Rudolf Höss: The Final Moments of the Nazi Commandant Executed at Auschwitz

Rudolf Höss served as the first commandant of Auschwitz and played a central role in developing the camp into a major site of persecution and mass murder. His later assignments and return to Auschwitz also formed part of the SS system that organized deportation and killing.

After the war, Höss was captured, gave evidence and was extradited to Poland. The Supreme National Tribunal tried him in Warsaw in 1947. He was sentenced to death and executed at the former Auschwitz camp on 16 April. This short documentary places that ending within the responsibility established by the evidence, rather than treating the execution as a complete account of his crimes.

His name should not be confused with Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s former deputy, who was a different defendant with a different history. Museum records and trial documentation provide the essential chronology and help distinguish contemporary evidence from later dramatic retellings.

Music: Historium Soundtrack Library by Flowmusic.

Sources and further reading: Commandants of Auschwitz

• auschwitz.org/en/history/the-ss-garrison/commandants

The command hierarchy

• auschwitz.org/en/history/the-ss-garrison/the-command-hierarchy

The trial of Rudolf Höss and other SS garrison

• auschwitz.org/en/education/e-learning/podcast/the-trial-of-rudolf-hss-and-other-ss-garrison/

Rudolf Hess

• encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/rudolf-hess