Rudolf Höss

"Höss" and "Hoess" redirect here. This article is about the commandant of Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. For the surname, see Höss (surname). For the Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler, see Rudolf Hess.

Rudolf Höss
Höss in 1944
Born
Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höß

(1901-11-25)25 November 1901
Baden-Baden, Germany
Died16 April 1947(1947-04-16) (aged 45)
Oświęcim, Poland
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Political partyNazi Party
Criminal statusExecuted
Spouse
Hedwig Hensel
​
(m. 1929)​
[1]
Children5
ConvictionCrimes against humanity
TrialSupreme National Tribunal
Criminal penaltyDeath
SS service
BranchDeath's Head Units
Waffen-SS
Years of service1934–1945
RankSS-Obersturmbannführer
CommandsCommandant of Auschwitz
  • Block Leader and Report Leader in Dachau (November 1934)[2]
  • Adjutant to the Commandant (August 1938) and Commander of the detention camp (December 1939) in Sachsenhausen
  • Commandant in Auschwitz (30 April 1940)[2]
  • Head of Office D I, Department D (Camps inspectorate) of SS-WVHA (1 December 1943)
  • Chief Commandant (Standortältester) in Auschwitz ("Operation Höss" – Mass murder of Hungarian Jews)
    (8 May – 29 July 1944)[2]
  • Coordinator of killing operation by gassing in Ravensbrück (November 1944)[3]

Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (also Höß, Hoeß, or Hoess; German: [hœs]; 25 November 1901 – 16 April 1947)[4][5][6] was a German SS officer and the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp. After the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II, he was convicted in Poland and executed for war crimes committed on the prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp and for his role in the Holocaust.

Höss was the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz Concentration Camp (from 4 May 1940 to November 1943, and again from 8 May 1944 to 18 January 1945). He tested and implemented means to accelerate Hitler's order to systematically exterminate the Jewish population of Nazi-occupied Europe, known as the Final Solution. On the initiative of one of his subordinates, Karl Fritzsch, Höss introduced the pesticide Zyklon B to be used in gas chambers,[7][8] where over a million people were killed.[9]

Höss was hanged in 1947 following a trial before the Polish Supreme National Tribunal. During his imprisonment, at the request of the Polish authorities, Höss wrote his memoirs, released in English under the title Commandant of Auschwitz: The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess.[10]

  1. ^ Anderson, Graham (6 May 2014). "Rainer Höß: My Nazi family". Exberliner. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014 – via The Internet Archive.
  2. ^ a b c Klee 2013, p. 182.
  3. ^ Hördler 2015, pp. 165–72.
  4. ^ Harding 2013b, pp. 5, 288.
  5. ^ Levy, Richard S. (2005). Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution (Two Vol. Set). ABC-CLIO. p. 324. ISBN 978-1-85109-439-4.
  6. ^ Evans 2003, p. 218.
  7. ^ Pressac & Pelt 1994, p. 209.
  8. ^ Browning 2004, pp. 526–527.
  9. ^ Piper, Franciszek & Meyer, Fritjof. "Overall analysis of the original sources and findings on deportation to Auschwitz". Review of the article "Die Zahl der Opfer von Auschwitz. Neue Erkentnisse durch neue Archivfunde", Osteuropa, 52, Jg., 5/2002, pp. 631–641.
  10. ^ Fitzgibbon, Constantine; Hoess, Rudolf; Neugroschel, Joachim; Hoess, Rudolph; Levi, Primo (1 September 2000). Commandant of Auschwitz : The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess. Phoenix. ISBN 978-1842120248.
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