Mag. Dr. Helga Amesberger holds a diploma in cultural and social anthropology as well as sociology and a doctorate in political science from the University of Vienna.

Since 1993 she has been working as a research assistant at the Institute for Conflict Research in Vienna.

Her main areas of research include the research on Nazi persecution of women with a focus on Ravensbrück and Mauthausen. However, the majority of them deal with the Austrians who were imprisoned in the women's concentration camp. These include studies on sexual violence, a registration of Austrians in the Ravensbrück concentration camp; the collection of life stories about women in resistance and very recently about women persecuted as "anti-social".

She was instrumental in designing a very extensive website on the Ravensbrück research. Here you can find life stories of the imprisoned Austrians as well as information about Ravensbrück. In an extensive database, approx. 2,000 Austrians can be found(www.ravensbrueckerinnen.at).

Helga Amesberger has also published (mostly together with Brigitte Halbmayr) extensively on the subject of Ravensbrück - (http://www.ikf.ac.at/m_amesb.htm)

Together with Brigitte Halbmayr, she received the Science Award from the Margaretha Lupac Foundation of the Austrian Parliament for her life's work in the field of social historical research in 2019.

She came to the ÖLRG / F camp community in 1995 through her acquaintance with the two Ravensbrück survivors Friedl Sinclair and Hilde Zimmermann, whom she invited to work with. This resulted in many joint projects and also the first research project "On life and survival. Paths to Ravensbrück ”, for which she conducted a total of 42 life history interviews with Ravensbrück survivors together with Brigitta Halbmayr.

From 2004 to 2011 she represented the Austrian survivors at the IRC alongside other members of the ÖLRG / F. She was the first member of the IRC that is not a survivor's daughter / relative.

She says about this time: “For me, the IRC opened another universe. Not only did I get to know a lot of interesting women, these women impressed me with their political stance and their years of political commitment. At the meetings, however, I also got a lot of insight into the struggles of women in their home countries, the politics of remembrance there and the difficulties in maintaining the national associations.”

Publications (selection): Helga Amesberger, Brigitte Halbmayr und Simon Clemens (2019): „Meine Mama war Widerstandskämpferin“ – Netzwerke des Widerstands und dessen Bedeutung für die nächste Generation. Wien: Picus.

Helga Amesberger, Brigitte Halbmayr & Elke Rajal (2019): »Arbeitsscheu und moralisch verkommen«. Verfolgung von Frauen als »Asoziale« im Nationalsozialismus. Wien: Mandelbaum Verlag.

Helga Amesberger, Katrin Auer und Brigitte Halbmayr (2016): Sexualisierte Gewalt. Weibliche Erfahrungen in NS-Konzentrationslagern, 5. Auflage, Mandelbaum-Verlag,Wien, ISBN 978-3-85476-219-5

Helga Amesberger und Kerstin Lercher (2008): Lebendiges Gedächtnis. Die Geschichte der österreichischen Lagergemeinschaft Ravensbrück, Mandelbaum Verlag, Wien, ISBN 978-3-85476-254-6

Helga Amesberger (2006): Vergessen und unter den Teppich gekehrt – Frauen im Widerstand. In: Sabine Aschauer-Smolik / Alexander Neunherz (Hrsg): Dagegenhalten. Zivilcourage und widerständisches Verhalten. Studien-Verlag, Innsbruck, ISBN 3-7065-4183-1, S. 51-74