May 5, 1945
U.S. Troops Liberate Mauthausen
Historical context
On this day, May 5, 1945, a U.S. Army reconnaissance unit reached Mauthausen. Larger Third Army units arrived in the following days.
Archive record
Read the event, then follow its documented sources and archive threads.
- Date
- May 5, 1945
- Verified sources
- 3
- Archive threads
- 6
On this day, a U.S. Army reconnaissance patrol reached Mauthausen. USHMM dates the liberation to 5 May 1945, when American forces arrived and secured the area. The SS had abandoned the camp on 3 May, leaving a small fire-police guard. Prisoners’ committees were already administering the site.
The Gusen Memorial, part of the Mauthausen Memorial, records that the patrol had 23 men, from the 41st Cavalry Squadron under Staff Sergeant Albert J. Kosiek, and that it entered Gusen before Mauthausen. The Mauthausen Memorial dates the arrival of larger Third U.S. Army units to the next day.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- Liberation of Mauthausen · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum · Holocaust Encyclopedia View source
- The “discovery” of Gusen · KZ-Gedenkstätte Gusen · Mauthausen Memorial View source
- Liberation · KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen · Mauthausen Memorial View source
Share this history
Support the work
If this history matters to you, you can support Jewish Original.