September 17, 2025 • 15 mins
A former Nazi guard returns to the camp where he worked. His memories stir up old ghosts.
Alice Baburek is an avid reader, determined writer, and animal lover. She lives with her female partner and four canines. Retired, she challenges herself to become an unforgettable emerging voice.
You can read "Stairway to Death" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
Website: kaidankaistories.com
Please feel free to contact me through the website contact form.
Follow us on:
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Bluesky
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Alice Baburek is an avid reader, determined writer, and animal lover. She lives with her female partner and four canines. Retired, she challenges herself to become an unforgettable emerging voice.
You can read "Stairway to Death" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
Website: kaidankaistories.com
Please feel free to contact me through the website contact form.
Follow us on:
Bluesky
Substack
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to the kaidon Kai Podcasts, where every story takes
you one step deeper into the world of the strange,
the eerie, and the unknown. I'm your host, Linda Gould
and to night's story. Stairway to Death by Alice Barborek
is a haunting tale of memory and the weight of
our actions. A man visits the scene of his past crimes.
(00:35):
But to what end. To atone for his crimes or
to revel in them, the decision may not be up
to him. Alice Barborek is an avid reader, determined writer,
and animal lover. She lives with her female partner and
their four canines. Retired, she challenges herself to become an
(00:56):
unforgettable emerging voice. So now dim the lights, settle in,
and prepare yourself for Stairway to Death by Alice Barbourek
and Joy. Heinrich Klein could resist no longer. He was
(01:21):
one of the many who had slipped away, undetected a
new life and identity. He never faced his unwavering involvement
in war crimes and atrocities committed against humanity. Many times
he had visited his fading memories of Maltausen, which was
one of the most horrific German Nazi concentration camps erected
(01:43):
in Austria. He became a German camp guard at the
ripe age of only fourteen. With his tall, lanky frame,
no one questioned his intense longing to serve his Feodor
Adolf Hitler. His Jewish ancestry had been traded for German uniform.
With no living relatives, he gladly welcomed the German invasion.
(02:07):
Heinrich served under the direction of s s Captain Otto
Schwartz Overstayer of Maltausen. He admired the exuded evil and
sadist aurora surrounding the small but powerful captain, so when
Heinrich was asked to help manage the prisoners for the
Stairway of Death, he gladly accepted his newly ranked position.
(02:32):
Now more than half a century later, he shuffled slowly
through the remains of what was left of the Maltausen
concentration camp. Memorials were erected for those who died at
the hands of the German Nazis. Heinrich didn't bother to
read any of them. He was not interested in the
suffering and pain afflicted upon thousands of innocence. No, he
(02:57):
was interested in remembering his participation. As he finally rounded
the corner of the collapsed prisoner's barracks, he could see
the immense stone blocked stairway leading up the hill in
the distance. A wicked smile crept across his aged, wrinkled face.
(03:20):
His fellow German soldiers nicknamed it the Stairway of Death.
Many of the prisoners of Maltausen were used to carry
immense blocks of granite on their backs and walk the
steps to the top of the hill. These huge stones
were then used for the building of other German concentration camps.
(03:41):
Very few prisoners survived the Stairway of Death. They would
crumble and die under the intense weight. Some would drop
the rocks behind, crushing their fellow prisoners who were climbing
the steps behind them. Others who dropped the stones were
punished severely or shot dead on the spot. Heinrich lifted
(04:02):
his hand to cover the sun as he gazed at
the stone stairway. He could still see the thin, ravished
men desperately trying to keep balance with an immense load
of stone shifting on their shoulders. He chuckled. Memories flooded
back to when s S Officer Wilhelm Klaut allowed him
to execute the weak and worthless for days on end.
(04:26):
Often it took only one bullet to the prisoner's head.
His chest swelled in pride by the abuse of power
over human life, and how he missed those precious days. Now,
after all these years living incognito, the former concentration camp
had been dedicated to those inferior beings who had once
(04:48):
dared to walk the sacred grounds of German territory. As
he watched the visitors going up and down the stairway,
a slight shiver ran down his bent spine. The air
had grown dry, A wind unexpectedly swirled the dusty ground,
and his throat felt parched. He closed his eyes from
(05:08):
the beating sun. As quickly as the unusual weather emerged,
it receded into silence. Heinrich opened his grainy eyes. He
stood alone at the bottom of the stairway to death.
His old heart skipped a beat. He glanced around at
the emptiness. Where had everyone gone? Do you? Shouted a man.
(05:34):
Heinrich slowly turned to face the German. The SS officer
was moving quickly toward Heinrich, his rifle outstretched. Heiber Denstein
alf pick up the stone, yelled the SSS officer me
asked Heinrich. He pulled his head back. What was going on?
Be vegdik yt odr ikschisa move now or I will shoot.
(05:58):
The ss officer closed in. Heinrich stumbled backward and fell.
He noticed his clothes were striped, stained and dirty. His
stomach turned. MY name is Heinrich Klein. I am like you,
a soldier of the Reich. I worked here a long
time ago, explained Heinrich in a shaky voice. Two others
(06:20):
joined the s S officer. He repeated what Heinrich had said.
The three German soldiers laughed. Heinrich could barely swallow. What
nightmare was this? Do bist and shine? You are a pig,
shouted the other German soldier. Heinrich's heart raised. This can't
(06:40):
be happening. I'm I'm German, ichpen ichpen. The three looked
at one another. I'm deutscheus schwein Yah a German pig, yes,
questioned the soldier. But Heinrich's German was a tad rusty
yah yah yes, yes, replied Heinrich his left hip began
(07:02):
to ache from sitting on the hard ground. The original
SS officer had enough. He lifted his rifle once again.
Heimy den stein alf o der ich verschisa, pick up
the stone, or I will shoot, commanded the soldier. It
took Heinrich a few seconds to figure out what the
Germans said. The other soldiers gestured toward the giant rock
(07:25):
pile near the base of the stairs. Suddenly he realized
the extent of the order. But before he could get up,
two of the Nazis roughly pulled him to his feet.
Pains seared up his spine. The third Nazi aimed the
rifle at Heinrich's head. The old man held up his
(07:45):
hands in ordnung, in ordnung, Ah, right all right. Heinrich
searched the massive pile for the smallest stone. He struggled
to pick it up. The soldiers talked amongst themselves. After
several tries, he was able to the granite rock one
step at a time. Heinrich began climbing the stairway to death.
(08:07):
With each step his body protested. The pain radiated throughout
his tired old body. Sweat dripped down into his sagging face.
The steps seemed endless. Finally, after what appeared to be
a lifetime, he reached the grassy top. Another s S
(08:28):
officer was busy smoking a cigarette. He gestured for Heinrich
to place the stone onto the pinel. Heinrich dropped the rock,
only for to land on his foot. Ah, screamed Heinrich.
The weight of the granite crushed three of his toes.
He fell to his knees. Tears filled his grainy eyes.
(08:50):
The soldier tossed the lit ember to the ground. Stay off,
stay off, Get up, Get up, he shouted, but Heinrich
could not move. Pain was too intense. His body seized.
He jerked and fell forward on to the ground. Dirt
and gravel pushed into his contorted mouth. Suddenly, the S
(09:12):
officer grabbed the back of Heinrich's shirt and dragged him
to the ledge overlooking the quarry nicknamed parachute Jump. Heinrich,
realizing his fate, tried to wriggle free, but it was
no use. The German soldier was much too strong. Springin
(09:33):
do shwine, jump you swine, The words echoed inside Heinrich's
pounding head. Please please don't do this, cried Heinrich. He
struggled to his wobbly legs, and before he could say
another word, the German soldier smiled as he pushed Heinrich
over the edge. Heinrich opened his grainy eyes for a
(09:58):
brief moment his mind and tried to focus. He stood
alone at the bottom of the stairway to death. He
closed his eyes again, hoping it was all just a nightmare.
Do shouted a man. Heinrich's heart raised. It can't be.
The SS officer was moving quickly toward him with the
(10:19):
outstretched rifle. Heybydin Steinolf yelled. The officer pick up the stone.
Heinrich could not believe it was happening again. How is
any of this nightmare possible? Why can't he wake up?
Be veg dick yet? Do dr ik schiza The officer
(10:40):
lunged forward, causing Heinrich to stumble backward to the ground. Please,
begged Heinrich, This isn't right. I don't belong here. Please,
you've got to believe me. The other two SS officers
strolled up. The one soldier pointed at Heinrich. Dupistun schwine.
Heinz Rick clasped his hands as if in prayer, don't
(11:02):
do this. I am German. Tears streaked his filthy face.
Ha ha, I'm Deutsche Schweina, laughed the officer. By now,
Heinrich knew what came next. Either he lifted the stone
and started the journey up the stairway to death, or
let the German soldier shoot him in the head. Would
(11:26):
that finally stop this horrific nightmare? But for some odd reason,
Heinrich was terrified of what would happen if he did
choose death by rifle? Is this how the prisoners of
maltausenfelt each day? The tortures were beyond comprehension. Stay off,
(11:49):
stay off, Get up, Get up, shouted the Nazi. Heinrich's
body screamed in agony. He could barely lift the weighted granite,
but once again he took one step at a time.
The Austrian police taped off the area. Visitors gathered to
(12:11):
glimpse the tragic accident. Several witnesses reported to police that
an old man just jumped from the top of the
stairway into the quarry below. As the medical technicians loaded
the mangled and crushed corpse onto the gurney, one of
them searched the deceased body for information of his identity.
Inside they found a faded identification card that bore the
(12:34):
name Heinrich Klein malthaus Gard and a faded photo with
his rank, unit, birth date, and a Nazi validation stamp. Well,
(12:54):
what I loved about that story is that it reminds
us that history never really ends. The violence of the
past doesn't just fade away. It lingers in places, in
our memories and sometimes in the people who carry it forward.
(13:16):
If you have ever visited the site of a battle,
or in this case, a concentration camp, someplace where many
people died, there's this I don't know if it's me,
but there's this natural solemnity there, and knowledge of the
events that transpired there is unsettling, even if it happened
(13:40):
decades earlier. So for me, this story was especially unsettling
because Heinrich wasn't sad about his past. He sought those
memories to relive the pleasure that he got from hurting
people or in some cases, killing them. For most of us,
(14:02):
like me, I don't even kill a bug if I
can help it. The very thought of causing harm is painful.
Yet this story is a stark, important reminder that the
world is filled with people who take pleasure in inflicting pain.
I think they are in the minority, but still this
(14:25):
story is powerful because the maltausing concentration camp really existed,
as did the Stairway of Death. It really existed, as
did the Parachuter's Wall, and so the real story is
worse than this fiction account of it because it just
(14:48):
shows the vile things that we come up with to
hurt each other, which to me is really the most
horrible thing of all. On that note, it seems kind
of trivial to transition to asking you to follow me
on social network, but I'm going to please subscribe to
(15:10):
the podcast and follow me on social media, and also
please visit the substack to read author insights about their inspiration.
The Instagram, Facebook, Blue Sky, and substack information is in
the episode description. On that note, thank you very much
for listening today, and I'll see you next week.
Welcome to the kaidon Kai Podcasts, where every story takes
you one step deeper into the world of the strange,
the eerie, and the unknown. I'm your host, Linda Gould
and to night's story. Stairway to Death by Alice Barborek
is a haunting tale of memory and the weight of
our actions. A man visits the scene of his past crimes.
(00:35):
But to what end. To atone for his crimes or
to revel in them, the decision may not be up
to him. Alice Barborek is an avid reader, determined writer,
and animal lover. She lives with her female partner and
their four canines. Retired, she challenges herself to become an
(00:56):
unforgettable emerging voice. So now dim the lights, settle in,
and prepare yourself for Stairway to Death by Alice Barbourek
and Joy. Heinrich Klein could resist no longer. He was
(01:21):
one of the many who had slipped away, undetected a
new life and identity. He never faced his unwavering involvement
in war crimes and atrocities committed against humanity. Many times
he had visited his fading memories of Maltausen, which was
one of the most horrific German Nazi concentration camps erected
(01:43):
in Austria. He became a German camp guard at the
ripe age of only fourteen. With his tall, lanky frame,
no one questioned his intense longing to serve his Feodor
Adolf Hitler. His Jewish ancestry had been traded for German uniform.
With no living relatives, he gladly welcomed the German invasion.
(02:07):
Heinrich served under the direction of s s Captain Otto
Schwartz Overstayer of Maltausen. He admired the exuded evil and
sadist aurora surrounding the small but powerful captain, so when
Heinrich was asked to help manage the prisoners for the
Stairway of Death, he gladly accepted his newly ranked position.
(02:32):
Now more than half a century later, he shuffled slowly
through the remains of what was left of the Maltausen
concentration camp. Memorials were erected for those who died at
the hands of the German Nazis. Heinrich didn't bother to
read any of them. He was not interested in the
suffering and pain afflicted upon thousands of innocence. No, he
(02:57):
was interested in remembering his participation. As he finally rounded
the corner of the collapsed prisoner's barracks, he could see
the immense stone blocked stairway leading up the hill in
the distance. A wicked smile crept across his aged, wrinkled face.
(03:20):
His fellow German soldiers nicknamed it the Stairway of Death.
Many of the prisoners of Maltausen were used to carry
immense blocks of granite on their backs and walk the
steps to the top of the hill. These huge stones
were then used for the building of other German concentration camps.
(03:41):
Very few prisoners survived the Stairway of Death. They would
crumble and die under the intense weight. Some would drop
the rocks behind, crushing their fellow prisoners who were climbing
the steps behind them. Others who dropped the stones were
punished severely or shot dead on the spot. Heinrich lifted
(04:02):
his hand to cover the sun as he gazed at
the stone stairway. He could still see the thin, ravished
men desperately trying to keep balance with an immense load
of stone shifting on their shoulders. He chuckled. Memories flooded
back to when s S Officer Wilhelm Klaut allowed him
to execute the weak and worthless for days on end.
(04:26):
Often it took only one bullet to the prisoner's head.
His chest swelled in pride by the abuse of power
over human life, and how he missed those precious days. Now,
after all these years living incognito, the former concentration camp
had been dedicated to those inferior beings who had once
(04:48):
dared to walk the sacred grounds of German territory. As
he watched the visitors going up and down the stairway,
a slight shiver ran down his bent spine. The air
had grown dry, A wind unexpectedly swirled the dusty ground,
and his throat felt parched. He closed his eyes from
(05:08):
the beating sun. As quickly as the unusual weather emerged,
it receded into silence. Heinrich opened his grainy eyes. He
stood alone at the bottom of the stairway to death.
His old heart skipped a beat. He glanced around at
the emptiness. Where had everyone gone? Do you? Shouted a man.
(05:34):
Heinrich slowly turned to face the German. The SS officer
was moving quickly toward Heinrich, his rifle outstretched. Heiber Denstein
alf pick up the stone, yelled the SSS officer me
asked Heinrich. He pulled his head back. What was going on?
Be vegdik yt odr ikschisa move now or I will shoot.
(05:58):
The ss officer closed in. Heinrich stumbled backward and fell.
He noticed his clothes were striped, stained and dirty. His
stomach turned. MY name is Heinrich Klein. I am like you,
a soldier of the Reich. I worked here a long
time ago, explained Heinrich in a shaky voice. Two others
(06:20):
joined the s S officer. He repeated what Heinrich had said.
The three German soldiers laughed. Heinrich could barely swallow. What
nightmare was this? Do bist and shine? You are a pig,
shouted the other German soldier. Heinrich's heart raised. This can't
(06:40):
be happening. I'm I'm German, ichpen ichpen. The three looked
at one another. I'm deutscheus schwein Yah a German pig, yes,
questioned the soldier. But Heinrich's German was a tad rusty
yah yah yes, yes, replied Heinrich his left hip began
(07:02):
to ache from sitting on the hard ground. The original
SS officer had enough. He lifted his rifle once again.
Heimy den stein alf o der ich verschisa, pick up
the stone, or I will shoot, commanded the soldier. It
took Heinrich a few seconds to figure out what the
Germans said. The other soldiers gestured toward the giant rock
(07:25):
pile near the base of the stairs. Suddenly he realized
the extent of the order. But before he could get up,
two of the Nazis roughly pulled him to his feet.
Pains seared up his spine. The third Nazi aimed the
rifle at Heinrich's head. The old man held up his
(07:45):
hands in ordnung, in ordnung, Ah, right all right. Heinrich
searched the massive pile for the smallest stone. He struggled
to pick it up. The soldiers talked amongst themselves. After
several tries, he was able to the granite rock one
step at a time. Heinrich began climbing the stairway to death.
(08:07):
With each step his body protested. The pain radiated throughout
his tired old body. Sweat dripped down into his sagging face.
The steps seemed endless. Finally, after what appeared to be
a lifetime, he reached the grassy top. Another s S
(08:28):
officer was busy smoking a cigarette. He gestured for Heinrich
to place the stone onto the pinel. Heinrich dropped the rock,
only for to land on his foot. Ah, screamed Heinrich.
The weight of the granite crushed three of his toes.
He fell to his knees. Tears filled his grainy eyes.
(08:50):
The soldier tossed the lit ember to the ground. Stay off,
stay off, Get up, Get up, he shouted, but Heinrich
could not move. Pain was too intense. His body seized.
He jerked and fell forward on to the ground. Dirt
and gravel pushed into his contorted mouth. Suddenly, the S
(09:12):
officer grabbed the back of Heinrich's shirt and dragged him
to the ledge overlooking the quarry nicknamed parachute Jump. Heinrich,
realizing his fate, tried to wriggle free, but it was
no use. The German soldier was much too strong. Springin
(09:33):
do shwine, jump you swine, The words echoed inside Heinrich's
pounding head. Please please don't do this, cried Heinrich. He
struggled to his wobbly legs, and before he could say
another word, the German soldier smiled as he pushed Heinrich
over the edge. Heinrich opened his grainy eyes for a
(09:58):
brief moment his mind and tried to focus. He stood
alone at the bottom of the stairway to death. He
closed his eyes again, hoping it was all just a nightmare.
Do shouted a man. Heinrich's heart raised. It can't be.
The SS officer was moving quickly toward him with the
(10:19):
outstretched rifle. Heybydin Steinolf yelled. The officer pick up the stone.
Heinrich could not believe it was happening again. How is
any of this nightmare possible? Why can't he wake up?
Be veg dick yet? Do dr ik schiza The officer
(10:40):
lunged forward, causing Heinrich to stumble backward to the ground. Please,
begged Heinrich, This isn't right. I don't belong here. Please,
you've got to believe me. The other two SS officers
strolled up. The one soldier pointed at Heinrich. Dupistun schwine.
Heinz Rick clasped his hands as if in prayer, don't
(11:02):
do this. I am German. Tears streaked his filthy face.
Ha ha, I'm Deutsche Schweina, laughed the officer. By now,
Heinrich knew what came next. Either he lifted the stone
and started the journey up the stairway to death, or
let the German soldier shoot him in the head. Would
(11:26):
that finally stop this horrific nightmare? But for some odd reason,
Heinrich was terrified of what would happen if he did
choose death by rifle? Is this how the prisoners of
maltausenfelt each day? The tortures were beyond comprehension. Stay off,
(11:49):
stay off, Get up, Get up, shouted the Nazi. Heinrich's
body screamed in agony. He could barely lift the weighted granite,
but once again he took one step at a time.
The Austrian police taped off the area. Visitors gathered to
(12:11):
glimpse the tragic accident. Several witnesses reported to police that
an old man just jumped from the top of the
stairway into the quarry below. As the medical technicians loaded
the mangled and crushed corpse onto the gurney, one of
them searched the deceased body for information of his identity.
Inside they found a faded identification card that bore the
(12:34):
name Heinrich Klein malthaus Gard and a faded photo with
his rank, unit, birth date, and a Nazi validation stamp. Well,
(12:54):
what I loved about that story is that it reminds
us that history never really ends. The violence of the
past doesn't just fade away. It lingers in places, in
our memories and sometimes in the people who carry it forward.
(13:16):
If you have ever visited the site of a battle,
or in this case, a concentration camp, someplace where many
people died, there's this I don't know if it's me,
but there's this natural solemnity there, and knowledge of the
events that transpired there is unsettling, even if it happened
(13:40):
decades earlier. So for me, this story was especially unsettling
because Heinrich wasn't sad about his past. He sought those
memories to relive the pleasure that he got from hurting
people or in some cases, killing them. For most of us,
(14:02):
like me, I don't even kill a bug if I
can help it. The very thought of causing harm is painful.
Yet this story is a stark, important reminder that the
world is filled with people who take pleasure in inflicting pain.
I think they are in the minority, but still this
(14:25):
story is powerful because the maltausing concentration camp really existed,
as did the Stairway of Death. It really existed, as
did the Parachuter's Wall, and so the real story is
worse than this fiction account of it because it just
(14:48):
shows the vile things that we come up with to
hurt each other, which to me is really the most
horrible thing of all. On that note, it seems kind
of trivial to transition to asking you to follow me
on social network, but I'm going to please subscribe to
(15:10):
the podcast and follow me on social media, and also
please visit the substack to read author insights about their inspiration.
The Instagram, Facebook, Blue Sky, and substack information is in
the episode description. On that note, thank you very much
for listening today, and I'll see you next week.
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