A supermarket and major logistics center are set to be built on the site of the former Hirtenberg women’s concentration camp in Leobersdorf, Austria, according to Austrian media reports.
The Federal Monuments Office approved the project, ruling that the remains of the camp walls did not qualify for protected historic status.
The development plans have sparked outrage in Austria, where media outlets described the move as a “major scandal.” According to Austrian reports, Leobersdorf Mayor Andreas Ramharter profited from the deal. His company sold the site to an investor for more than 15 million euros, and he personally received another 1.34 million euros after the town council, which he controls, changed the land’s zoning designation to commercial use.
Ramharter also reportedly secured the right to install private solar panels on the roof of the planned complex, allowing him to profit from the site in the coming years.
The large industrial complex in Leobersdorf, about 40 minutes south of Vienna, is expected to include cold storage and logistics facilities, loading docks, freezing areas and shipping zones. The site will provide infrastructure for food distribution to supermarkets, and a branch of the German discount supermarket chain Lidl is also planned there.
Mauthausen concentration camp
(Photo: Shutterstock)
The land deals have triggered public anger. Barbara Glück, director of the Mauthausen Memorial, called the destruction of the camp remains “a disgrace.”
Oskar Deutsch, head of Vienna’s Jewish community, sharply condemned the construction.
“Making money from the memory of tortured and murdered women is a disgrace,” he said. “This dark chapter in our history cannot simply be covered with a supermarket.”
Hirtenberg operated as a subcamp of Mauthausen during the final years of World War II. About 400 women deported from Auschwitz were brought to Austria and forced to work 12-hour shifts in an arms factory. The youngest prisoner in the camp was only 16.
Local activists had campaigned for months to have at least a modest memorial built at the site, but their protests were ignored.
Opposition figures are now also raising concerns over the planned infrastructure. The mayor is reportedly changing road arrangements to allow up to 1,200 trucks a day to pass through the former camp grounds, a move critics say could create major traffic congestion in the area.
Lidl declined to confirm the plans reported in Austrian media, but did not deny them.
“We are always looking for new and interesting locations to further improve local supply,” the company said. “This includes the Leobersdorf area. However, at this stage we cannot provide details about a potential project.”