The Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that were built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria. Though initially it consisted of a single camp at Mauthausen, with time it was expanded to become one of the largest labour camp complexes in German-occupied Europe. Apart from the four main sub-camps at Mauthausen and nearby Gusen, more than 50 sub-camps of the camp complex, located in all parts of Austria and southern Germany used the inmates as slave labour. Several subordinate camps of the KZ Mauthausen complex included quarries, munitions factories, mines, arms factories and Me 262 fighter-plane assembly plants. In January of 1945, the camps — directed from the central office in Mauthausen — had a total of roughly 85,000 inmates. The death toll remains unknown, although most sources place it between 122,766 and 320,000 for the entire complex. The camps formed one of the first massive concentration camp complexes in Nazi Germany, and were the last ones to be liberated by the Allies.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauthausen-Gusen_concentration_camp

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1357: The foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague was laid by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV at 5:31 a.m. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridge)

1816: The Congress of Tucumán declared the independence of Argentina, then known as the United Provinces of the River Plate, from Spain. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Tucum%C3%A1n)

1922: Johnny Weissmuller swam the 100-meter freestyle in 58.6 seconds, breaking a world swimming record and the "minute barrier." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Weissmuller)

1955: The Russell-Einstein Manifesto was issued in the midst of the Cold War, calling for a conference where scientists would "appraise the perils that have arisen as a result of the development of weapons of mass destruction". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell-Einstein_Manifesto)

2002: The African Union was launched in Durban, South Africa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"I can get excitement watching rain on a puddle. And then I paint it. Now, I admit, there are not too many people who would find that exciting. But I would. And I want life thrilling and rich. And it is. I make sure it is." -- David Hockney (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Hockney)