Nazi Commander's House of Horrors Reveals Dark Secrets

Dan Snow & History Hit were given unique access to the house formerly home to the Commandant of the camp, Rudolf Höss.

Inside Dan uncovers chilling evidence of the horrors that unfolded 80 years ago and learns what life was like for the family whilst living there.

Special thanks to the Counter Extremism Project and the Auschwitz-Birkinau State Museum.

Additional thanks to Thomas Harding and Dr Schindler for speaking with us.

00:00 INTRO
00:51 THE CAMP
01:46 ENTERING THE HOUSE
06:27 THE BASEMENT
10:20 THE GARDEN
11:07 ABOUT HOSS AND HIS FAMILY WITH HISTORIAN THOMAS HARDING
12:55 WHO CAUGHT HOSS?
15:03 HOSS'S DAUGHTER
17:10 WHAT DID THE HOSS FAMILY KNOW?
20:00 THE HOUSE AFTER WW2
21:00 NEW DISCOVERIES

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[sebrandt]

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Thank you for helping us to remember, so this evil never shows itself again.

[youareaskyscraper]

Having a happy family home next to that horror really highlights the banality of evil. This is a phenomenal documentary.

[allistairmitchell]

My husband’s adoptive parents survived Auschwitz Birkinau and were reunited in Frankfurt by the Red Cross after the war. They found out they were both interned in the camps but separately and didn’t know the other one was next door. What hell on earth.

[angelfontanez]

I cannot comprehend how people moved on after losing their families. How does a father move on after losing his wife and kids. It’s beyond comprehension. These survivors are stronger than any human can ever imagine.

[letitbe]

This was so well done. Respectfully done. Thank you for continuing to give voices to those who were silenced & lives taken.

[lizwallberg]

too many videographers rely on sensationalism rather than bringing us the very real dualism of Hoss and his family. Thanks Dan for treating this with the respect it deserved. Never Again.

[ameliarosetravel]

I could never imagine being ok with living there after all the disgusting history that happened outside that home and knowing who lived within those walls. Such a hard video to watch but super important may everyone who died during the holocaust rest in peace 🙏🏻

[cynthiatolman]

This is so emotional. The juxtaposition between a 'happy' family mere yards away from the atrocities of the camp make it seem even more horrific, if that is even possible. Thank you.

[ScandzaVaeringjar]

The movie "The Zone of Interest" about the Höss families life in the house is insanely good.

[Hammyann]

When I was 12, my family visited Dachau while we were stationed in Germany with my father in the U.S. Army. I still remember the docent leading my mother and father and three sisters and me into a low ceiling rock built room and close the heavy metal door. There were shower heads in the ceiling. There were also white scratches on the walls of what the docent explained was a gas chamber. Then we were led outside to stand in front of two soot filled ovens. What haunts me as well is the memory of the quiet gratitude from the elderly Germans in the towns where we lived and visited. They would thank us for being Americans, for helping ensure the horrors of the Nazi regime could never rise again. As a child, I thought, Thank goodness we’ve learned from this. Thank goodness this could never happen again.

And yet, here we are.

[jamieford]

My grandfather was a survivor of Auschwitz. Had the tattoos, only spoke polish towards the end. He entered with his parents and siblings. He was the only survivor. He was liberated at the end of the war. He died back in 2001 from osteoporosis.

[lizgreer]

The fact a man could be a loving and kind father then turn around, walk through a tunnel, and become a sadistic tormentor and murderer, is truly terrifying. Because he was a normal person who allowed himself to do terrible things. This documentary was so important

[lindsaywarden]

Excellent delivery and presentation. EVERYONE should be MADE to watch this. If this is forgotten it will happen again.... It is happening in fact...

[Elfdaughter]

I'm pleased to see History Hit cover this. I think that in this day and age, it's really important that we remember events such as the Holocaust, the Atomic bomb on Japan, and other such atrocities - not that we say 'oh poor Jews' or 'oh, poor Japan' - but so that nothing like it EVER happens again to ANY person of ANY religion, colour or race. This is by no means to lessen the impact that these events had - far from it - but to draw lessons from it. Sadly, a lesson I feel a lot of modern political leaders seem not to have learnt.

[lesleythompson]

I did a tour of Auschwitz and the house was pointed out to us. We saw the gallows outside the gas chamber too. Sad, cold, bleak place. You can feel the sadness as you enter. This was fascinating, thank you

[НиколайТургенев-лз]

Thanks to the HH team. This video is a must to watch for everybody all over the World.

[AliciaBug]

I watched the film that came out in 2023 called "The Zone of Interest". It's a very ominous yet very profound film about the life of the Nazi Commander and his family and how they lived in that house in their every day life. I felt an intense sense of sorrow during the film which still is with me to this day. It was shocking to me how someone so evil could act as if he was a normal human being.

[helenjeanotterstroem]

See 'The Zone of Interest'. There is a scene of Hoess wandering around in his garden at dusk; he is standing by his swimming pool and behind him is the camp wall and two trees. Framed between the trees is the chimney of the crematorium, belching black and grey smoke and glowing red and orange at the top of the stack.

[MichaelBath-xvbd]

I to visited A Auschwitz.in 2012..
The Temperature was minus 6 with snow
It was a life changing experience...
I could not imagine the Hell of it.
My brain just can't compute..

[DJKLProductions]

Just to clarify, because this mistake is made by many people and unfortunately also by the historian at the beginning of the video: Auschwitz-Birkenau is not the same as Auschwitz. These were two separate, albeit related, concentration camps. The former is also known as Auschwitz II and the latter as Auschwitz I. There was also an Auschwitz III, also known as the Monowitz concentration camp.

The commandant's villa in question here belongs to Auschwitz I, the camp that we also see in the documentary. The concentration camp that is shown as Auschwitz in Schindler's List is Auschwitz-Birkenau.