Rudolf Höss - Commandant of Auschwitz Documentary 

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who’s here after “Zone of Interest”?

I have watched The Zone of Interest so this video brought it all together. I have visited Auschwitz. I have read Levi and Weisel and I have felt the agony. Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn ... God forgive us all.

When I was a young man, in the 80's, I served with the US Army's 11th ACR in West Germany patrolling the Inter-German border. At the time, our command required every one of us who were new to Germany to visit Dachau. Now, Dachau was a work camp, not an extermination camp like Auschwitz was, but it was nevertheless one of the experiences that stuck with me the most in Germany. The docents walked us through the camp, showing us the displays and answering our questions in a dry, factual manner. There was almost no hyperbole in it at all, just a recitation of facts and figures. At the end of the tour, we were allowed to walk around the camp area for about 20 minutes or so, talking among ourselves. When we got back to the gates, the head docent told us, 'I will now ask you a question, but only answer to yourself. What do you think about all this?' He then turned his back and walked back into the 'Arbeit macht Frei' gates and closed them as we got back on the buses. When we got back, we were all taken to the unit day room and watched a video from the Regimental Colonel. In it, he said, "There is real evil in the world. There, just across the border that you'll soon be patrolling, is evil. Those guard towers, those minefields, that barbed wire isn't there to keep NATO out, but to keep the peoples of Eastern Europe in. Those towers aren't even manned by soldiers of the Soviet or DDR or Czechoslovakian armies. They're manned by Internal Security troops. And make no mistake, there are concentration camps in the Soviet Union today. They call them 'gulags'. Our fathers and grandfathers did a legendary job putting an end to Nazism, but the job isn't done yet. That job falls to you."

Our guide in Auschwitz said he moved his family from Germany to live with him right by the camp and his wife described it as "paradise on Earth". Unbelievable.

“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.” -Primo Levi This is an extraordinarily well done documentary of the “Death Dealer” of Auschwitz. What drives my interest in the horrors of the Holocaust is a need to understand how ordinary men could become killers. I’ve accepted that I’ll probably never fully understand it, but I have a huge appreciation for documentaries like this that offer valuable insights into the perpetrators.

HIS WIFE WASN'T OBLIVIOUS OR IGNORANT OR STUPID, SHE KNEW

A few years ago a group of kids from Bandera County,Texas went to visit Bandera's sister city in Poland. The itinerary also included a bit to Auschwitz. I talked to the father of one boy going on the trip. "The visit to this camp may overwhelm your son. Is he prepared to go to such an evil place?". We talked to the boy about the level of atrocities that happened there. When he arrived he realized we weren't joking. He felt it on him like a wet coat. He prayed for those who died and strength to get through the pain the place still possessed. I visited Dachau in 1965. It still had that smell 20 years after it stopped.Dont let things like this happen again. You might be the next guest.

To the authors of this well delivered documentary. My Uncle Herbert Ogden was an officer in the British Army and a Tank Commander. Herbert “Bert” went across at Normandy, fought his way through France as part of the “Pathfinders” to identify German artillery etc for the advancing allied forces. He will not talk about this but he open the gates of Bergen Belsen concentration camp and set free the prisoners. Of all the people I have got to know in life, My Uncle Bert is my real hero. He was kind, loving and a force to be reckoned with if you messed with his daughters. Above all he was a very good man. RIP Uncle Bert and all those who with you set free the people who were left after this awful, dreadful stain on humanity.

Wars are great for Psychopaths. It gives them a chance to indulge their pathology without the constraints put upon them by society. I think that describes Höss best.

This documentary should be shown to high school history classes. These events should never forgotten or forgiven.

his grandson Rainer is a righteous man who works against his grandfather's evil & helps the Jewish community

I often forget about all the children sent to these camps too. Seeing the pictures of them holding hands with their siblings while walking through the barbed wire pathways is chilling

Fascinating. Thank you. I read Hoss's memoires and was struck, bizarrely, by how dull he came across. In another life time he would have been running, say, a car factory and I think viewed the concentration camp system in that light. It was a process to him, to be carried out with maximum efficiency. Nothing more. Very scary.

Frighteningly, Hoss was so banal and simple, the concept that such an individual could be directly responsible for the murder of over one million people is a testament to how vile our species is. Having studied history for decades, I cannot put words to how vile one human can be. It speaks to all of us.

In 1946, young french writer and officer Robert Merle interviewed Höss. The result of his work was printed as " la mort est mon métier" (death is my job). The book can still be purchased nowadays, as part of Merle's work.

I know his grandson. He was among the first group of people I met after I moved to Germany. The family's known as a "große Nazi Familie." He said that if he could find his grandfather's grave, he would spit on it. For leaving everyone in the family who came after him "such a heavy burden to carry all through their lives."

Read the Hoess autobiography that goes into further extensive detail. His villa at Auschwitz is "outside" the camp behind a row of trees, yet has a direct line of sight to the gaskammer & crematorium at Auschwitz eins. Interesting note is the only doctor that was consistently sober during the "selections" was Mengele. Hoess was a superb witness at Nuremburg as he was direct and truthful about the operational processes at the vernichtungslager among other testimonies. Like a stereotypical Germanic robot. Precise, unemotional, and psychopathic.

@59:50 - Hannah Arendt’s words, “The banality of evil” are frightfully incisive. Horror and incomprehensible cruelty becomes as normal as getting up in the morning. Thank you for this well-written documentary. 💛🙏🏼

What I find fascinating about Höss is that unlike to for example Amon Göth (who was also in charge of a KZ), he was not a sadist. He didn't enjoy the killing, he didn't embrace it. If anything, he was proud about the efficiency. For him the killing was just a necessity, a job that needed to be done. And that's maybe even more scary than if he was simply a sadist. It shows that it didn't take an evil mastermind to commit such atrocities. He was not a special person. In another universe maybe Höss would have become the manager of a company, or maybe a simple worker. But in this one he became responsible for the killing of over a million people.

Best definition of evil I've heard is that it is a lack of empathy towards our fellow human beings. Hoss more than ticks that particular box. His autobiography gives us a valuable insight into the holocaust which only someone like him could have written.

This is such a fantastic documentary. Hats off to the team behind this channel.

I always used to wonder where they found such despicable chaps to carry out such work but the last two years have answered that question.

Höss has always seemed to fly under the radar, most likely because he had no apparent charisma or traits that set him apart; he’s really quite an uninteresting appearing person, which is ultimately what makes him fascinating. He epitomizes what I like to call, “white glove “ killers, as he didn’t participate with his own hands, but was an excellent tactician of death. More so than Eichmann, he truly represents Arendt’s”banality of evil.” Really, this guy is so dull it’s hard to believe he had a pulse, and yet… Amazing documentary, thank you for your work.

Thoroughly researched and detailed, with a precision that is sorely lacking in other videos on this topic. Well done!

There was scene from the miniseries Nuremberg (2001) in which Rudolf Hoss basically says when describing the atrocities at Auschwitz that the goal of the camps was to exterminate people, not unnecessarily torture them and any misconduct by the guards was punished. Oh boy.

I like how these Documentaries produced by The People Profiles give an unrivalled degree of research and detail.

The Holocaust: We've heard about it since our youth in high school. We've seen the pictures and we've read personal accounts. We're read about the horrific train rides to the camps and the bestial selection process. Every student should be taught to and every adult should remember to choose a particular day of the year to remember, to look at the pictures again and watch some of the videos again and to observe silence. The Holocaust isn't just about the Jewish people. It's about all people everywhere.

You are very accurate when you say that Rudolph Hoss is, perhaps, the personification of what Hannah Arendt called "the banality of evil", Eichmann is not. Eichmann was a dangerous fanatic, well aware of what he was doing and was proud of his murderous "achievements". It was only at the end of written his autobiography that Rudolph Hoss become aware of the moral implications of what he did, and it began to affect him consciously (nearly two years after the war ended). The two final letters to his wife and his children reveal the heavy burden of guilt that he was experiencing.

An excellent and sober presentation of a monster. The extent of his involvement in the Holocaust is shown in an accurate and unbiased manner. This channel is a jewel that shines brightly in this site. Congratulations!!

How this "killing machine " had been overlooked through the years blows my mind. His ability to review his "accomplishments ", during two different trials, without any emotion, is terrifying. His outlook on his "job" is like someone gardening. These "weeds" must go. It's absolutely bone chilling. . Evil personified.

What a cold hearted man. I saw the spot of his execution, which was a very short distance from the place of mass murder. Chilling is perhaps the only word I could think of to describe this beast. Thank you for this well presented and researched presentation.

Hard to imagine that this took place during my life time... War shows the worst and best of People... Give a Person Power and he will show his true colours... Excellent Video... Thank You.

Since this naturally has to focus heavily on Auschwitz I find it nice that Treblinka and Belzec were mentioned at the end to provide more context to the tragedy of the Holocaust on a whole -- Auschwitz and Hoss, as horrible as they were, being still just a piece of the most evil system humanity has ever created.

A stellar piece of work…as I have come to expect from you. What often comes across when looking into these high ranking Nazi men is the banality of evil as practiced by them, and the lack of empathy they all seem to have had in common.🖤🇨🇦

He is completely complicit in the murder of more than a million people. He apparently did it all without empathy. A monster!

Another moving, detailed, sober insight in the life of a monster, yet, also a human being. Thank you for this documentary.

There are people like Hoss in every nation and race who are capable and possess the potential for such evil behaviour. It only has to be ignited by some maniacal individual or ideology. With this in mind it is incumbent on every person to maintain a high level of vigilance and observation to preempt any such similar situation that is in any way similar to what took place in Germany during the regime of Hitler. Sadly the world is often indifferent to these people as they manifest themselves and then it is too late to stop them. They exist and live amongst us today.

Make no mistake, the capacity for heinous, untenable cruelty, violence, murder & even mass murder rests within every human being...EVERY human being. People from all walks of life commit atrocious acts of unthinkable horror every day even though thought by friends, acquaintances & loved ones to be somehow "incapable of such evil". Labeling others as "monsters" w/out recognizing the monster w/in ourselves will keep us perpetually benighted about human nature, forever inhibiting our ability to better understand & even ameliorate such tendencies.

Thanks for this, I find it intriguing to see what kind of person could follow these types of orders so calmly and without questions of why. Even at his trial he answered like he was still running the camp.

Superb production! Excellent integration of narrative and authentic graphics. Even a review at the end of what was covered, which is a hallmark of good instruction. In 1959 At the age of twelve I read Höss's account of his time as Commandant of Auschwitz, which was the title of the paperback book. I have read many books since about the Holocaust and Auschwitz.

Amazing job on this video. It’s obvious a lot of work and research went into this. Keep up the great work👍

Thank you for sharing this information about this horrible man. I never knew how bad he had been. It is very important to let people know who were those people and what they did to others. The real faces of evil.

Thank you for the very informative documentary. Very well narrated as well. I enjoyed watching this 👌 I’ve left a like 👍

This "village Oświęciem" it was town with about 800 years of tradition. And the town is about 50 km to the west (not south) from Kraków. Error after error...

Thanks for this obviously informed documentary. Höss was obviously monstrous, but he seems to be a victim of faulty programming. As the American psychiatrist observed, he apparently lacked a sense of empathy. Having said that, I think we have to enforce the same penalties on sociopaths as we would on people with genuine consciences who are guilty of similar acts.

Strange how the Soviet role in the invasion of Poland is not mentioned.

So well done! This should be seen by everyone, especially as we see the rise of fascism today.

Thank you for such an informative and well delivered documentary on h o s s and the Holocaust

Extremely well elaborated documentary.

Psychopaths actually have different brain structure. The area that makes moral decisions is either under-developed or totally non functional. To him, his behavior would have been perfectly logical and reasonable. No thought at all to the right or wrong of the job, only efficiency.

I visited the Auschwitz museum last week. It was surreal. Only 6,000 survived out of the 1.5 million who entered, only because they hadn't been there that long. All the crematoriums were destroyed in haste except one. All the Nazi security fled and few were prosecuted. It was satisfying to see the special execution gallow used to hang Rudolf Hoess on the Auschwitz grounds. May we never forget.

I've read his autobiography so really enjoyed seeing tjis video.Very well made.

I absolutely love this channel, one of the best on RU-vid in the history field for sure 🤙💪

Thank you so much, this is perhaps the best and clearest narration of any RU-vid Video I've listened to.

Thank you for this video on another Nazi war criminal who met justice at the end of a rope around his neck. It is so astounding and troubling how Rudolf Hoess and his likes could be so monstrously cruel and depraved as to inflict ghastly suffering on others. Although he is now dead, his name will go down in infamy, reproach, and shame for all time on earth, and deservedly so. May we also remember the innocent victims, not only Jews, but also others whom the Nazis deemed "subhuman' or unfit to live.

I did go to visit Auschwitz at the age of eight. Where my mother lived prior to war it wasn't that far. When the time come for us to return home after a vacation I got to naging my mother untold times that I wanted to visit the place. There was this reason of religion that messed me up to the point that I was told to come with my mother to see a higher in church hierarchy in order to be admited to first communion. While there I told my mother that I wanted to wonder through the place on my own. One thing I had an issue with reconciling with a spot where they hanged the person who was in charge of the place. It was as if he got a slap on his hand but not adequate punishment. Later I did find out that they tried three times to finally get him 'right' to hang.

Exzellent and fair video!You could be a modern teacher in Germany about history ! Greetings from HEIDELBERG!

Thank you very much for this and the other productions. Hard as they are to watch, learn, deny and ultimately accept, your hard work allows these stories to reach new generations. Give us the intelligence and humanity to learn from them.

Thank you for the information. Some years ago I visited Auschwitz and the guide pointed out the house of Rudolf Höss. I wondered what kind of man could live there, so close to the horrors, with his family unaware of everything that was going on.

Upon watching this, it reminded me of the film The Boy In The Stripped Pajamas. Was that film loosley based on the family life of Hoss?

Sir, would you also please profile the Wannsee Conference . What really happened there coz that’s one hell of a story . Thank you .

In cases of escaping someone SHOULD have mentioned Captain Witold Pilecki who was Polish volunteer for the Auschwitz and was producing FIRST reports for the allies about the Auschwitz camps. He also created resistance movement inside the camp. As a Pole Im sick of obscuring our heroes in history of WWII.

I'm so interested in the idea that he raised his family there. I wish they talked a bit more about that. It's crazy raising children in such a place and shielding them so they didn't even realize what was happening

"Zone of Interest", new movie by Jonathan Glazer about all this.

56:56 *German camp in Poland

An excellent documentary. I've just been to see The Zone of Interest which is currently in the cinemas, concerning the life of the Höss family while they were living next to the Auschwitz camp.

Witold's Report, also known as Pilecki's Report, is a report about the Auschwitz concentration camp written in 1943 by Witold Pilecki, a Polish military officer and member of the Polish resistance.

Hoss was a cog in a machine. A major cog, a driving cog, but a cog none the less. It was unlikely that he would have done any of this if not asked/told/and encouraged by his superiors. He would have worked out well in any assignment given to him, but this was the assignment that he got. Leastwise this is the feel that I had gotten from your production. Your work is well made and easy to watch. I am a monk in a monastery, could I have done this. To be honest with you, yes I could have given the portrait that you have presented on Hoss. That is to say, how close are any of us from transgressing that edge of humanity.

Thank you for this. For your interest and information the women’s concentration camp was Ravensbrück, not Ravensburg. I read the Höss autobiography a number of years ago, and recall that the few emotions he expressed were disillusionment with the Catholic Church (confessional priest told his parents about his childish misdemeanours!) and anger at the incompetence/laziness of some of his camp subordinates. No emotions whatsoever about the more-than-one-million murders he supervised; nor about the hundreds of thousands of people whom he watched decline and die of exhaustion, starvation and camp-induced disease. On a visit to Jerusalem in the 1920s he also became very angry at the dishonesty of Catholic vendors who tried to sell him a bottle of soil, saying “This is the very soil on which the blood of Jesus fell.” Interesting that Höss became so angered and straight-laced at these comparative trivialities but felt nothing at all about the murders he later organised. Forever a mystery - unless in the next few years psychiatry reaches untold heights of wisdom. Thank you again for these accurate and very important videos.

35:50 incorrect translation! "We will discuss it amongst us, but never in public." Big difference.

This must have taken so much work! 👏👏👏

This documentary is very well made. I didn't even know he existed.

I used to be friendly with his grandson, Rainer, who found out what his granddad did when he was a kid, and immediately disowned his entire family other than his mother. Today he stands openly and publicly against everything his grandfather and the Nazis did. Rainer carries a lot of stress and guilt about what Rudolf did.

Well done documentary. Thanks for the attention to detail.

It should also be mentioned that the question of bombarding the railway tracks was discussed back then and is still today.

Excellent narrative . Höss presents himself as a humdrum bureaucrat following orders as Eichmann would do in Jerusalem . Having seen Auschwitz I would strongly recommend visiting this place of horrors .

This is such an important topic, I recently made a short lecture for my classes, which is on my channel, discussing a couple of the causes to this horrific event. I use the Milgram experiment to discuss this topic. Thank you for covering such an important topic.

Where ever there is a person sounding knowledgable there is always people willing to listen and follow To many followers

I really just want to see a movie about this guys garden.

The thumbnails are really cool for all these videos .

"Incapable of empathy", to paraphrase the military psychologist referenced in the documentary, is the simplified definition of psychopathy. In current practice the term "psychopath" is avoided for some reason, "sociopath" is used instead. Either way it's the same disease. It should be understood that not all sociopaths are homicidal maniacs. In fact there may be one or more in your corporate chain of command since they tend to gravitate to executive positions. Still, regardless the disease or what you choose to call it, we must all be prepared to accept responsibility for any crime we may commit.

Absolutely terrific history lesson! Love From Orlando

It seems that when one commits great evil, rather than facing the torment of guilt, some shut themselves off from spaces of feeling and conscience until devoid of both.

Well-presented, with just the right balance of showing the nazis for the scum that they were without over-editorializing. Following orders doesn't cut it anymore. It all comes down to the conscience and actions of the cogs in the machine, like you and me. May we never have to put it to the test.

I would recommend reading Rudolph Hoss's 'auto-biog' ,usually titled 'Commandant of Auschwitz '(though there's not much in it about the camp). He says he intended to join the church but he had a fight with another young boy ,& broke the boys nose .He confessed to his priest ,who without consent informed his parents - & that point lost his religious convictions.

Factual, well-conceived. brilliant. Well done.

Amazing documentaries 👍

Excellent and well made documentary! It was accurate, balanced and provided a good education into the man that ran the largest extermination center and the camp system as a whole. A less professional account would be laced with bellicose rhetoric which eventually tires the listener. Thank you.

History which should never be forgotten so not repeated .

Great documentary thanks for posting

Tremendous video. Utterly chilling.

Always interesting to see these videos! Thank you and greetings from Finland 🌍!

Excellent. I never heard of him before.

Why I am watching this after a documentary about the "walk of death" of 1945. Great work, subscribed !

Thank you so much for mentioning slovak history too :)

It's actually disappointing that they killed him. Not that he didn't deserve it. But he was pretty open about his involvement and willing to talk about it. They could have offered some nazis a parole kind of thing, life in prison as long as they talk and cooperate. All the important nazis were executed way before all questions were answered.

Surprising in this huge Camp complex Hoess was only Lieutenant Colonel. The Kommandant of Mauthausen was a Colonel Standartenfuehrer. My observation is the system created. A train arrives with 1500. You cannot house or feed them all. The stronger men and women selected for work - processes. The others gassed/cremated. The Kommandant of Treblinka perhaps put his finger on how it worked - the ones to die were regarded as 'Cargo' that the train brought

Great video.Very very informative.

Hoss last words as he stood on the hangman scaffold were “ I can see my house from here !”