page_title: Mühlviertler Hasenjagd
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Mühlviertler Hasenjagd / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Memorial on the occasion of the so called "Mühlviertler Hasenjagd", a war crime perpetrated in Austria during World War II, where civilians hunted and murdered russian escapees from Konzentrationslager Mauthausen-Gusen. The memorial itself is in Ried in der Riedmark, where it was installed in May 2001 by the local Sozialistische Jugend Deutsch: Gedenkstein anlässlich der de:Mühlviertler Hasenjagd (Kriegsendphasenverbrechen), aufgestellt Mai 2001 durch die Sozialistische Jugend Ried in Ried in der Riedmark Text der Inschrift: Am 2. Februar 1945 versuchten ca. 500 zur Ermordung in das KZ Mauthausen eingewiesene, fast ausschließlich sowjetische Offiziere einen Fluchtversuch aus dem Lager. Direkt nach der Flucht begann unter dem Befehl "niemanden lebend ins Lager zurückzubringen" eine Treibjagd auf die Entflohenen, bei der die SS, die Gendarmerie, Einheiten der Wehrmacht, SA-Abteilungen und Hitlerjungen, sowie Angehörige des Volkssturms und anderer Organisationen und einige Zivilisten teilnahmen. Dieses Verbrechen ist unter dem Namen "Mühlviertler Hasenjagd" bekannt. In Ried in der Riedmark wurden die erschossenen und erschlagenen Häftlinge, die in der näheren und weiteren Umgebung ergriffen und ermordet wurden, bei der alten Volksschule eingesammelt und gestapelt. Einzig 11 Offiziere, die entweder in den Wäldern untertauchen konnten oder bei Bauern versteckt wurden, überlebten. Alle anderen Entflohenen wurden ergriffen und meist sofort ermordet. Nie wieder Faschismus! Nie wieder Krieg! Ein Mahnmal der Marktgemeinde Ried in der Riedmark 5. Mai 2001, eine Initiative der Sozialistischen Jugend
context_page_description: The Mühlviertler Hasenjagd was a war crime in which 500 Soviet officers, who had revolted and escaped from the Mühlviertel subcamp of Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp on 2 February 1945, were hunted down. Local civilians, soldiers and local Nazi organizations hunted down the escapees for three weeks, executing most of them. Of the original 500 prisoners who took part in the escape attempt, eleven succeeded in remaining free until the end of the war. The mass escape was unique in Mauthausen's history.
context_section_description: Hugo Tacha, a Wehrmacht soldier at home on leave at the time of the breakout, was convicted for his role in the crime and sentenced to 20 years in jail.
  A memorial to the Mühlviertler Hasenjagd was unveiled in Ried an der Riedmark on May 5, 2001, 56 years after the liberation of Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp. The monument was erected at the initiative of the Ried Socialist Youth. The three-meter (9.8 feet) tall granite boulder was donated by the Mauthausen Committee. The monument's face is engraved with 489 hash marks representing those murdered during the course of the escape attempt; the exact number of victims is unknown. In conjunction with the commemoration of the anniversary of the camp's liberation, the Socialist Youth of Austria and Socialist Youth of Germany held a program at the new monument for the Mühlviertler Hasenjagd. Attending were three surviving former Soviet prisoners from Mauthausen, Prof. Tigran Drambyan, Roman Bulkatch and Nikolai Markevitch.
  The events of the Mühlviertel massacre gained prominence with the 1994 film The Quality of Mercy by director Andreas Gruber, and was a box office success in Austria. The film received a lukewarm review from Variety. While he was making the film, Gruber invited Bernard Bamberger to make a behind-the-scenes documentary about the film and compare the movie with the actual events. Aktion K juxtaposes interviews with local residents about the film and the actual history with archival footage and the eyewitness testimony of Mikhail Ribchinsky, a survivor of the Mühlviertler Hasenjagd. Bamberger was awarded the "Austrian People's Education TV" award for "Best Documentary" in 1995.
caption: Memorial for the "Hasenjagd" in Ried in der Riedmark
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