It is a black and white picture. It is slightly yellowed. In the middle of fields is a light-coloured four-storey building with a tall onion-shaped bell tower. The building has many windows on each floor and a high dark roof. At the corners are small round bays with a tower on top.

Hartheim killing centre, around autumn 1940.
Photographer Karl Schuhmann.

HARTHEIM

The Hartheim killing centre was located in a former castle in Alkoven near Linz in Austria. The killings began in May 1940 and did not end until December 1944. The gas chamber was located on the ground floor of the castle, while the employees of »Aktion T4« lived on the floors above. To avoid having to see the terminally ill patients, a wooden fence was erected in the castle courtyard to block the view. In Hartheim, precise records were kept of how many sick people were murdered and how much money was saved as a result. These »Hartheim statistics« formed the basis for later court proceedings. More than 18,000 sick people were murdered in Hartheim as part of »Aktion T4«. They came from annexed Austria and Bavaria. After the end of »Aktion T4« on 24 August 1941, Hartheim continued to be used as a killing centre, from then on for concentration camp prisoners who were unable to work. This action was called »14f13« and lasted until December 1944. Around 12,000 camp prisoners were killed with gas in Hartheim. It also housed the administration of the so-called »foreigners‘ collection points«. After the killings ended, the castle was restored to its 1939 condition within a few weeks. In the post-war period, it served as refugee accommodation. Today, it is a memorial site.

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