Football in Mauthausen: Memory, Testimony and Responsibility

Explore the little known history of football in and around Mauthausen concentration camp, from the teams and matches connected to the SS, to the ways in which football also became part of prisoners’ daily reality.

We will be joined by Bernhard Kolbe from the Mauthausen Memorial, whose research sheds light on this complex and unsettling chapter of camp history.

At the heart of the evening will be the testimony of Eva Clarke, who was born in Mauthausen in April 1945, just days before liberation. Her extraordinary story brings the history of the camp into deeply personal focus, reminding us of the human lives behind the historical record.

The event has been developed together with JW3’s Austrian volunteer, who will also reflect on what it means to grow up in Austria today, and how a younger generation navigates the difficult legacy of the Nazi past.

Bringing together history, testimony and personal reflection, this evening asks how we confront a painful past, and how memory can be carried forward with honesty, sensitivity and responsibility.