Rudolf Hoss

Rudolf Hoss, a German Nazi SS officer, was commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp during WWII. He oversaw the mass murder of 1,000,000 people, primarily Jews, in Auschwitz. Born into a well-off family, he was the only son and eldest of three children. Hoss was baptized as an infant, where his father envisioned him becoming a Catholic priest. While raised religiously, he rejected his faith when a priest informed his father, after a private confession, that Rudolf had pushed a boy down the stairs, resulting in a broken foot. After his father's sudden death, he joined the Army at age 14, served in battle at 15, during which time his mother died. At age 17, Hoss became the youngest non-commissioned officer and was awarded the Iron Cross. After WWI, he joined the Nazi party, but later served 10 years in prison for his participation in the beating death of a school teacher. Ironically, this crime enabled his personal relationship with Hitler's future private secretary. Upon his release, Hoss joined the SS and helped create the Auschwitz concentration camp, initially housing common criminals, but later was transformed in a facility for the extermination of Jews. After the war ended, Rudolf Hoss was arrested and sentenced to death. Four days before his execution, Rudolf Hess stated: "My conscience compels me to make the following declaration. In the solitude of my prison cell I have come to the bitter recognition that I have sinned gravely against humanity. As Commandant of Auschwitz I was responsible for carrying out part of the cruel plans of the ‘Third Reich’ for human destruction. In so doing I have inflicted terrible wounds on humanity. I caused unspeakable suffering for the Polish people in particular. I am to pay for this with my life. May the Lord God forgive one day what I have done." A few days before being hanged, Hoss received the Catholic Sacraments of Penance and the following day Holy Communion. Can Jesus's death on the cross actually compensate for this man's many personal failures?