During World War II, millions faced displacement and persecution as the Nazi regime occupied France and expanded its camps across Europe. Among the uprooted were Catalans, Basques, and Andalusians who endured unjust labor and harsh conditions. Spanish prisoners were rendered illegitimate by administrative silence, not recognized as prisoners of war or refugees, while wage labor abuses persisted in occupied territories.
The study of the Spanish presence in Nazi camps relies on primary archival sources from foreign institutions such as military and consular records, as well as prisoner testimonies. It documents the trajectory of Spaniards in the Mauthausen complex and its subcamps, highlighting how forced labor programs operated under an architecture of control and suppression.
Researchers define the scale of Spaniards sent to concentration camps at around ten thousand. They detail the mechanisms that protected killings within the camps and map how prisoners were categorized, including the self-management structures that emerged among inmates. The role of Spanish guards in the system, sometimes referred to in the context of the so called Spanish camp, is examined, alongside cases where a small number of Spanish workers were convicted as war criminals in major postwar trials. The analysis also covers Action 14f13, a Nazi plan associated with the extermination of certain prisoner groups, and notes attempts to exchange Gibraltar for concessions such as the Canary Islands. The narrative includes the first Spanish victim in Mauthausen, Jose Marfil Escalona from Malaga, and discusses protective detention that confined prisoners to camps on German soil with cooperation from Vichy authorities and Francoist leadership, a policy aligned with Night and Fog directives. Mortality in Mauthausen rose over time, earning the camp stigmas tied to its so called hellish conditions and a brutal survival rate in the early years, during which gas used in barracks contributed to prisoner deaths.
An entire chapter is devoted to the subcamp at Gusen, described as an even more lethal facet of the Mauthausen system. The SS leadership overseeing the camp is presented with a critical flaw, as a large share of Spaniards passing through Mauthausen also traversed Gusen. In 1941, the camp complex recorded a substantial number of deaths, with thousands of Spaniards dying at Mauthausen between 1940 and 1945, including those who perished during the excavation of vast underground galleries built for weapons production from 1943 onward. The countryside within the camp landscape is portrayed through the lens of daily life under extreme stress, where prisoners endured cramped living conditions, violent routines, and a constant struggle for survival. A small segment of inmates, about eight percent, held internal duties that offered temporary relief from the harshest chores, though this came with a finite diet and heightened exposure to the elements. The narrative highlights Catalan figures who served in photography roles, alongside colleagues who attempted to preserve negatives under dire conditions, contributing to later historical revelations.
As the war shifted and production moved into the camps, some Spaniards contributed to weapon manufacturing within the system. A number of individuals participated in factory work at the Steyr plant and in related subcamps. Other Spaniards were engaged in labor across several sites connected to Mauthausen, including Bretstein and Vöcklabruck-Wagrain. Reports also touch on the existence of camp brothels from 1942, medical experiments conducted on prisoners to test vaccines against tetanus, cholera, and typhus, and surgical procedures carried out as part of a broader program of dehumanization. The exploitation extended to the extraction of gold from dental implants and episodes of cannibalism, with some Spaniards released from certain camps under international attention, while international humanitarian organizations documented a range of related issues. The Red Cross and allied observers played a role in compiling these accounts, even as the broader question of refugee status for survivors remained unresolved for years.
The liberation of Mauthausen by Allied forces signified a turning point, but full recognition of refugee status for Spanish prisoners occurred only later, as international bodies began to acknowledge the plight of those displaced by Francoist regimes. This shift culminated in the early postwar years when some survivors found new homes across the Americas. Overall, the examination presents a condensed yet revealing portrait of Spanish experiences within the Mauthausen system, though some portions of the narrative may appear to diverge from a single, cohesive Spanish reference that would more directly illuminate the reader’s connection to these events. [citation]