Rudolf Hoss, the commandant of Auschwitz is remembered today as one of the most evil war
criminals and nazis of the Second World War. He was a man who would brazenly at the nuremberg
trials admit that he was involved in the slaughter of millions, and he would also be proud of
his actions in building the deadliest concentration camp of the war. He was a man who tried to
hide out at the end of the conflict, and was trying to evade capture in the hope of rebuilding
his life in a post war Germany. But this was not the case, but at the age of 45 Rudolf
Hoss was executed, but his death sentence and execution was incredibly unique, and it
was one of any war criminals that occurred at the same very place that he would work
and inflict such pain and suffering. Join us today as we look at the special death sentence
of the commandant of Auschwitz, remember to support our channel please make sure to subscribe.
Rudolf Hoss was the man who would build Auschwitz into the largest killing centre of the Second
World War. He would state, ‘I commanded Auschwitz until 1 December 1943, and estimate
that at least 2,500,000 victims were executed and exterminated there by gassing and burning,
and at least another half million succumbed to starvation and disease, making a total
of about 3,000,000 dead. This figure represents about 70% or 80% of all persons sent to Auschwitz
as prisoners, the remainder having been selected and used for slave labor in the concentration
camp industries. Included among the executed and burnt were approximately 20,000 Russian
prisoners of war (previously screened out of Prisoner of War cages by the Gestapo) who
were delivered at Auschwitz in Wehrmacht transports operated by regular Wehrmacht officers and
men. The remainder of the total number of victims included about 100,000 German Jews,
and great numbers of citizens (mostly Jewish) from The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Poland,
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Greece, or other countries. We executed about 400,000 Hungarian
Jews alone at Auschwitz in the summer of 1944.’ Hoss would also be responsible for the individual
evil of the guards who worked at the camp, but at the end of the Second World War he
was hiding out under the name Franz Lang and was posing as a gardener in Gottrupel. His
family managed to fall into the hands of the allies, and Hedwig his wife was interrogated
and after some time she gave over the pivotal information about the whereabouts of her husband.
He was approached by Hans Alexander and a group of British soldiers who ordered the
gardener to take off his wedding ring, and when Hoss refused he was threatened. Engraved
inside the ring was his name along with his wives inscribed, and then after this the soldiers
began to beat Hoss with axe handles. Many of the men were jews who wanted to get their
own back, but they were then ordered away and Hoss would be then left to rot in custody
before plans were drawn up as to what to do with him.
He would state of his time at the hands of the British, ‘During the first interrogation
they beat me to obtain evidence. I do not know what was in the transcript, or what I
said, even though I signed it, because they gave me liquor and beat me with a whip. It
was too much even for me to bear. The whip was my own. By chance it had found its way
into my wife's luggage. My horse had hardly ever been touched by it, much less the prisoners.
Somehow one of the interrogators probably thought that I had used it to constantly whip
the prisoners. After a few days I was taken to Minden on the Weser River, which was the
main interrogation center in the British zone. There they treated me even more roughly, especially
the first British prosecutor, who was a major. The conditions in the jail reflected the attitude
of the first prosecutor. [...] Compared to where I had been before, Imprisonment with
the IMT [International Military Tribunal] was like staying in a health spa.’
But Hoss would then be brought to trial between the 11th and 29th march 1947, and during his
trial many witnesses came forward about the actions and incidents that occurred inside
of Auschwitz. It was clear what would happen to Hoss and he would be sentenced to death.
However his death sentence was one which was rather unique and was a different one. At
the end of the Second World War, many war criminals who were condemned were executed
inside of Allied prisons such as Landsberg Prison or Hamelin Prison. At Landsberg, those
who were sentenced to death inside of American courts would be taken into the courtyard where
they would be accompanied by a priest and also military policeman. They would be led
up the stairs of the gallows and they would be then handed over to the executioner. In
Hamelin Prison there were simultaneous gallows that would be operated by British executioner
Albert Pierrepoint, but these executions would not be performed in public. They would go
ahead inside execution chambers within the prisons and there would be very few witnesses
who saw the proceedings.
Before his execution he would acknlowedge his crimes and would say, ‘My conscience
compels me to make the following declaration. In the solitude of my prison cell, I have
come to the bitter recognition that I have sinned gravely against humanity. As Commandant
of Auschwitz, I was responsible for carrying out part of the cruel plans of the 'Third
Reich' for human destruction. In so doing I have inflicted terrible wounds on humanity.
I caused unspeakable suffering for the Polish people in particular. I am to pay for this
with my life. May the Lord God forgive one day what I have done. I ask the Polish people
for forgiveness. In Polish prisons I experienced for the first time what human kindness is.
Despite all that has happened I have experienced humane treatment which I could never have
expected, and which has deeply shamed me. May the facts which are now coming out about
the horrible crimes against humanity make the repetition of such cruel acts impossible
for all time.’ He would also return to the Catholic Church before hand.
But Rudolf Hoss the commandant of Auschwitz would be executed inside of his own concentration
camp. The only other person who was condemned in this way was Karl Otto Koch, the former
commandant of Buchenwald who was executed by his own former colleagues as he was found
guilty of stealing and embezzling money from the Nazis. But Hoss’s death sentence originally
wasn’t planned to take place inside of the camp of Auschwitz, as he would have been executed
inside of a Polish prison, such as Montelupich Prison where there were just hooks in the
ceiling of the execution chambers with nooses attached to them. But what would happen was
incredible, as many former prisoners of Auschwitz and those who had been imprisoned inside of
the camp would lobby the polish courts and the judges. They wanted the former commandant
to be executed inside of his own camp, and the judges listened to the demands and they
would then organise the execution of Hoss to take place inside of Auschwitz. They would
then order that a gallows would be created inside of the camp, and this would be a special
execution structure where Hoss would be condemned upon, and only one execution ever took place
on it. Today this gallows is marked by a sign that says, ‘This is where the camp Gestapo
was located. Prisoners suspected of involvement in the camp's underground resistance movement
or of preparing to escape were interrogated here. Many prisoners died as a result of being
beaten or tortured. The first commandant of Auschwitz, SS-Obersturmbannführer Rudolf
Höss, who was tried and sentenced to death after the war by the Polish Supreme National
Tribunal, was hanged here on 16 April 1947.’
Hoss was brought to his former camp on the 16th April 1947, and he was then led into
his former office where he had a cup of coffee. Following this he was led towards the gallows
structure where his legs and arms were secured and then an executioner who was hooded led
him up to the stairs of the scaffold. He then helped Hoss up onto a step, and then after
this he secured the noose around his neck before the trapdoor was released and Hoss
crashed through.
The death sentence of Rudolf Hoss was shocking because of the fact that he was executed inside
of the camp that he oversaw for a long time. It was the place where over 1 million people
were killed, and Hoss was the final person to be executed at the site. Around 100 witnesses
mad cup of former prisoners and members of the Polish government saw him on the gallows,
but he was one of the only commandants of the concentration camps condemned within his
own camp.
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