Plans to construct a sausage and bacon factory at the location of a Nazi-era forced labour camp have struck a raw nerve with the family of the former owners.
The site, located in the western Austrian municipality of Haiming, was once home to hundreds of prisoners forced by the Nazis to construct a dam for a hydro-electric plant.
Following The Second World War, the camp was destroyed and remained idle, until the Tiwag power company — which owned the plot — sold it to Handyl Tyrol, one of the largest manufactures of sausage and bacon products in Austria.
However, plans to develop the site have triggered protests, as the descendants of the former landowners say they were forced by the Nazi-supported regime to sell the land and never received due compensation.
The case in Austria highlights the sensitivity involved in developing sites that formerly housed camps used by the Nazis for forced labour and the extermination of Jews and other groups they deemed undesirable.
