Memories of the armaments location Zipf: Training for the youth!

Memories of the armaments location Zipf: Training for the youth!

In the picturesque area around the Zipf brewery, the dark story of a secret armor project from the Second World War comes to life. Rainer Langecker from the Mauthausen Committee Vöcklabruck recently made the stollen facilities and test benches that were then used for armaments production. The visit took place accompanied by chairman Frederik Schmidsberger. Langecker emphasized the great importance of the accessibility of these systems for young generations, because history should not be forgotten, such as meinzirk.at reports.

The Zipf brewery in the Upper Austrian Hausruckviertel was not only known for her beer, but also for her role in armaments during the war. From autumn 1943, a secret armaments production was initiated here under the cover name "Steinbruch-Verdaltung GmbH", which was primarily influenced by the air superiority of the Allied forces. Civil facilities such as the brewery's beer cellars were converted into protected bases. The systems, which also included a 25 meter deep shaft and two test benches, served to manufacture and test the V2 rocket engines as well as liquid oxygen, as the [Documentation Center for Railway Research] (https://www.documentationzentrum-eisenbahnforschung explains.

work under inhumane conditions

But the image of the technical achievements is tragically overshadowed by the conditions under which the forced laborers - including prisoners from the Mauthausen concentration camp - suffered. These were often used under inhumane conditions to expand the tunnels and bunkers. The Schlier-Redl-Zipf concentration camp was built within four months under the supervision of SS Hauptsturmführer Georg Bachmayr, where up to 1,900 people worked. The brewery had to reduce its production by two thirds to support armaments production.

The terrible accidents that occurred during the test operation demanded numerous victims: in February 1944 14 people died, including eight prisoners and six scientists. The most tragic incident occurred in August 1944 with 27 dead, including Ilse Oberth, daughter of the famous rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. After this disastrous incident, the engine tests were set, while the production of liquid oxygen continued. In the last months of the war there was also a unity for the falsification of British banknotes, the "Bernhard command", in Zipf.

remember and learn

On May 3, 1945, the camp was dissolved, and the prisoners had to walk to the Ebensee outer warehouse on foot, where they were released a few days later. The number of documented victims in Paul Le Caer in the death book is 267, but it is believed that the actual number is much higher. For today's society it is important to keep and preserve such stories in memory, such as the Federal Archives. There is a lot of information on armaments production and the role of forced labor, which are essential for understanding this time.

Today, relics of the former armaments project in and around the Zipf brewery are visible. Guided tours of the ARGE Schlier offer interested parties the opportunity to visit the underground corridors and tunnels. Such offers are important to maintain the historical heritage and make it accessible to future generations. A visit to these historical sites is not only a journey into the past, but also an opportunity to think about what has happened and what should not be repeated.