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Rudolf Höss

File:Rudolf_Hoess,_Auschwitz._Album_Höcker_(cropped)(2).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Rudolf Höss

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Also known as Rudolf Hoeß, Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Hoeß

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

OverviewAI-generated

Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höß (1901–1947) was a German military officer, politician, and soldier who served in the Waffen-SS with the rank of Obersturmbannführer. A member of the Nazi Party and the Schutzstaffel, he participated in both World War I and World War II. Höß resided at Auschwitz and is associated with the works *Commandant of Auschwitz*, *KL Auschwitz seen by the SS*, and *Kommandant in Auschwitz*.

He was convicted of complicity and crimes against humanity. Höß was executed by capital punishment at Auschwitz I concentration camp in Oświęcim, where he was also buried. Born in Baden-Baden, he was a Catholic and had five children.

Synthesized by Vinony from 35 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Ferdinand
Gender
male
Citizenship
German Reich
Place of birth
Baden-Baden
Place of death
Auschwitz
Political party
Nazi Party
Languages spoken
German
Conflict
World War II
Military branch
Waffen-SS
Image
Rudolf Höß crop.jpg
Number of children
5
Residence
Auschwitz
Show 17 more facts
Commons category
Rudolf Höß
date of birth
1900-11-25
birth name
Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höß
manner of death
capital punishment
different from
Rudolf Hess
allegiance
Nazi Germany
commander of (DEPRECATED)
Auschwitz
investigated by
Georg Konrad Morgen
date of death
1947-04-16
start of work period
1934-00-00
partner in business or sport
Rudolf Mildner
cause of death
hanging to death
P8168
chilena
place of detention
Auschwitz
end of work period
1945-00-00
Sources (9)

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Encyclopedic overview

Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (also Höß, Hoeß, or Hoess; German: [hœs]; 25 November 1901 – 16 April 1947) 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.

Höss was the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz Concentration Camp (from 4 May 1940 to November 1943, and again from 8 May 1944 to 18 January 1945). He tested and implemented means to accelerate Hitler's order to systematically exterminate the Jewish population of Nazi-occupied Europe, known as the Final Solution. On the initiative of one of his subordinates, Karl Fritzsch, Höss introduced the pesticide Zyklon B to be used in gas chambers, where over a million people were killed.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Rudolf Höss” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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