Rudolf Höss 1900 – 1947

Biography

Rudolf Höss was born on November 25, 1900, in Baden-Baden, Germany. He would become one of history’s most significant figures associated with the Holocaust, serving as commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. His role in the camp placed him at the center of systematic atrocities that resulted in the deaths of over one million people.

Following the end of World War II and the liberation of the camps, Höss was captured and tried for war crimes. He was convicted of his actions and the orders he carried out during his tenure at Auschwitz. On April 16, 1947, he was executed by hanging at Auschwitz I concentration camp—the very location where he had orchestrated countless atrocities.

Höss was interred at Auschwitz I in Oświęcim, Poland, where his remains rest at the site of his crimes. His life and death serve as a stark historical record of individual accountability during one of humanity’s darkest periods. His case remains central to Holocaust remembrance and the documentation of Nazi war crimes.