Commandant of Auschwitz : The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoes

A self-portrait, composed by one of the greatest monsters of all time: Rudolf Hoess, the Commandant at Auschwitz, and the man who knew more than almost anyone about how Nazi Germany implemented the Final Solution. Captured by the British after the war, tried, and sentenced to death, he was ordered to write his autobiography in the weeks between his trial and his execution (which fittingly took place in Auschwitz itself). Hoess apparently enjoyed the task, and the most careful checking by researchers showed he took great pains to tell the truth. The result: a vivid and unforgettable picture of the 20th century's defining and most horrific event. Royalties from this book go to the fund to help the few survivors of Auschwitz.

15 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Why Read This?, December 14, 2001
By thewahlmighty (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

The autobiography of Rudolf Hoess is the story of a man who would ultimately be in charge of the huge extermination camp at Auschwitz where millions of Jews were systematically murdered.
In its pages you will find an accurate account of the means that were used to isolate those victims, of the political principle that was used to justify the victims' elimination from public life, and of the mental state needed to carry out the order for their deaths. Consequently "this book," as Primo Levi states in his introduction, "is filled with evil."

Even so, the book ought to be read–and read carefully–because an understanding of the ideas that drove Rudolf Hoess to do what he did are a major step towards ensuring that the horrors of Nazi Germany will never happen again.

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
It's hard to feel sorry for Rudolf, October 28, 2002
By Stephen M. Zielinski (Depew, NY United States) - See all my reviews


This was the second book that I had read on Rudolf Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and like the first book "Death Dealer"; it had my attention up to a point. The chronicle of his childhood and youth were interesting only from the viewpoint of the European mindset of Father and son relationships. His military career and rise in the ss organisation appears to be fueled by his own inner self, in other words; no one forced him to wear the black uniform. That he wanted to be a farmer and enjoy the workings of nature is one thing, becoming a soldier was something else. The experiences in Auschwitz at its inception and afterwards leave little room for sympathy or understanding. Can the dilemma of poor Rudolf having to scrounge his own barbed wire equate to you or I trying to buy something for our own homes? His pathetic laments over the types of "bottom of the barrel" people that he had to work with doesn't wash here. He neglected to mention the dozens of efficient, ruthless barbarians like Joseph Mengele, Otto Moll and Stefan Baretzki of whom Birkenau survivors have a different remembrance. Lastly, the worst omission that the book carries is that Rudolf makes no repentant statement concerning the murder of the Jewish people. His only regret is that the wholesale slaughter besmirched the concept of National Socialism as he saw it! Die-hard follower of Hitler to the end, it would have cost him little to apologize to the Jewish people, and at least show some humanity. I feel that the nazi machine had made Rudolf Hoess into the perfect unfeeling automaton, capable of love only to his own, yet looking on the "untermenschen" as vermin. I recommend this book for any serious student of the Holocaust who desires an insight into the psyche of one of mankind's most horrific murderer's and bureaucrats.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
A Lone Wolf Writing His Diabolical Story in Prison, December 11, 2004
By Milli Thornton "writing coach / author of Fea… (Jackson, MS) - See all my reviews

This is an eerie book. I suppose I expected to find a monster leering at me from page one, but the book has more layers to the story than that. It was creepy to start off by feeling drawn into the story of his childhood.

I had a sense that Hoess enjoyed the process of writing. After everything he had perpetrated - after all the suffering he'd witnessed - to sit in a prison cell and write the story is a rather remarkable process, no matter how repugnant we may find it. Perhaps pride in his work was his motivator. (Merely being ordered to write it by the judges would not guarantee pleasure in the task.)

The author does not rant in the horrific yet charismatic manner of Hitler in the film clips of the rallies. A detached monster rather than a hot-blooded one, Hoess was an administrator at heart. Would he have conceived of mass extermination for the Jews of his own accord? Doubtful. But when given the task he was exceptionally good at it. He was even good at documenting it for the Allies.

This book tends to activate or deepen some of your biggest questions in life. While lucidly written, it's not an easy book to read emotionally. I gave this book five stars because everyone should read it and feel their own responses to it.

For the other side of the coin, read ELLI: COMING OF AGE IN THE HOLOCAUST.