The extermination camp in Mauthausen was set up by the Nazis in 1938. Allied forces liberated the camp during World War Two on the 5th of May, 1945. From a total of around 200.000 inmates 4.153 were Slovenes. Around 1.500 of them died in the camp.

The commemoration was attended by some 22.000 people, including Austrian President Heinz Fischer, Chancellor Werner Faymann and Slovenia's Labour Minister Anja Kopač Mrak.

President Fischer stressed that the Holocaust will never be forgotten. Austria's Chancellor Faymann warned that Mauthausen is "one of the most gruesome chapters" in Austrian history. He further emphasized that the lesson to be learned is to never forget maintaining values such as tolerance, democracy, nonviolence and solidarity.

Slovenia's Miniser of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Anja Kopač Mrak, also spoke at the memorial ceremony. She paid respect to the victims by laying a wreath before the Slovenian monument in the park before the entrance to the concentration camp.