Internment camp Grossau

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The Grossau internment camp for citizens of states at war with Austria-Hungary as well as for residents suspected of being friendly to an enemy state existed from 1914 to 1918 during the First World War . It was located in Grossau Castle in Grossau near Raabs an der Thaya in the Lower Austrian Waldviertel .

history

On August 29, 1914, the then vacant castle owned by the Imperial Councilor Natonek was used by the Waidhofen an der Thaya District Commission in accordance with the War Act.

The castle was occupied as an internment camp on September 7, 1914 when around 130 people were transferred from the Karlstein an der Thaya internment camp , which had to be evacuated at short notice due to the partial danger of the Karlstein Castle collapsing there . At the end of October, the capacity of the new warehouse was increased by settling the bulk box . In May 1915 it was cleared again.

In October 1914, the Waidhofen an der Thaya district administration, as the camp administration, received approval to set up a central hospital in the castle for all internment camps administered by the BH Waidhofen an der Thaya. This hospital had a capacity of 80 beds.

The original owner of the Grossau estate sold it to the owner of Raabs an der Thaya Castle , Baron Robert Freiherr Klinger von Klingerstorff, during the year . This made it necessary to renegotiate the castle as an internment camp. At the request of the new owner, the hospital was closed and moved to the Drosendorf internment camp.

After the Kingdom of Italy entered the war with the enemy , the capacity was increased by 400 places by building barracks . The completion of these accommodations was announced on August 10, 1915. At the end of 1915, the premises in the castle were cleared and the newly built barracks moved into.

After the British and French who had been quartered up until then were relocated from Grossau on April 29, 1917, the camp was temporarily evacuated on May 1, 1917. Among the internees was James Joyce's brother , Stanislaus Joyce , who had been transferred here from the Kirchberg an der Wild internment camp .

In their place, “Russophile residents” - citizens of Austria-Hungary who were trusted to work with Russia - were relocated from the Thalerhof internment camp near Graz in Styria to Grossau. But they were only confiscated here . This meant that they were housed and fed in the barrack camp and given new clothes if necessary. Their freedom of movement was limited in time and space to around 5 kilometers in the vicinity.

At the end of October 1917 the camp was cleared again through dismissals and relocations to other camps. The new occupancy on January 10, 1918 took place through the relocation of Montenegrin officers and civilians from the western Hungarian camp Boldogasszony ( Frauenkirchen , Burgenland ). These were also confined. Until the internment camp was closed, only Montenegrins were quartered in Grossau.

literature

  • Reinhard Mundschütz: Internment in the Waldviertel. The internment camps and stations of the BH Waidhofen an der Thaya 1914 - 1918. Vienna 2002 (Vienna, University, dissertation, 2002).
  • Leo Leitner: A Letter from Ulysses. James Joyce and his brother, the First World War and the Waldviertel. A successful search for clues. In: tomorrow . 8, 2004, pp. 48-52.

Coordinates: 48 ° 52 ′ 53 ″  N , 15 ° 31 ′ 15 ″  E