Obsessed with his position, efficiency, and order, Höss would burst into occasional fits of rage, particularly when he observed his subordinates bending his rules. Regarding the Final Solution, Höss said, “the reasons behind the extermination order seemed right,” “I had been given an order, and I had to carry it out,” and “what the Führer or his second-in-command ordered was always right.” He claimed that the gas experiments made him “uncomfortable,” but the killing “did not cause much concern.” He felt that gassing was the most effective procedure because the guards were spared “blood baths” and the victims were “spared suffering.” This was not true: it took the victims up to fifteen minutes to die, and the guards knew everyone was dead “when the screams stopped.” The only regrets Höss ever expressed in his autobiography were not spending more time with his family; he never expressed any regret about his camp crimes.

As the war came to an end, Höss went into hiding before being arrested on March 11, 1946. He was put on trial for war crimes at Nuremberg and wrote his autobiography in prison. He was sentenced to death by hanging on April 2, 1947, and the sentence was carried out on April 16 in Auschwitz next to a crematorium near the camp’s Gestapo building.

Maksymilian Kolbe

Raymund Kolbe was born in 1894 to a humble, poor family. In 1907 he joined the Conventual Franciscans and took the name Maksymilian in 1910 when he entered the novitiate, then Maria in 1914 when he professed final vows. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1918 and maintained a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. After the German invasion of Poland, he stayed in the monastery in Niepokalanów to organize a temporary hospital. He was arrested in September 1939 but released in December; he sheltered refugees, hid two thousand Jews in the friary, and published anti-Nazi materials. The testimony of a Niepokalanów local stated, “When Jews came to me asking for a piece of bread, I asked Father Maksymilian if I could give it to them in good conscience, and he answered me, ‘Yes, it is necessary to do this, because all men are our brothers.’”

On February 17, 1941, the Germans shut down the monastery. Kolbe was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Pawiak, then transferred to Auschwitz on May 28. He arrived on May 29 and received prisoner number 16670. Even in the camp, he retained his humility and compassion and performed priestly duties in secret. On July 29, 1941, an inmate from Block 14, Father Kolbe’s block, escaped. As punishment, Fritzsch sentenced ten prisoners to immurement. One young man, Prisoner 5659, Franciszek Gajowniczek, said he had a family and begged for mercy. Father Kolbe stepped forward and said in German, “I’m a Catholic priest. I’d like to take this man’s place, because he has a wife and children.” Everyone, even Fritzsch, was speechless, but Fritzsch permitted the exchange, because religious were some of the most hated prisoners.