Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz

There have been many books written about the Holocaust, and I have read quite a few of them; Hanns and Rudolf by Thomas Harding adds a new dimension to the bibliography, in that it chronicles the lives of two Germans in parallel-one a German Jew who along with his family, barely made it out of Nazi Germany alive, and the other the Kommandant of Auschwitz. What makes this story unique is that it offers the personal perspective of each man’s experience, allowing the reader to view the horror in detail through the eyes of both men.

Hanns Alexander and his twin brother Paul were members of an affluent Jewish family in Berlin. Rudolf Höss was a farmer who fell in with a young Adolf Hitler, getting caught up in the Beer Hall Putsch which show more got him imprisoned for 4 years. As an early member of the Nazi party, Höss would climb the ranks until becoming a Kommandant of the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. He would be instrumental in the design and implementation of the most brutal prison system the world has ever seen.

Thomas Harding has put together a well written historical biography of both men, with their life stories told in tandem from childhood to their fateful meeting at war’s end. Hanns, along with his family were able to escape to England, where both he and his brother Paul enlisted in the British army, with Hanns becoming a lead investigator and Nazi Hunter, in a quest to bring the Reich’s leaders to justice. Hanns is the man responsible for tracking and capturing Rudolf Höss, who would be convicted during the Nuremberg Trials.

As the world is losing the last remaining witnesses to World War II, this book is a reminder of what the human race is capable of, both good and bad, while educating a new generation in what sacrifices have been made by their ancestors. The dual biographies go into intricate detail concerning events that have contributed to the rise of the Nazi party and the war that ravaged much of Europe; events such as the 1929 Stock Market crash, and its effect on the German economy, as well as the ineffective Weimar Government, which fermented Nationalism among most of the population.

Harding presents an excellent chronological time line of events, in an easy to follow style which reads like a thrilling novel. Much of the personal information on Höss is taken from his autobiography, written while in prison awaiting trial. He was the first high ranking officer to admit to his crimes, while giving detailed information on the building of the concentration camp system and unlike his peers, Höss laid bare the Reich’s objectives of wiping European Jews from the face of the earth.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in World War II history, Jewish Studies, or a compelling biography with a gripping story. show less

Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz, by Thomas Harding, is a brilliantly written and well-researched book.

This non-fiction account of two men whose lives converge, told through the eyes of the author, whose uncle was Lieutenant Hanns Alexander. Hanns was a Jewish German, and also the son of an immigrant family who fled Germany for England. They had to turn over all of their holdings in order to gain exit visas.

Rudolph Hoss (not to be confused with Rudolf Hess) was a farmer, a man who enjoyed the earth and farming. Farming eventually became far removed from his life, and it eluded him once he joined the "Schutz-Staffel" (SS), under the suggestion of Heinrich Himmler. show more

The author refers to the two men by their given name, and I shall do the same. Their personal lives are depicted throughout the pages, regarding their childhoods, their families, their adult lives and their aspirations.

One thing that struck me was the dedication to Judaism within the Alexander family. And, cemented within that, is the family Torah, the "Alexander Torah".

Within rotating chapters detailing the lives of both Hanns and Rudolf, the reader gains an intense perspective of their backgrounds, their personal lives, their goals and their individual quests in the name of country and war.

Hanns' life takes dramatic turns once he is in England. He wants nothing more than to be viewed as "English as possible" and wants to gain citizenship. He joins the British Army, and is told that once he serves his enlistment time, he would gain citizenship. This enlistment leads to more than he could ever imagine.

The pages are infused with compelling documentation, letters, forms, photographs, testimonies, and portions of Rudolf's own journal entries. From all of the intense documentations, one is given perspectives that are unimaginable, concerning Rudolf's rise to Kommandant, not only Kommandant, but Kommandant of Auschwitz.

Rudolf writes forthrightly concerning the atrocities he is involved with, and this reader could see how his initial attitude of concern for Jews eventually turns into one of pure evilness and lack of caring and concern for humanity. How he went from a man who was repulsed by witnessing camp murders (yet, stood there watching as if it was a normal fact of life, to save his reputation), to a man whose attitude changed dramatically. He became a man possessed with death and destruction, and a man who had no remorse or concern for his implementation of the gas chambers.

He had a hand in the design and was witness to the first gassings, he programmed the entire operation, employing not only his power, but whatever was available in order to incorporate destruction and horrific atrocities. He oversaw over one million individuals exterminated at the hands of the Nazis. He was the master planner, and created the extermination program that existed, including the procedures, schedules, structures, and instructions. He was fearless, merciless and steadfast in his pursuit to please his superiors.

Hanns moved up through the ranks, and his Lieutenant status saw him eventually given the status of respect he desired. He took part in the Normandy Landing. In 1945 he was afforded a role on the newly formed War crimes Investigation Team for England, based in a Brussels suburb. This position took him to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where he saw the remains of unspeakable acts of genocide, after liberation.

His reputation fostered, he was given the job as an interpreter, taking notes from interviews and witness statements in German and then transcribing them into English. he interviewed several high-ranking individuals affiliated with Auschwitz, and other individuals from the SS. He untiring efforts garnered information that proved that certain SS members knew that gassings/exterminations occurred at Auschwitz.

The war crimes trial began with the trial of Josef Kramer and forty four other people. Hanns could see, after a few days of trial testimony, Hanns knew in his heart of hearts that there were others who were conspirators or who headed the exterminations of the Jews.

The War Crimes Group was created, and those involved, including Hanns, were trying to locate SS high ranking officials through their intelligence experise. In 1946, he looked over the list of war criminals, and Rudolf's name was next. He began investigating and searching for Rudolf. He was relentless in his investigation and searching. He left no stone unturned, every name was interviewed and reinterviewed. On March 10 1946, Rudolf was taken to prison.

From there, the rest is history. Rudolf confessed to murdering over two million individuals. He was hanged at Auschwitz, in the same spot where Jews were hung.

Hanns and Rudolf is an incredibly compelling book, reading like a spy story of sorts. It is intense, written brilliantly and with extreme accuracy, through the dedication of exhaustive research in all of its formats. Harding has done humanity an amazing tribute to the tirelessness of Hanns and his efforts to right the wrongs through justice being done.

Harding has also shown the world a side of Rudolf that is invaluable for historical purposes. The reader is taken on a journey of a man who controlled his emotions, controlled the deaths of Jews, and who controlled Auschwitz with a firm hand.

I knew the book would be intense and filled with horrific situations and events. Yet, I read it, and within the pages of depictions of Auschwitz and the lack of humanity within the electrified fences, I was chilled to the bone reading about some of the circumstances, and more chilled and horrified at how Rudolf seemed to slough off the atrocities as if they were nothing of importance.

Harding's efforts are to be applauded. Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz is a work of extreme brilliance and Thomas Harding is masterful in the telling. From the opening page, describing Hanns' funeral, to the last page, I was captivated and involved in reading the relaying of history, and inhaling the familial dynamics, especially of the Alexander family. Hanns and Rudolf belongs on every book shelf, personal or otherwise. It is books such as this that will keep history alive, and will keep it not only for this generation, but generations past, and generations in the future. It is an invaluable historical resource.

I want to thank Leah Johanson, from Simon and Schuster for the Advanced Uncorrected Proof of Hanns and Rudolf. I am grateful to have received it, and to have read it. Thank you! show less

I found this book gripping, not because it was enjoyable but because of the insight it gave into the development of the characters of the two men whose lives it followed. It traces the life of Rudolf Hoss (not Hess) who became the camp commandant of Auschwitz, designing and implementing the gas chambers and the process for the annihilation of Jews, Russian prisoners of war, Roma and others. It also traces the life of Hanns Alexander, a German-born Jew who eventually tracked Hoss down, leading to his conviction and execution.

A gripping read, and one that gives fascinating insights into the development of Nazism, as well as provoking me to continue to use my critical faculties and to challenge the misuse of authority and the mistreatment show more of people anywhere in life I come across it. show less

Harding has written a homage to his great-uncle, Hanns Alexander, who, as Th.H. learned only at his funeral late in 2006, had tracked down and arrested Rudolf Höss (Höß), who, for many years, had been the Commandant of Auschwitz. Harding interweaves in this book the life-stories of the two men.
Rudolf Höss was born in 1901 to a German officer who had served in Africa, a patriotic German and devout Catholic on the edge of middle-class respectability. Hanns Alexander, born 1917, was the son of a prominent Jewish medical practitioner in Berlin in the 1920s. The upper-bourgeois family fled to Britain in the 1930s and H.A. succeeded in joining the British army (not a straight-forward undertaking for a German refugee; German refugees were show more generally interned). This book is to a large part an account of the respective lives of these two men and their families and a gripping tale of the hunt to track down Höss after the war.

The author uses the first name for both men throughout the book. He explains that, in doing so, he wishes to emphasise that both these men are human beings. Nevertheless, to a German this would simply be unacceptable.

Höss, who designed and supervised the efficient industrial-scale killing of millions, was not a sadistic monster but a man who was attached to and cared for his wife and children. So for me the central question is: How can a “normal person” become de-sensitised to the extent that he is capable to organize the ‘conveyor-belt’ killing of millions of human beings, to carry out this task unquestioning and to the utmost efficiency as ordered by his superiors?

In describing his youth, this book gives a hint of an answer, probably as well as any answer may at all be found: The foundation to Höss’ unquestioning obedience was probably instilled in early childhood by his father. In his own account, written 1946 in prison - except when protecting his family, Höss’ account of his life is generally considered trustworthy in contrast to documents by other prominent Nazis who lied to protect themselves - he calls his father a “fanatic and bigot” whom he feared and despised and describes his mother as distant. He had no playmates except a pony which he was given on his 7th birthday which he loved and took care of; the two became inseparable. Of course, he shares with many such a childhood and, being given a pony, it may even be considered privileged: there must have been many children growing up in very much worse circumstances. He later became a fanatic follower of Hitler as so many others.

A photograph taken at the liberation of Bergen-Belsen shows Anita Lasker who had survived Auschwitz by playing the cello in the camp orchestra.
In the last chapter, the author describes meeting on a visit to Auschwitz Rainer Höss , a grandson of Rudolf Höss. On finding out about his grandfather’s life, he broke with his family and befriended and was adopted by Eva Mozes Ko , who with her twin sister had survived the medical experiments of Dr. Mengele (just!).
The book could have been shortened; it would not have lost any of its dramatic impact. (VII / VIII-15) show less

An interesting addition to the many books on the holocaust but not one that adds a great deal to what we already know. However, the back story of the two men makes for an interesting comparison although the detective story section of the hunt for the Auschwitz commandant is not as gripping as the book's blurb suggests.

Fascinating and at times deeply disturbing but a book that will stay with me for a long time.

This is my second book by the author Thomas Harding having read and really enjoyed [b:The House by the Lake|26210499|The House by the Lake|Thomas Harding|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1461946175s/26210499.jpg|44363048][bc:The House by the Lake|26210499|The House by the Lake|Thomas Harding|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1461946175s/26210499.jpg|44363048] I decided to try another of his books and this one sounded fascinating.

While attending his great uncle’s funeral in 2006 Thomas Harding discovers that Hanns Alexander, whose Jewish family fled to Britain from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, was responsibable for hunting down and capturing show more the notorious and ruthless commandant of Autwitz Rudolf Höss at the end of World War Two. In this engaging account based on archival materials, family letters, tape recordings, and interviews with survivors, Harding takes us through the two men's lives and we lean a great deal about both and their backgrounds. This was probably the most fascinating part of the book for me as I thoroughly enjoyed reading the early life's of these two men and their families.

I loved the fact that the writing is clear and concise and Harding has a story to tell and does so in a fashion that is easy to follow and entertaining for the reader. I had come across Höss in a number of accounts before and while I knew he was a a monster this books enlightens us to his early career and his family which was new material for me. Hanns Alexander a German Jew living in England Is the other protagonist of this book and his early life and family and how he became a Nazi Hunter makes for entertaing reading. The book contains Family trees, photos and maps which for me is really important when reading books on historical figures.

This was just the book I needed to take me out of my reading slump and while I may have read a great deal about this period in history I still find something new and educational in every book I pick up. A book that entertained, educated and at times make me gasp out loud is the reason this one gets the 5 * treatment from me. show less

A book highly recommended to me and one I regret to have finished today. At times harrowing in its content it follows the parallel lives of two men whose destinies came together in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of Nazi Germany. A fascinating book that raises questions of how the holocaust evolved and how some stood up against it while others embraced its evil ideology. Despite the content I enjoyed this book which has at its core the pursuit of justice for those who perished in the concentration camps. Well worth a read and one for the re-read pile at some point in the future!