Commandant of Auschwitz

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE

This autobiography was written in a Polish prison, and for the following facts concerning Hoess and the writing of it I am principally indebted to Dr. Martin Broszat, who wrote the introduction to the German edition.[1]

Hoess was arrested by the British Military Police near Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, on March 11, 1946. He was interrogated by Field Security on March 13 and 14. Later that month he was handed over to the Americans and taken to Nuremberg, where he was again interrogated, in April, in connection with the trial of Kaltenbrunner, the so-called “Pohl Trial,” and the “IG Farben Trial.”[2]

During the period April 9-16 he had several conversations with the American prison psychiatrist, Dr. Gilbert.[3]

On May 25, 1946, he was handed over to the Polish authorities and removed to Cracow and later to Warsaw to await trial. The trial did not take place until the following March. He was condemned to death, and executed in April 1947.

What Hoess wrote in prison, the greater part of which is translated and reproduced here, falls into two parts. There is his autobiography, which constitutes pages 29 to 202 and which is given in its entirety so far as it is legible. This was written in January and February of 1947, that is to say, after the preliminary inquiries had been completed, but before he faced trial. The remainder of this book, here given in the form of appendices, was written in connection with that preliminary inquiry or with other inquiries being simultaneously carried out by Dr. Jan Sehn, the examining judge. These documents are of varying interest, and are not all reproduced in full here.[4]

The diary is handwritten and a careful comparison of the handwriting with other documents known to have been written by Hoess, both before and after his arrest, proves its authenticity beyond a shadow of doubt. The other documents are in most cases typewritten, some being stenographic transcriptions, but internal evidence proves them to be certainly genuine as well. The original documents are the property of the High Commission for the Examination of Hitlerite Crimes in Poland (Gloiimej Komisji Badania Zbrodni Hitlerowskich w Polsce), but the Auschwitz Museum made a photostat available to Dr. Broszat, who has fully tested its authenticity.

These documents were first published, in part, in 1951, in a Polish translation edited and introduced by the well-known Polish criminologist, Dr. Stanislaw Batawia, who had had some thirteen conversations with Hoess in Cracow prison, and who had then suggested to him that he write his autobiography. This edition contained all the autobiography and a selection of the other documents. The first complete edition, containing all the documents as well as Hoess’s last letters to his wife and children,[5] was also a Polish translation, appearing in 1956 and with an introduction and various explanatory-notes by Dr. Jan Sehn.[6]

The autobiography and the other documents have, as a result of these Polish editions, been known to scholars for many years, and are quoted in most of the books dealing with Nazi atrocities or allied subjects.[7]

But this English translation and the edition being simultaneously printed in Germany, are the first to appear in any language other than Polish. In the German edition the autobiography has been broken up and given chapter headings; but in this English edition it has been considered better to print the text exactly as Hoess wrote it. Furthermore, the German edition is not unabridged. For example, the incident of the Romanian prince has been omitted, presumably for reasons of squeamishness. Here the autobiography is given in its entirety: where there are gaps, indicated by…, this is in all cases save one because such brief gaps, all of only a few words, exist in the transcribed typescript and are due to the illegibility of the original manuscript.

The translator would like to express his personal gratitude to Mr. Andrew Foster-Melliar for his help both in preparing the first draft of this translation and in correcting the proofs.