Rudolf A. Haunschmied wuchs in der Region St. Georgen-Gusen-Mauthausen auf und erforschte schon als Jugendlicher die beinahe schon in Vergessenheit geratene Geschichte des ehemaligen KZ-Komplexes Gusen. 1986 war er Gründungsmitglied des Arbeitskreises für Heimat-, Denkmal- und Geschichtspflege St. Georgen aus dem im Januar 2008 das Gedenkdienstkomitee Gusen als eigenständiger gemeinnütziger Verein herausgelöst wurde.
Seit 1989 veröffentlicht er regelmäßig seine Forschungsergebnisse und vermittelt diese zusätzlich in Form von Vorträgen und Führungen an Interessierte aus allen Teilen der Welt. Neben der Arbeit mit Studierenden und Forschern wirkt er auch in Radio- und Fernsehprojekten zu Gusen mit. Mit Pierre Serge Choumoff initiierte er 1995 die Tradition internationaler Gedenkfeiern in Gusen und schuf schon 1997 mit www.gusen.org eine einschlägige Website.
2000 wirkte er an der "Reforminitiative Mauthausen" des österreichischen Innenministers in Wien mit und unterstütze bis 2007 auch wesentlich das Kunstprojekt "Audioweg Gusen" (www.audioweg.gusen.org) sowie danach die Unterschutzstellungsverfahren des österreichischen Bundesdenkmalamtes. Er bemühte sich auch um die Erhaltung eines Teiles der einst in St. Georgen/Gusen errichteten Stollenanlage "Bergkristall" sowie von Arealen des ehemaligen KZ Gusen auf dem Gebiet der Gemeinde Langenstein.
Rudolf A.
Haunschmied grew up and lived in the St. Georgen-Gusen-Mauthausen area. Even as a youngster he researched the "lost" history of that area. In 1986 he became a founding member of Arbeitskreis für Heimat-, Denkmal- und Geschichtspflege St. Georgen (AHDG) which gave the Gusen Memorial Committee (GMC) a home until January 2008, when he was again among the founding members of the now independent GMC. In 1989 he published the first history of Complex St.
Georgen-Gusen-Mauthausen. He led excursions to the remnants of the camps as well as study circles for years and advises students and researchers. With Pierre Serge Choumoff, he organized the first international commemoration at Gusen in 1995 and founded the Gusen related website www.gusen.org in 1997. He was member of "Reforminitiative Mauthausen" at the Interior Ministery in 2000 and contributed to Audiowalk Gusen (www.audiowalk.gusen.org) in 2007.
He also contributed to many documentations on radio and TV and successfully requested the opening of the former "Bergkristall" tunnels to the public and the protection of some last remnants of CC Gusen in Langenstein.
Jan-Ruth Mills earned her MFA at Columbia University in 1983. In 1997 Rudolf A. Haunschmied asked her to edit the English on the Mauthausen-Gusen Info-Pages. At that time, she began researching the Gusen Camps at the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama.
Jan-Ruth Mills made the first of many trips to the St. Georgen-Gusen-Mauthausen area in 1998. The next year, she also began yearly research trips to the National Archives and Record Administration, College Park, Maryland. In 2003 Mr. Haunschmied invited Ms. Mills to help expand his 1989 article "Zum Gedenken 1938-1945." Towards this end, the Gusen Memorial Committee (GMC) supported six weeks of research at NARA II in the summer of 2005.
At the request of the GMC (and with the help of Mr. Robert Wise at Pima Community College), Ms. Mills began constructing the Gusen Memorial Digital Archives. This growing archives are now permanently available through the cooperation of the East Campus of Pima Community College where Jan-Ruth Mills teaches Holocaust History. Currently Jan-Ruth Mills is writing a play about the Gusen camps.
Siegi Witzany-Durda, a native of St.
Georgen/Gusen, is married with two adolescent children. She teaches German and English at a private Catholic high school. Growing up in the St. Georgen/Gusen area, she developed an interest in the history of the Gusen camps already as a teenager and felt an urge to dig deeper. She has been an active member of the Gusen Memorial Committee (GMC) since 1996. Her field of activity covers contacts with survivors and guided tours with visitors from English speaking countries as well as from Austria.
Teaching the Holocaust is an essential part of her educational work.
