# Die Mühlviertler Menschenjagd (2/3): Täter von Nebenan

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/inside-austria-4385468/die-m-hlviertler-menschenjagd-2-3-t-ter-von-nebenan
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/inside-austria-4385468/die-m-hlviertler-menschenjagd-2-3-t-ter-von-nebenan.md
Podcast: [Inside Austria](https://stenobird.com/podcast/inside-austria-4385468)
Published: 2025-12-13T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://inside-austria.podigee.io/215-neue-episode
Audio file: https://audio.podigee-cdn.net/2256724-m-82fc148e04efa3dee1b5b826d2a4db6f.mp3?source=feed
Processing state: processed
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/inside-austria-4385468/episodes/die-m-hlviertler-menschenjagd-2-3-t-ter-von-nebenan
Duration seconds: 2027

## Resource

This episode investigates the 'Mühlviertler Hasenjagd,' a 1945 manhunt where Nazi SS and local civilians hunted escaped prisoners from Mauthausen. Through the eyewitness testimony of Anna Hackl, it explores how ordinary neighbors became participants in a mass killing.

## Highlights
- Main idea: The 'Kugelaktion' was a deliberate Nazi policy to kill Soviet officers through neglect in Mauthausen's 'Death Block' rather than immediate execution
- Failure mode: The common post-war defense that civilians acted only out of fear of the SS is challenged by historical evidence of proactive violence
- Practical takeaway: The distinction between state-mandated violence and individual initiative is blurred when local populations actively join the hunt
- Main idea: The 'Mühlviertler Hasenjagd' name reflects a cynical dehumanization of prisoners, treating human beings like game animals
- Personal impact: The episode highlights the extreme psychological burden on children, like Anna Hackl, forced to participate in warnings to protect fugitives

## Topics

Mauthausen concentration camp, World War II history, Mühlviertler Hasenjagd, Nazi war crimes, Eyewitness testimony, Austrian history, Resistance and survival, Civilian complicity

## Chapters
- 1:00 — The Great Escape: An introduction to the largest documented escape from a concentration camp and the scope of the ensuing manhunt.
- 3:30 — The Kugelaktion: An examination of the 'Kugelaktion' and why documentation of this specific mass murder campaign is unusually scarce.
- 6:00 — Conditions in the Death Block: A look at the brutal living conditions and the desperate physical state of the prisoners before the breakout.
- 8:30 — The Role of Kapos: How the SS utilized violent prisoner functionaries to maintain control and facilitate brutality within the camp.
- 13:30 — The Civilian Hunt: The mobilization of local civilians and Hitler Youth members to track and kill escapees.
- 16:00 — Challenging the 'Fear' Narrative: Historian Matthias Kaltenbrunner discusses how many perpetrators acted on their own initiative rather than under direct SS orders.
- 26:00 — A Family's Secret: The arrival of a wounded prisoner at the Langthaler farm and the family's decision to risk everything to hide him.

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## Transcript

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