A package from Mauthausen: How Anna Pointner secretly aided prisoners and saved Nazi evidence

In Mauthausen, Austria, Anna Pointner defied strict prohibitions against contacting concentration camp prisoners. Daily, around 50 inmates from the Mauthausen camp marched past her home in Vormarktstraße 12 to work at a nearby granite quarry. Despite the severe risks, Pointner would discreetly peek through her curtains and wave to the forced laborers.

Her actions were a quiet act of defiance against the brutal Nazi regime. The prisoners, many of them Spanish, were part of the 'Poschacher Kommando,' engaged in quarrying work. The daily procession past Pointner's house offered a fleeting, dangerous connection between the civilian population and those imprisoned within the camp's walls.

Beyond simple gestures of solidarity, Pointner's bravery extended to preserving evidence of the camp's horrors. She successfully rescued a package containing photographic proof of Nazi atrocities, a testament to her courage and commitment to documenting the truth during a time of extreme oppression. The image shows Pointner after liberation in May 1945, standing outside her home with her two daughters and some of the Spanish prisoners.