France WWII Medal Mauthausen Concentration Camp Liberation 25th Anniversary 1945 1970

FRANCE: Commemorative Medal for the 25th 
Anniversary (1945-1970) of the Liberation of 
Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp.
The medal was awarded in 1970 to the French 
still surviving (at the time) former prisoners of 
the Mauthausen Camp. About 10.000 French 
were deported to Mauthausen, most of them 
never to return.
The construction of KL Mauthausen, in Austria, 
started in 1938 and it initially served as a strictly-
run prison camp for common criminals.
In 1939 it was converted to a forced labor camp 
for "the incorrigible political enemies of the 
Reich" where the inmates were forced to work 
under inhumane conditions. 
Mauthausen and its subcamps included quarries, 
munitions factories, mines, arms factories and 
plants assembling Me 262 fighter aircraft.
The Camp "hosted" prisoners of 25 different 
nationalities but mainly from Poland, the USSR, 
Yugoslavia, Italy, Spain and Germany-Austria. 
The overall death toll remains unknown, although 
most sources place it between 122.766 & 320.000 
dead for the entire complex. 
Mauthausen Camp was liberated on 5 May 1945 
by elements of the 41st Reconnaissance Sqn of 
the US 11th Armored Division, 3rd US Army. 
Given the small number of the French still 
surviving former inmates of Mauthausen in 
1970, the medal is extremely rare.

FULL SIZE

WW2 1939 -1945

Item 100% original - ribbon original

Condition as on the photos
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