III.58 Liberator Units
Components of the 11th Armored Division, XII Corps, were the first
U.S. Army units to reach the Mauthausen main camp. The May 1945 after­
action report of Combat Command B (611­CCB­0.3) records that on May
5, “one platoon of Troop ‘D’ of the 41st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
was sent to check Mauthausen and discovered the notorious Mauthausen
Concentration Camp.” This platoon rounded up over 1,000 German
guards and marched them back to Gallneukirchen. On May 6, “one com­
pany of the 21st Armored Infantry Battalion with Combat Command B
Staff Officers returned to Mauthausen to take over the camp. This was
reinforced later in the day by the entire battalion.” The 11th Armored
Division after­action report for May 1945 (611­0.3) records that the near­
by Gusen Concentration Camp was also discovered on May 5 by the 41st
Cavalry. On May 6, Mauthausen and Gusen were officially “liberated,” and
troops moved in to administer the camps. Combat Command B renewed
efforts to restore order at Mauthausen, sought sources of food supplies,
undertook the burial of some 500 bodies stacked “like cordwood” in the
camp hospital area, segregated national groups, and confiscated arms.
Evacuation hospitals were immediately requested from Corps headquar­
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