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Short formats · Perpetrators on the stand · F71:28 min

15 April 1946: Rudolf Höss on the stand

15 April 1946, Nuremberg. Rudolf Höss, commandant of Auschwitz 1940 to 1943, testifies as a witness. He was called not by the prosecution but by Dr. Kurt Kauffmann, counsel for Kaltenbrunner. Question and answer in the original audio, without music.

6 documented0 open10 Sources

StatementsSources

Short format F7

Statements

Every on-screen statement of the episode, in order. Red only when the source carries it word for word; open when a check is missing.

  1. 01
    documented

    15 April 1946: the commandant of Auschwitz testifies as a witness.

    IMT Vol. 11, p. 396IMT Vol. 11, p. 397IMT Vol. 2

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  2. 02
    documented

    Nuremberg, 15 April 1946. Rudolf Höss, commandant 1940 to 1943, called by Dr. Kauffmann, counsel for Kaltenbrunner.

    IMT Vol. 11, p. 396IMT Vol. 11IMT Vol. 11, p. 397IMT Vol. 2

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  3. 03
    documented

    Kauffmann: whether Höss ever felt pity with the victims, thinking of his own family and children. Höss: Yes.

    IMT Vol. 11, p. 401

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  4. 04
    documented

    Kauffmann: Eichmann told Höss that more than 2 million Jews had been destroyed in Auschwitz, men, women and children. Höss: Yes.

    IMT Vol. 11, p. 397

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  5. 05
    documented

    Höss: in view of all his doubts, the only and decisive argument was the strict order and the reason given by Reichsführer Himmler.

    IMT Vol. 11, p. 401

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  6. 06
    documented

    Asked whether the Defendant Kaltenbrunner ever inspected the camp, Höss answers: no, he did not.

    IMT Vol. 11, p. 401IMT Vol. 11, p. 402

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  7. 07
    question

    What did the prosecutor ask him next? Part 2.

Short format F7

Sources

Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT, “Blue Series”), English edition. Page = printed page.

  1. IMT Vol. 11, p. 396

    Document
    IMT Vol. 11 (transcript 15.4.1946)
    Volume
    11
    Page
    396 (PDF page 406)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    DR. KAUFFMANN: With the agreement of the Tribunal, I now call the witness Hoess.

  2. IMT Vol. 11, p. 397

    Document
    IMT Vol. 11 (transcript 15.4.1946)
    Volume
    11
    Page
    397 (PDF page 407)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    From 1940 to 1943, you were the Commander of the camp at Auschwitz. Is that true? HOESS: Yes. DR. KAUFFMANN: And during that time, hundreds of thousands of human beings were sent to their death there. Is that correct? HOESS: Yes.

  3. IMT Vol. 11, p. 396

    Document
    IMT Vol. 11 (transcript)
    Volume
    11
    Page
    396 (PDF page 406)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    DAY Monday, 15 April 1946

  4. IMT Vol. 2

    Document
    IMT Vol. 2 (title page)
    Volume
    2
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    TRIAL OF THE MAJOR WAR CRIMINALS BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL NUREMBERG

  5. IMT Vol. 11

    Document
    IMT Vol. 11
    Volume
    11
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    DR. KURT KAUFFM ANN (Counsel for Defendant Kaltenbrunner)

  6. IMT Vol. 11, p. 401

    Document
    IMT Vol. 11 (transcript 15.4.1946)
    Volume
    11
    Page
    401 (PDF page 411)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    DR. KAUFFMANN: Did you yourself ever feel pity with the victims, thinking of your own family and children? HOESS: Yes.

  7. IMT Vol. 11, p. 397

    Document
    IMT Vol. 11 (transcript 15.4.1946)
    Volume
    11
    Page
    397 (PDF page 407)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    DR. KAUFFMANN: Is it furthermore true that Eichmann stated to you that in Auschwitz a total sum of more than 2 million Jews had been destroyed? HOESS: Yes. DR. KAUFFMANN: Men, women, and children? HOESS: Yes.

  8. IMT Vol. 11, p. 401

    Document
    IMT Vol. 11 (transcript 15.4.1946)
    Volume
    11
    Page
    401 (PDF page 411)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    DR. KAUFFMANN: How was it possible for you to carry out these actions in spite of this? HOESS: In view of all these doubts which I had, the only one and decisive argument was the strict order and the reason given for it by the Reichsf^hrer Himmler.

  9. IMT Vol. 11, p. 401

    Document
    IMT Vol. 11 (transcript 15.4.1946)
    Volume
    11
    Page
    401 (PDF page 411)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    DR. KAUFFMANN: Did the Defendant Kaltenbrunner ever inspect the camp?

  10. IMT Vol. 11, p. 402

    Document
    IMT Vol. 11 (transcript 15.4.1946)
    Volume
    11
    Page
    402 (PDF page 412)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    15 April 46 HOESS: No. DR. KAUFFMANN: Did you ever talk with Kaltenbrunner with reference to your task?

Further sources of the episode

audio NARA 238.1951B, 238.1952B · record IMT Vol. 11, pp. 396 to 402 · film NARA 111-ADC · stamp sound: Subhashish Panigrahi, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

How to cite this episode

FUNDSTELLE: „15 April 1946: Rudolf Höss on the stand“, Nuremberg Files, Short format F7. https://fundstelle.online/en/short/f7/

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Narrator voice partly AI-generated (labelled). Original sound, transcripts and films come from public archives, credited per episode.