Today in History: Nazi Officer Sentenced to Death

Rudolf Höss was a SS officer and a commandant in Auschwitz during the Holocaust and was hanged on this date in 1947. 

He managed to evade arrest for a year after the war by moving and changing his name. Eventually Jewish Nazi hunters from England uncovered his identity and had him arrested. 

On April 15, 1946, he testified in the Nuremberg Trials and admitted to his war crimes. On May 25th he was handed over to the Polish authorities and a year later had another trial that lasted from March 11th to 29th of 1947. On April 2nd he was sentenced to death by hanging, which was carried out on April 16, 1947. 

At the request of former camp inmates he was hanged in Auschwitz, next to the crematoriums where thousand of Jews died under his command. 

In this photo, you can see the gallows where he was hanged to death.

photos: Shutterstock