Commandant of Auschwitz

by Rudolf Hoess

  Eicke had frequently sentenced them to be flogged because of their antidisciplinarian behavior. They underwent this punishment with a joyous fervor that amounted almost to a perversion. They begged the commandant to increase their punishment, so that they might the better be able to testify to Jehovah. After they had been ordered to report for military service, which, needless to say, they flatly refused, indeed they refused even to put their signature to a military document, they too were condemned to death by the Reichsführer SS. When told of this in their cells, they went almost mad for joy and ecstasy, and could hardly wait for the day of execution. They wrung their hands, gazed enraptured up at the sky, and constantly cried: “Soon we shall be with Jehovah! How happy we are to have been chosen!” A few days earlier they had witnessed the execution of some of their fellow believers and they could hardly be kept under control, so great was their desire to be shot with them. Their frenzy was painful to watch. They had to be taken back to their cells by force. When their time came, they almost ran to the place of execution. They wished on no account to be bound, for they desired to be able to raise their hands to Jehovah. Transformed by ecstasy, they stood in front of the wooden wall of the rifle range, seemingly no longer of this world. Thus do I imagine that the first Christian martyrs must have appeared as they waited in the circus for the wild beasts to tear them in pieces. Their faces completely transformed, their eyes raised to heaven, and their hands clasped and lifted in prayer, they went to their death.[36]

  All who saw them die were deeply moved, and even the execution squad itself was affected.

  These Jehovah’s Witnesses became even more fanatical in their faith as a result of the martyrdom of their comrades. Several of them who had already signed a declaration that they would cease to proselytize, a declaration which helped them to obtain their freedom, now withdrew it, since they were anxious to suffer even more for Jehovah.

  As people, Jehovah’s Witnesses were quiet, industrious, and sociable men and women, who were always ready to help their fellow creatures. Most of them were craftsmen, though many were peasants from East Prussia. In peacetime, so long as they confined their activities to prayer and the service of God and their fraternal gatherings, they were of no danger to the state and indeed quite harmless generally. From 1937 onward, however, the increased proselytizing by the sect attracted the attention of the authorities, and investigations were made. These investigations showed that our enemies were zealously fostering the propagation of the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses in order to undermine by religious means the military morale of our people. So proselytizing by Jehovah’s Witnesses was forbidden. It became only too evident, at the outbreak of the war, what a danger would have arisen if the more energetic and fanatical of the Witnesses had not been taken into custody during the previous couple of years, and a stop put to their active proselytizing. In the camp the Witnesses were industrious and reliable workers, who could well have been sent out to work without guards. It was indeed their wish to suffer imprisonment for Jehovah’s sake. They stubbornly refused to do work that had any connection whatever with the war. The women Witnesses in Ravensbrück, for example, refused to roll bandages for military field dressings. Some of these fanatical women refused to line up for roll call and would only parade as a disorderly crowd.

  The Witnesses under arrest were members of the International Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but they knew virtually nothing about its organization. They only knew the officials who distributed the literature and who organized the meetings and the Bible studies. They were completely ignorant of the political use which was being made of their fanatical beliefs. If this was pointed out to them they laughed and could not understand. Their duty was simply to follow the call of Jehovah and be true to him. Jehovah spoke to them through inspiration, through visions, through the Bible when properly read, through the preachers and the writings of their sect. That was the plain truth, and it allowed of no argument. To suffer and even to die for Jehovah was their coveted aim. They believed that in this way they would be among the first to ascend and to join Jehovah’s elect. It was in this light that they regarded their imprisonment and detention in the concentration camp. They willingly submitted to all hardships. It was touching to observe the brotherly care they bestowed on each other, giving help and comfort whenever this was in any way possible.

  There were, however, many cases of Witnesses voluntarily “abjuring,” as they called it. This meant signing a declaration in which they dissociated themselves from the International Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses, undertook to recognize and obey all the laws and regulations of the state, and promised not to enroll any new Witnesses for Jehovah. On this basis of swearing to break their allegiance to the International Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses, they were eventually— later in the war, immediately—set free. In the early days, however, when their release did not at once follow upon their signature of the document of abjuration, they often wondered whether in fact the Reichsführer SS was to be trusted, and whether they would really be released. The abjurers were berated by their brother and sister Witnesses for their disloyalty to Jehovah. Many of the abjurers, especially among the women, later felt remorse and repudiated their signatures. The constant moral pressure was too great. It was quite impossible to shake their faith, and even those who had abjured still wished to remain completely loyal to their beliefs, even though they had broken away from their spiritual community. If their attention was drawn to contradictions in their doctrine or in the Bible, they would simply declare that this might appear so to human eyes, but with Jehovah there were no contradictions, that He and His doctrine were infallible.

  On many occasions Himmler, as well as Eicke, used the fanatical faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses as an example.

  SS men must have the same fanatical and unshakable faith in the National Socialist ideal and in Adolf Hitler that the Witnesses had in Jehovah. Only when all SS men believed as fanatically in their own philosophy would Adolf Hitler’s state be permanently secure.

  A Weltanschauung could only be established and permanently maintained by fanatics utterly prepared to sacrifice their egos for their ideals.[37]

  I must refer once more to the executions which took place in Sachsenhausen at the beginning of the war.

  How diverse were the ways in which men went to their death!

  Jehovah’s Witnesses were filled with a strangely contented, one might almost say radiant, exaltation, firm in the knowledge that they were about to be permitted to enter Jehovah’s kingdom.

  The men who refused to do their military service and the political saboteurs were generally composed, steadfast, and calm, resigned to the inevitability of their fate.

  The professional criminals, the real asocial types, were quite different: these were either cynical, brazen, feigning indifference, yet inwardly trembling before the Great Unknown. Or raving and struggling. Or whining for spiritual support.

  Here are two striking examples. Two brothers by the name of Sass had been arrested in Denmark after a police raid and, in accordance with international law, had been extradited to Germany. Both were internationally notorious thieves, who specialized in safe breaking. They had many previous convictions but had never served a complete sentence, since they had always managed to break out of prison. In spite of every safety precaution, they invariably found a way of escape. Their latest spectacular “job” had been to break into the very up-to-date vault of a big Berlin bank. They had dug a tunnel under the street, starting from a tomb in a graveyard across the way. After carefully dealing with the various alarm mechanisms, they entered the vault, where they were able to work in peace. They succeeded in removing a vast amount of gold, bills of exchange, and jewelry. They buried their loot securely in several graves, and helped themselves from their “bank” until they were caught.

  After being extradited, these two big-time crooks were sentenced by a Berlin court to twelve and ten years’ imprisonment; these were the maximum sentences that co
uld be imposed under German law.

  Two days after they had been sentenced, the Reichsführer SS, by virtue of his special powers, ordered them to be removed from prison and brought to Sachsenhausen for execution. They were to be shot at once.

  They were taken by truck straight to the sand pit. The officials who accompanied them said that they had been impertinent and demanding during the journey, and had wished to know where they were being taken.

  At the place of execution I read out to them the sentence of death. They at once began to shout: “That’s impossible. You’ve got it all wrong. We must first see a priest,” and so on and so forth. They absolutely refused to stand at the post and I had to have them bound to it. They struggled furiously. I was extremely relieved when I could give the order to fire.

  A man who had many previous convictions for indecent assault had enticed an eight-year-old girl into a doorway in Berlin, and there assaulted and strangled her. He was sentenced by the court to fifteen years’ imprisonment. On the same day he was brought to Sachsenhausen for execution.

  I can see him now as he stepped out of the truck at the place of execution. Grinning cynically, he was an evil and vicious-looking, middle-aged individual, a typical asocial. The Reichsführer SS had ordered that this professional criminal be shot straight away. When I informed him of his fate, his face turned a sickly yellow and he began whining and praying. Then he screamed for mercy, a repulsive sight. I had to have him bound to the post. Were these immoral creatures frightened of what they might find on “the other side”? I can see no other explanation for their behavior.

  During the Olympic Games the beggars and tramps were cleared off the streets and put in workhouses and concentration camps, and at the same time the many prostitutes and homosexuals were rounded up in the towns and at the bathing places. They were to be trained to do more useful work in the camps.

  The homosexuals in Dachau had already presented a problem, although there were not nearly so many of them there as in Sachsenhausen. The commandant and the commander of the protective custody camp believed that it would be best to distribute them throughout the camp, one or more in each room. I was against this, for I had learned to know them well during my own years in prison.

  It was not long before a constant stream of reports of homosexual activities began to flow in from every block. Punishment had no effect whatever.

  The epidemic spread. I now proposed that all homosexuals be kept together. They were given a block senior who understood how to deal with them. They were also kept away from the other prisoners at work. They were given the job of pushing the heavy rollers used to level the camp streets. Some prisoners from the other categories, also afflicted with this vice, were sent to join them.

  In this way the epidemic was at once stopped from spreading. Thereafter only isolated cases of this unnatural intercourse occurred, since a strict watch was kept on these men.

  In this connection an extraordinary case comes to mind. A Romanian prince, who lived with his mother in Munich, had become a public scandal owing to his unnatural behavior. Despite all political and social considerations, the publicity which he had brought on himself had become intolerable and he was brought to Dachau. The police thought that his excessive debaucheries had wearied him of women, and that he had taken to homosexuality as a pastime in order to get a new thrill. The Reichsführer SS believed that hard work and the strict life of a concentration camp would soon effect a cure.

  The moment he arrived, it was obvious to me what was wrong with him. His roaming eyes, the way he started at the slightest noise, his weak and dancerlike movements, all made me suspect the true homosexual at once. When the commandant harshly ordered him to go through the customary routine for new entrants, he began to weep. Then he did not want to have a bath, because he was shy. We saw the reason when he undressed. The whole of his body, from neck to wrists and ankles, was tattooed with obscene pictures. Curiously enough, these pictures not only depicted every form of perversion that the human brain can invent, but also normal intercourse between man and woman. Students of sexology would certainly have obtained some new and unusual material for their researches from this living picture book. On being interrogated, he said that he had acquired these tattooings in every sort of seaport, both in the Old World and the New.

  When his sexual picture book was photographed by the police, for all tattoo marks had to be recorded for the purposes of the State Criminal Police Office, he became sexually excited, particularly when touched. I told his room senior that he was directly responsible for him and that he was never to let him out of his sight. After a few hours I went to see how this rare plant was thriving, and I was met by the room senior who begged me to release him at once from his charge. It was, he said, rapidly “getting him down.” The prince stood the whole time in front of the stove, staring before him. Whenever anyone came near him, or touched him in order to move him away, he became sexually excited and began to masturbate. I took him to the doctor. No sooner had the doctor started to ask him questions about his condition than he began to get excited again. He said that since his earliest youth he had suffered from strong sexual impulses, for which he had never been able to find any means of complete satisfaction. He was perpetually seeking new ways to satisfy these impulses.

  The doctor prepared a report for the Reichsführer SS, which concluded by saying that the prisoner ought to be in a nursing home and not in a concentration camp. Any attempt to cure him by hard work was doomed to failure from the start.

  The report was sent off and while we were awaiting a reply the newcomer was given work, as had been ordered. His job was to cart sand. He could scarcely lift a shovel. He fell over while pushing an empty wheelbarrow. I had him taken back to his room, and informed the commandant. The commandant wished to see this performance with his own eyes on the following day. The man must work, for the Reichsführer SS had ordered it. On the next day he was staggering so that he could hardly get to the sand pit, although it was not far away. Work was out of the question; even Loritz realized this. He was taken back to his room and put to bed. That too was wrong, for he masturbated constantly. The doctor talked to him as to a sick child. It was all quite useless. They tried tying his hands, but that was not effective for long. He was given sedatives and kept cool. All in vain. He became weaker and weaker. Nevertheless he crawled out of bed in an attempt to reach the other prisoners. He was put under arrest, pending the decision of the Reichsführer SS. Two days later he was dead. He died while masturbating. Altogether he had been five weeks in the camp. The Heichsführer SS ordered a postmortem examination to be carried out and a detailed report sent to him. The examination, at which I was present, showed a complete physical debilitation but no abnormality. The professor at the Munich Institute of Pathology, who performed the post-mortem, had never before come across a similar case in all his experience covering a great many years.

  I was present when the commandant showed the man’s corpse to his mother. The mother said that his death was a blessing, both for himself and for her. His uncontrollable sexual life had made him impossible to everyone. She had consulted the most famous medical specialists throughout Europe, but without success. He had run away from every sanitarium. He had spent some time in a monastery. But he could not stay there either. She had even, in her despair, suggested to him he take his own life, but he lacked the courage to do so. Now he would at least be at peace with himself. It makes me shiver even now when I remember this case.

  In Sachsenhausen the homosexuals, from the very beginning, were kept in a special block. They were also kept away from the other prisoners at work. They were employed in the clay pit of a large brickworks. It was hard work, and each of them had to complete a definite amount of work per day.

  They were exposed to all kinds of weather, since a stipulated number of truckloads of clay had to be filled daily. The process of baking the clay could not be held up through lack of raw material. For this reason they were forced to work in all weathe
rs, summer and winter.

  The effect of hard work, which was supposed to make them “normal” again, varied greatly according to the different types of homosexuals.

  It had its most salutary effect on the Strichjungen. This was Berlin slang for the male prostitutes who thought to make a comfortable living and shirked any work, however easy. They could not be classified as true homosexuals—prostitution was just their trade.

  Youths of this sort were soon brought to their senses by hard work and the strict discipline of camp life. Most of them worked hard and took great care not to get into trouble, so that they might be released as soon as possible. They avoided association either with the genuine or with the viciously depraved type of homosexual. They hoped thus to show that they really had nothing at all in common with homosexuals.

  Many could be trained in this fashion and then released without any danger of their relapsing into their old ways of life. One lesson was effective enough, especially since most of them were young boys.

  A proportion, too, of those who had become homosexual out of inclination, men who though overindulgence had grown weary of women and sought fresh excitements to enliven their parasitical existence, could also be cured of their vice.