Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz

by Thomas Harding

  “He had presented a positive face . . .” Ann died six weeks after Hanns. After they were together for so many years, it appears that she could not live without him. Her ashes were added to the family grave in Willesden.

  Postscript

  “It is a cool November morning . . .” I traveled to Auschwitz with Rainer Höss and his mother, Irene, in November 2009, having seen an article about Rainer in an Israeli newspaper in which it was claimed he was attempting to sell artifacts inherited from his grandfather to Yad Vashem. When I spoke to Rainer he denied the article’s accusations, saying that he had been willing to donate the items, and invited me on the trip to Auschwitz. Rainer later returned to Auschwitz as part of a documentary called Hitler’s Children.

  “There was also Rudolf’s memoir . . .” Four years after Rudolf Höss died on the gallows, Sehn would facilitate the publication of Rudolf’s memoirs in Polish in 1951 as Wspomnienia (“Memories”) by Wydawnictwo Prawnicze, with an introduction by the Polish criminologist Stanisław Batawia. In 1958, Rudolf’s jailhouse writings were published in German for the first time by Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt under the title Kommandant in Auschwitz: Autobiografische Aufzeichnungen von Rudolf Höss (“Kommandant of Auschwitz: Autobiography of Rudolf Höss”), edited by Dr. Martin Broszat, the director of IFZ, Germany’s preeminent National Socialism research institute. A year later, and twelve years after it had first been drafted, Rudolf’s memoirs were translated into English by Constantine Fitzgibbon and introduced by Lord Russell—who as Deputy Judge Advocate General had been one of the chief legal advisers during the Nuremberg war crimes trials—and published under the title Commandant at Auschwitz by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. It was this last version, republished by Phoenix Press in 2001, that Hanns had a copy of lying on his living-room table on the day he died. A popular North American edition of the memoirs was published in 1992, under the title Death Dealer: The Memoirs of the SS Kommandant of Auschwitz, by Prometheus Books, edited by Steven Paskuly and translated by Andrew Pollinger. Since they were written in 1946, Rudolf’s memoirs have been translated into scores of languages and, through various editions, been read by hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

  “As for the Alexander Torah . . .” In 2012 Hanns’s nephews and nieces met and discussed the future of the family Torah. Its parchment was ripped in places; the ink of some of the characters had run; sticky tape held some of the pages together. As such it was deemed not kosher, unusable. After a long and emotional discussion it was agreed that the Torah held such sentimental and historic value that it should be restored. The family members pledged the funds to send the scroll to a sofer in east London, who would make the relevant repairs so that once again the Alexander Torah could play a regular part in the synagogue’s services. The repairs are due to be complete by the end of 2013.

  RESEARCH SOURCES

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  Hanns Alexander was my great-uncle. He died in 2006 and I only learned about his wartime activities when I heard the eulogy given at his funeral service. The family never spoke about these things and we were told, first as children, later as adults, not to ask Hanns or other family members about what took place during the war.

  To find out about my uncle’s activities, I conducted research at many institutions around the world. I have relied on declassified and recently released documents held by several archives, particularly documents released by the Auschwitz Museum Archives regarding Höss’s last few days in prison (the museum is also the keeper of the original Rudolf Höss memoir); unpublished and recently declassified documents in the British National Archive in Kew relating to Hanns Alexander’s arrests of Rudolf Höss and of Gustav Simon, as well as files regarding Oswald Pohl and Richard Glücks, Operation Haystack, and the 1 War Crimes Investigation Team and War Crimes Group; unpublished and recently declassified documents from the Intelligence Museum in Chicksands, relating to the arrest of Rudolf Höss and to Field Security Section 92; Luxembourg National Archive reports and documents relating to Hanns Alexander’s arrest of Gustav Simon; Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, particularly for video footage of the Nuremberg Trials, including Höss’s testimony and photographs of Rudolf Höss in Auschwitz; recently declassified files from the United States National Archives in College Park, including material supplied by Richard Breitman, Director of Historical Research for the U.S. Government’s Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency, particularly the “Dachau Report” and cables related to Gustav Simon and Richard Glücks; correspondence with Barry Ritzler, who found Rudolf Höss’s unpublished Rorschach test in Gustave Gilbert’s filing cabinet; as well as survivor interviews, held by the Shoah Database, available at University of California, San Diego, and at Royal Holloway, University of London. In addition, I was assisted by Yad Vashem in Israel; the Dachau Archive in Munich; the Sachsenhausen Museum in Berlin; the Grand Ducal Palace and National Archive in Luxembourg; the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw; and the Imperial War Museum in London.

  Much of the text is based on new sources, including my interviews with Rudolf Höss’s daughter Brigitte; Rudolf Höss’s daughter-in-law Irene Alba; Rudolf Höss’s grandson Rainer Höss (who also allowed me to reproduce many images, including the extraordinary family photographs taken at the Höss villa in Auschwitz); Whitney Harris, the American prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials; Anita Lasker and Lucille Eichengreen, whom Hanns helped in Belsen; Jozef Paczynski, the “Little Pole” who cut Rudolf’s hair; and Eva Schloss, Anne Frank’s stepsister. I also made use of taped interviews with Hanns, Bella, Elsie and Paul Alexander recorded by John Alexander and Herbert Levy. In addition, I had access to hitherto unpublished letters between Hanns and Paul Alexander, their sisters, Elsie and Bella, and their mother, Henny; as well as letters sent from Rudolf Höss to Hedwig and his children, held both by the Auschwitz Museum and by the Höss family private collection.

  Internet

  There are numerous useful resources now available on the Web, especially the full records of the Nuremberg, Belsen and Frankfurt Trials. On the Belsen site you can find the full transcripts of the trial, including the affidavits that were recorded by Hanns Alexander. On the Nuremberg site, you can find transcripts of Rudolf Höss’s testimonies as well as those of Eleanor Hodys and Konrad Morgen. However, be wary of many other sites, whose veracity ebbs and flows like the tides. One site in particular, Wikipedia, is prone to political editing, especially when it comes to the Nazi leaders. A hobby of mine during the research of this typescript has been to push the Wikipedia envelope: I would log on and, without reference, correct the birth date of Rudolf Höss and then, a few days later, someone else would log on and change it back, again without source, then I would correct it again, and so on.

  A note on place names

  I apologize to readers confused by my use of German, Polish, and other place names. Let me explain the rules I followed. For cities, I have used spelling I felt would be familiar to an English-speaking audience. But there are exceptions: “Oswiecim” and not “Auschwitz,” for example, to differentiate the town from the camp. For German streets, I’ve used contemporary spellings where possible—“Oranienburger Strasse” rather than “Oranienburgerstrasse”—so readers can more easily locate these places. Where names have changed, such as Kaiserallee (today, Bundesallee), or where streets no longer exist (Achenbachstrasse), I chose the historically appropriate name. Belsen was trickiest of all, as it was known by different names: “Bergen-Belsen” to survivors, “Hohne” to the British, and “DP Camp Bergen-Belsen” to the displaced. For the sake of clarity, and because it was how Hanns and Rudolf referred to the camp, I’ve used “Belsen” throughout. For more information on place names and for other background material, please visit www.hannsandrudolf.com.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

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  I found the following texts useful:

  Alexander, John. A Measure of Time. A self-published history of the Alexander family.

  Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem. Provides a key
exploration of the ‘banality of evil’.

  Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. KL Auschwitz Seen by the SS. Includes eyewitness accounts by housemaids and gardeners who worked in the Höss villa.

  Bardgett, Suzanne, and David Cesarani. Belsen 1945. An introduction to the camp by two of the best Holocaust researchers.

  Bower, Tom. Blind Eye to Murder. A powerful treatise on the failures of the British and Americans to bring the Nazi leaders to justice.

  Browning, Christopher. Ordinary Men. A look at Reserve Police Battalion 101’s motives for murdering the Jews. He takes a different view from Daniel Goldhagen (also included in this list of sources).

  Butler, Rupert. Legions of Death. An excitable history of the SS, which includes a description of Rudolf Höss’s arrest.

  Eichengreen, Lucille. From Ashes to Life. A young girl’s account of life in Belsen, including a description of her rescue by Hanns Alexander.

  Fry, Helen. The King’s Loyal Aliens. A great introduction to the story of the Jewish refugees who fought for the British during the Second World War.

  Gilbert, G. M. Nuremberg Diary. The American psychologist’s account of his time with the defendants as they awaited their trial.

  Gilbert, Martin. The Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy. Includes a description of the incident in which prisoners mounted an uprising in one of Birkenau’s gas chambers.

  Godfrey, Antony. Three Rabbis in a Vicarage. The history of the Belsize Square Synagogue, north London.

  Goldensohn, Leon. The Nuremberg Interviews, An American Psychiatrist’s Conversations with the Defendants and Witnesses. Edited by Robert Gellately, a terrific insight into the minds of the leading war criminals by the American psychiatrist.

  Goldhagen, Daniel. Hitler’s Willing Executioners. An examination of why “ordinary” Germans perpetrated the Holocaust. He takes a different view from Christopher Browning (also in this list of sources).

  Harris, Whitney. Tyranny on Trial. A guide to the Nuremberg Trials written by one of the American prosecutors shortly after the war.

  Hoare, Oliver. Camp 020: M15 and the Nazi Spies. An extraordinary account of wartime interrogation techniques, and includes Colonel Robin “Tin Eye” Stephens’s interrogation manual Digest of Ham.

  Hoess, Rudolf. Commandant at Auschwitz Rudolf Hoess, also known as Death Dealer: The Memoirs of the SS Kommandant of Auschwitz. This autobiography was written in a Polish prison cell while Rudolf awaited his death sentence. While Commandant at Auschwitz Rudolf Hoess was published first with a translation by Constantine Fitzgibbon and an introduction by Lord Russell, the Death Dealer version, which was edited by Steven Paskuly, is written in a more contemporary English. Both versions include an introduction by Primo Levi.

  Kemp, Anthony. The Secret Hunters. A good introduction to the Allies’ efforts to track down war criminals at the end of the war.

  Kershaw, Ian. The End: 1944–1945. Explores the last days of the Reich, providing tremendous insight into the Nazis’ final phase.

  Langbein, Hermann. People in Auschwitz. Perhaps the definitive account of life in Auschwitz, told by a resistance leader and inmate.

  Lasker-Wallfisch, Anita. Inherit the Truth. A personal story of the young girl who managed to stay alive by playing the cello in Auschwitz and was saved from Belsen by Hanns Alexander.

  Lebert, Stephan and Norbert (eds.). My Father’s Keeper. An excellent anthology of interviews with the children of Nazi leaders.

  Leighton-Langer, Peter. The King’s Most Loyal Enemy Aliens.

  Lifton, Robert Jay. The Nazi Doctors. A survey of the terrible deeds overseen by the medical officials at the concentration camp, including a superb introduction.

  Longerich, Peter. Heinrich Himmler. Perhaps the definitive account of the man who ran the SS.

  Rees, Laurence. Auschwitz: The Nazis & the “Final Solution.” Research from this book became the foundation for a major BBC documentary series.

  Segev, Tom. Soldiers of Evil. An account of some of the main camp Kommandants, including Josef Kramer and Rudolf Höss.

  Shephard, Ben. After Daybreak: The Liberation of Belsen, 1945. An introduction to what took place in Belsen.

  Smith, Bradley. Reaching Judgment at Nuremberg. A useful primer, especially on the politics in the U.S., Britain and the Soviet Union that led up to the creation of the war crimes trials.

  Smith, Michael. Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews. A good description of the life of the British passport officer who saved thousands of Jews by giving them visas to escape from Berlin.

  Steinbacher, Sybille. Auschwitz: A History. A fine introduction to the camp and its background.

  Waite, Robert G. L. Vanguard of Nazism. The best book on the Freikorps movement.

  Walters, Guy. Hunting Evil. An exploration of the Nazi hunters, including a look at 1WCIT and Tony Somerhough’s War Crimes Group.

  Wiese, Christian, and Paul Betts (eds.). Years of Persecution, Years of Extermination. Chapter 10 is a good introduction to the extraordinary life of Konrad Morgen, and provides a reading list for further inquiry.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  * * *

  Many people helped me with this book; to all I owe a huge debt of gratitude. In particular:

  To the early supporters of the project, Farzad Mahootian and Charlie McCormick, who told me I had to do it when I didn’t think I should, or could. To my fabulous readers: Elizabeth Wheeler, Hali Taylor, Dominic Valentine, David Lillard, Gillian Tett, Kate and David Harding, Gregory Kent and Gillian Stern. To the incomparable Dabney Chapman, who assisted me on many a translation without notice and with such grace, and to Anthea Bell, who did a fabulous job translating Rudolf Höss’s writings. Thanks also to Marion Godfrey, Sheridan Marshall and Caroline Sloan for their help with the German text. Thanks to Darren Bennett for creating such clear and compelling maps for the book. To my interviewees: Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Lucille Eichengreen, Whitney Harris, Jozef Paczynski, Rainer Höss, Brigitte née Höss, Victor Weitzel, Julian Mayer, Julia Draper, Noel Egerton and Freddy Mayer.

  A special thanks to my cousin John Alexander, for his superb history of the Alexander family, the Alexander Torah, and his recordings with Uncle Hanns and the rest of the Alexander siblings.

  I would also like to thank the following for their help with my research efforts: Major Edwards and Fred Judge (Intelligence Corps Museum, Chicksands); Stephen Walton (Imperial War Museum, London); John Starling (Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corp Association); Helen Fry; Johanna Bleker (Berlin University); Rebecca Schwoch (University Hamburg); Iwona Kwaczala, Anna Skrzypinska, Piotr Setkiewicz and Wojciech Plosha (Auschwitz Museum, Oświęcim); Anthony Polonsky (Brandeis College); Léandre Mignon, Romain Meyer, Francois Moyse, Judith Cohen and Rebecca Erbelding (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum); Saul Ferrero (Yad Vashem); Klaus Tätzler (Bergen-Belsen Memorial Museum); Gillian Walnes (Anne Frank Trust UK); Vaclav Vochoska (Czech Embassy, Washington, DC); Aaron Breitbart (Wiesenthal Center, L.A.); Paul Dostert (Luxembourg Center for Documentation on the Second World War); Dr. Klaus Lankheit (Institut für Zeitgeschichte München); Richard Breitman (Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group); Herbert Levy; Manfred Deslaers (Centro Diaglo, Oświęcim); Monika Thomsen (Gemeinde Handewitt); Bridget McGing (Wiener Library); Peter Peterlini (Bundesverwaltungsamt); Dagmar Rumpf (Baden-Baden State Archive); Karen Strobel (Mannheim State Archive) and Steven Paskuly.

  Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and to the Random House Group for granting me permission to include extracts from Nuremberg Diary by G. M. Gilbert and Nuremberg Interviews, edited by Robert Gellately. While every effort has been made to trace the holders of copyright in all text extracts and images, I would like to apologize in advance for any errors or omissions. All corrections deemed necessary can be made in future reprints.

  Many family members deserve my gratitude for their support; it can be scary to open up a family’s past. In particular, I wish to thank my father, Frank Harding, for sharing his mother�
�s letters; my sister Amanda, who made the crazy visit to Luxembourg so much more fun; cousins Jackie and Annette, who generously shared stories about their parents, Hanns and Ann; Aunty Vivien, who was so refreshingly honest; Julian and Fiona Jakobi for sharing their family archives; Peter Sussmann for his clear memories and for his mother’s letters; cousin Judith for her account of Aunty Bing and life in Frankfurt; Marion “Cookie” Alexander, who found the treasure trove of Hanns and Paul’s wartime letters in the attic; Marion Hensel, for her memories of Hanns and Aunty Bing; Allan Morgenthau, who so kindly told me about his dear Helga; Michael and Angela Harding, for their courageous support; Kate (Weinberg) Harding, who was a champion from the start; and to my cousin James, whose unflinching belief in me, despite all evidence to the contrary, helped me get through my darkest hours.

  To my amazing team of international English-language editors: Tom Avery at William Heinemann, who acquired the book first and has so brilliantly steered the editing process ever since, and Thomas LeBien at Simon & Schuster and Janie Yoon at House of Anansi Press, who made significant contributions to the book. To my extraordinary agent, Patrick Walsh, and his fabulous team at Conville & Walsh, it has been a privilege to work with you all. Also thanks to Ivan Mulcahy for his early work on the book. Of course, despite all the help, I take total responsibility for all aspects of the book and each and every error is my own.