Commandant of Auschwitz: The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess

An extraordinary and unique document: Hoess was in charge of the huge extermination camp in Poland where the Nazis murdered some three million Jews, from the time of its creation in 1940 until late in 1943, by which time the mass exterminations were half completed. Before this, he had worked in other concentration camps, and afterward, he was at the Inspectorate in Berlin. He thus knew more, both first-hand and as an administrator, about Nazi Germany's greatest crime. Taken prisoner by the British, he was handed over to the Poles, tried, sentenced to death, taken back to Auschwitz, and there hanged. He was ordered to write his autobiography. Hoess repeatedly says he was glad to write the book. He enjoyed the work. And finally, the most careful checking has shown that he took great pains to tell the truth. Here we have painted by his hand, a vivid and unforgettable self-portrait of one of the great monsters of all time. To this are added portraits of some of his more spectacular fellow criminals. The royalties from this macabre but historically important book go to the fund set up to help the few survivors from the Auschwitz camps.