Testimonies of the Victims
The 17 finds excavated during archaeological research at the mass extermination site in Blahauščyna from 1942-1943, which are now housed in the HdGÖ, include three glass bottles, a comb, a medicine tin, a Nivea tin, enamel pots, four coins and three pairs of ammunition casings of various calibres.
Out of respect for the victims, only objects belonging to the victims are exhibited in the HdGÖ; the evidence of the destruction (e.g. cartridges) is in the depot and is not accessible to the public.
Nivea tin
Only the lower part of the tin was found, the lid is missing. Inside there are possibly still remains of cream mixed with sediment. The tin is a quite rare "war packaging". Due to the shortage of raw materials, during World War II, Nivea cream was also filled in glass jars, containers made of waxed cardboard or bakelite tins, like the one here.
Bottom part of the Nivea tin (diameter 5 cm, height 1.6 cm) made of bakelite; on the bottom is the inscription: "NIVEA-CRÈME N°362 P.BEIERSDORF & CO.GES.M.B.H. WIEN" This type of tin was produced between 1941 and 1945. The production was located at Karmaschgasse 52/54 in the 10th district of Vienna (production abroad for the Austrian trade was also possible) (grave 18).
Small cosmetic jar
The small bottle was found closed with a copper lid, inside there are remains of a yellow-brown liquid. NIVEA oil, skin oil or nut oil (possibly also burdock root oil) was filled into this type of bottle. These products have been on the market since the early 1930s.
Small jar made of white glass (no. 1) with a copper lid (h. 9 cm) for cosmetics (found in the grave no. 18), inside there are still remains of a yellow-brown liquid. Similar bottles were used for Nivea skin oil or nut oil (possibly burdock root oil) from the early 1930s. Dated from the 1930s, produced at Stättermayergasse 32/Karmaschgasse 52/54 in Vienna (possibly also produced abroad for the Austrian trade); on the bottom is the inscription: P.BEIERSDORF & CO GES MBH WIEN.
White, enamelled jug with handle
Dinnerware, pots, cups and spoons are utensils or everyday objects that tell of everyday life in the camps and the intake of food. The possession of spoons and bowls was essential for the individual prisoners to survive, because without a bowl and spoon the prisoner got nothing to eat. So they literally decided life and death.[1]
The pots, eating utensils and jugs reflect objects that were already on the IKG's packing lists for the "conscription" to a collective camp in Vienna, and later on the detailed leaflets for the so-called "resettlement" to Poland, which disguised the deportations.[2]
This find is a white enamelled jug with a handle. This was manufactured in Austria in the Austria Email AG factory founded in 1873 (later taken over by STEG and belonging to "Austria Vereinigte Emaillierwerke, Lampen- und Metallwarenfabrik AG).
White enamel pot with handle (height 12 cm, diameter 13 cm, capacity approx. 1.5 l); on the bottom is the inscription "Austria Email"; the pot was therefore made in Austria (grave no. 18).
Small enameled pot
The stamp on the bottom of this small enamelled pot indicates that it was produced by the Fleischmann metalware factory in Mödling, which was founded in 1867 by Karl Kleiner and Ferdinand Fleischmann. They produced tinware, menage bowls for the military, and later also enamelware. According to an inventory of the Regional Court for Criminal Matters in the Vienna City and State Archives, there was a Nazi forced labour camp at the address of the Fleischmann metalware factory.
Small brown enamelled pot (height 11 cm, diameter 9 cm, capacity 0.7 l; on the bottom is the inscription FL...SCHMANN (= FLEISCHMANN) MOEDLING 5/8, so the pot was probably produced at Grenzgasse 40, in 2340 Mödling, Austria (between the graves no. 32-21-24).
Dark, enamelled jug with a handle
The stamp, which is only partially visible on the bottom, suggests that this enameled jug with handle was made by Austria Email AG, just like the previous find.
Dark brown enameled pot with handle (height 11 cm, diameter 13 cm, capacity approx. 1.4 l); inscription on the bottom: Austria 1 (grave 19).
Pill box "Neokratin Wien III. Dr.A.Kutiak"
The found pill box contained painkillers that were supposed to help against dysmenorphoa, sciatica, neuralgia, migraine, headache, influenza, flu and other diseases. The pill box was sold in the still active Petrus pharmacy in Vienna's 3rd district. [3]
Pill box from the Petrus Apotheke pharmacy, Erdbergstraße 6, 1030 Vienna. Threaded aluminum box (length 7 cm, diameter 1.9 cm) with the inscription “Neokratin Wien III, Dr. A. Kutiak”. Dating: 1930s-40s (last reference in advertisement 1941) (graves no. 4-5).
Two-groschen coin
The two groschen coin was used as a means of payment in Austria between 1925 and 1942. From the year of the "Anschluss" in 1938, it was recognized as two Reichspfennigs and used in this way until 1942. The obverse of the coin is embossed with '2 Groschen', the Riverse is embossed with 'Austria' and the year of issue. There is also a "crutch cross" on the Riverse, which developed into an important symbol of Austria during Austrofascism. With the "crutch cross" the swastika was opposed to a "Christian" symbol. [4]
Two two-groschen coins (diameter 1.9 cm each) minted in 1929 and 1937, each on the obverse: 2 groschen; each on the reverse: Austria, year of issue and a crutch cross (graves no. 21-24).
"TEK" Comb
Black plastic comb (ebonite) with the engraving "TEK" and "Made in Austria". The comb is characterized by narrower teeth that are close together and thicker teeth that are more widely spaced. Two of the larger teeth have broken off. [5]
Comb, probably made of vulcanized natural rubber (ebonite) (length 12.7 cm; width 3.8 cm), embossed with the company name TEK Made in Austria, probably dating to the 1930s (grave no. 17).
Glass vial
This find is a blue, glass medicine bottle without a lid, which was produced in Vienna. The inscription on it is "Wien CHEM.FABRIK. ING. DR.D.STERN&G.STERN". The company existed until 1925, after which it was taken over by G. Salomon Mischel, who fled to New York with his family in 1938. His son Walter Mischel was an important personality psychologist. [6]
Blue glass bottle with the inscription "Wien CHEM. FABRIK. ING. DR.D.Stern&G.STERN; this company was located at Klosterneuburgerstraße 107, 1200 Vienna, Austria until 1935; height 10 cm, diameter 4.5 cm, capacity 63 cm³ (grave 18).
Sources:
[1] Cf.: Patrick Hillebrand, Die Archäologie des Alltags im Konzentrationslager Mauthausen und seinen Nebenlagern (Masterarbeit Wien 2019) 111-114.
[2] Cf.: Dokumentationsarchiv des Österreichischen Widerstands, online at https://www.doew.at/cms/download/7kuih/IX-P4.pdf (24.04.2021).
[3]
Simplicissimus. Retrieved on 15 April 2021 from: http://www.simplicissimus.info/uploads/tx_lombkswjournaldb/pdf/1/46/46_16.pdf (16.4.1941, 46. Jg., Nr. 16).
Alphabetical subject index to the Ostmark Yearbook. Retrieved on 14 April 2021 from: https://docplayer.org/160642265-Alphabetisches-sachregisterf-zum-stmarkjahrbuch.html
History wiki: Petrusaphotheke. Retrieved on 14 April 2021 from: https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Petrusapotheke
History wiki: August Ignaz Kutiak. Retrieved on 14 April 2021 from: https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/August_Ignaz_Kutiak
Anno: Journal of the General Austria Pharmacist Association. Retrieved on 14 April 2021 from: https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=ozp&datum=19161216&query=%22Petrusapotheke%22&ref=anno-search&seite=2).
ÖNB: Neokratin. Schmerstillende Oblatenkapseln der Wiener Firma Dr. A. Kutiak. Retrieved on 14 April 2021 from: https://onb.digital/result/BAG_659360
[4]
AEIOU: Crutch Cross (Kruckenkreuz). Retrieved on 30 April 2021 from: http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.k/k884315.htm
Die Geldmarie: 2-Groschen-Münze. Retrieved on 1 May 2021 from: http://www.geldmarie.at/gold/2-groschen-m%C3%BCnzen.html#:~:text=Die%20erste%20%22echte%22%202%2D,neue%20Nominale%20%22Groschen%22%20stehen.
JAECKEL, PETER: Die Münzprägungen des Hauses Habsburg 1780-1918 und der Republik Österreich seit 1918. Die Münzprägungen der deutschen Staaten vor Einführung der Reichswährung 3, 4. Auflage, Basel 1970.
SCHÖN, GÜNTER; SCHÖN, GERHARD: Kleiner deutscher Münzkatalog. Von 1871 bis heute, 47. Auflage, Augsburg 2017.
Torgler, in: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung 47/2, Kösching 2005, pp. 143-159.
WEBER, HERMANN; HERBST, ANDREAS: Ernst Torgler, in: Deutsche Kommunisten. Biographisches Handbuch 1918 bis 1945, Berlin 2008, pp. 795-796.
University of Vienna: Hallmarked two-groschen coin (Universität Wien: Zwei-Groschen-Münze mit Punzierung). Retrieved on 1 May 2021 from: https://bibliothek.univie.ac.at/sammlungen/objekt_des_monats/012976.html
[5]
IKV-Aachen: Rubber technology (IKV-Aachen: Kautschucktechnologie.) Retrieved on 23 April 2021 from: https://www.ikv-aachen.de/forschung/forschungsbereiche/kautschuktechnologie
industry guide: injection molding plastics technology (Industrie-Wegweiser: Spritzguss-Kunststofftechnik). Retrieved on 23 April 2021 from: https://industrie-wegweiser.de/spritzguss-kunststofftechnik/
Museen-Nord: comb made of plastic (Kamm aus Kunststoff). Retrieved on 20 April 2021 from: http://www.museen-sh.de/Objekt/DE-MUS-789911/lido/Fr681
[6]
Zediah: Compass. Retrieved on 23 April 2021 from: https://portal.zedhia.at/archive?urn=urn:nbn:at:at-compass:zedhia-cpa_000203?virtuelleurnseite=cpa_000203-170
Geni: STERN, Geza. Retrieved on 23 April 2021 from: https://www.geni.com/photo/view/6000000173353527976?album_type=photos_of_me&photo_id=6000000173348812952
Geni: MISCHEL, Salomon. Retrieved on 23 April 2021 from: https://www.geni.com/people/Salomon-Mischel/5025018783640123940
Austrian Academy of Sciences: Protraits (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften: Porträts). Walter Mischel. Retrieved on 23 April 2021 from: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/exile-excellence/portraets
Anno: international machine world (Internationale Maschinenwelt.) Retrieved on 23 April 2021 from: https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=imw&datum=19251106&seite=9&zoom=33&query=%22DR.D.STERN&ref=