⭐️ On this day in 1945, over 400 Soviet prisoners of war daringly escaped from #Mauthausen concentration camp in Upper Austria. This rebellion was among the biggest in World War II history.

The largest groups of prisoners at the camp were citizens of the USSR, Poland and Hungary. Soviet POWs who were earlier suspected of resistance activities, were held under the most unbearable conditions in Block 20. The prisoners were beaten, often to death, for the slightest infraction.

On the night of February 3, 1945, 419 prisoners of “Death Block” made an escape. All local units of the SA, the Wehrmacht, the Gendarmerie as well as groups of volunteers joined in their hunt. Overall, 300 escapees were caught and only 57 of them were returned alive to the camp where they were subsequently brutally tortured to death.

Former Mauthausen prisoner Nikolai Parshin wrote after the war, “The prisoners of Death Block stood up against their henchmen and escaped from the hell on earth the Nazis had made. They died with honour as warriors should. And they are not gone, they are heroes that will remain eternally alive. The memory of them will live on in our hearts forever.”

🕯 The total number of prisoners in Mauthausen was 335,000 of which 122,000 were either executed or worked, tortured or starved to death. Over 32,000 of the dead were citizens of our country.

Among those who were savagely tortured to death by the Nazis was Lieutenant General Dmitry Karbyshev. The Nazis did their worst to get him to become a collaborator, as he was an outstanding commander and an unrivalled expert in fortifications, but they failed. Dmitry Karbyhev was 64 when he died.

#Victory77 #WeRemember #FacesOfVictory