Rudolf Höss

German war criminal, commandant of Auschwitz (1901–1947)

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Lived 1901–1947, aged 46Germany

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Wikipedia
48 languages
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Rank in Germany
#7
Politicians
Era
1901–1947
Aged 46

Summary

Updated 2026-05-29

Auschwitz commandant whose industrial-scale atrocities made him a central figure in Holocaust prosecutions. Captured under an assumed identity postwar, tried by Poland, executed for crimes against camp prisoners.

Biography

About

Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss was a German SS officer and the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp. After the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II, he lived under a false name until discovered by the British, who then turned him over to Polish authorities. Höss was convicted in Poland and executed for war crimes committed on the prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp and for his role in the Holocaust.

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