These harrowing photos show the horror of Mauthausen concentration camp – including the infamous Stairs of Death – where over 122,000 people died

“Stairs of Death” at Mauthausen concentration camp: Prisoners were forced to carry roughly-hewn blocks of stone – often weighing as much as 50 kilograms (110 lb) – up the 186 stairs, one prisoner behind the other. creating a domino effect; the first prisoner falling onto the next, and so on, all the way down the stairs.

Loaded with around 50kg on their back, the exhausted prisoners would often collapse during their ascent of the 186 steps.

22Prisoners of the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria would have to carry heavy rocks up the “Stairs of Death,” pictured then (left) and now (right)Credit: Exclusivepix Media22Loaded up with around 50kg on their back, the exhausted prisoners would often collapse during their ascent of the 186 stepsCredit: Exclusivepix Media22People died on the punishing Mauthausen Stairs of Death on a daily basisCredit: Exclusivepix Media22Prisoners at the Austrian camp making a salute at roll callCredit: Exclusivepix Media

Any stumbles would result in a horrific dominoes effect, causing limbs and bodies to be crushed.

Sometimes, the SS guards would force the exhausted prisoners to race up the stairs carrying blocks of stone.

People died on the Mauthausen Stairs of Death on a daily basis, and those who survived were placed in a terrifying line-up at the edge of a cliff called The Parachutists Wall.

Prison guards would point a gun at each inmate, who would have the option of being shot or pushing the prisoner in front off the cliff.

Suicides were frequent with many prisoners seeing this as a way out.

22The site’s location, 12 miles east of the city of Linz, was chosen thanks to the nearby granite quarry, where many inmates labouredCredit: Exclusivepix Media22The site is now nearly all covered by shrubs and overgrowth, although visitors can explore a museum which is open to the publicCredit: Exclusivepix Media

Mauthausen was classified as a Grade III camp, which was reserved for “incorrigible political enemies of the Reich” to be exterminated or killed through the exhaustion of the gruelling labour.

It had such a horrific reputation that the SS called the camp Mauthausen Knochenmühle, or “the bone grinder.”

The brutal camp was one of the largest labour sites in the German-controlled part of Europe.

In total, over 122,000 people died at the camp through causes such as exhaustion, illness, being shot or suicide.

22Many who survived the punishing work load felt there was no hope, with some prisoners committing suicideCredit: Exclusivepix Media

The camp’s location was chosen thanks to the nearby granite quarry and close proximity to Linz, a city Hitler planned to rebuild with grandiose buildings as envisioned by Albert Speer.

Today, the “Stairs of Death” form part of the guided tours at the Mauthausen Memorial.

The stairs have been redone and straightened so that tourists can easily climb up and down them, but at that time they were tilted and slippery.

22Heinrich Himmler, a leading member of the Nazi Party, seen in the quarryCredit: Exclusivepix Media22These images show the mugshots of children who were held as prisoners at the brutal campCredit: Exclusivepix Media22This haunting image shows one of the inmates who has been beaten and is suffering swelling to the faceCredit: Exclusivepix Media22Concentration camp prisoners pull down Swastika and eagle after liberationCredit: Exclusivepix Media22These were some of the prisoner tags found in one of the camp’s mass gravesCredit: Exclusivepix Media22The Mauthausen crematorium cold storeCredit: Exclusivepix Media

22Prisoners doing forced labour in the Wiener Graben quarry