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Russia Commemorates 500 Officers Murdered by Austrians
During a memorial service for the victims of a horrible war crime, ceremonial wreath-laying ceremonies were held in the Mühlviertel district, attended by Russian, Israeli and Austrian representatives. Known under the euphemistic name "Mühlviertler Hasenjagd" (Mühlviertel hare/rabbit hunt), in February 1945 National Socialist units as well as soldiers and civilians hunted and murdered over 500 escaped Soviet prisoners after a major escape from the Mauthausen concentration camp.
It was only in May 2001 that a memorial stone was erected in Ried in der Riedmark (a municipality in the district of Perg in the Austrian state of Upper Austria). / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Andreas Maislinger [Copyrighted free use]
In the night of February 2, 1945, about 500 Soviet officers attempted to escape from death block 20 of Mauthausen concentration camp as prisoners of war in a cold temperature of -8°C.
Using the fire extinguishers of their barracks and various projectiles, one group attacked the two watchtowers, while a second group with damp blankets and clothing short-circuited the electric…
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