The Monstrous Nazi & Family Man

 We've been getting out early to walk at area Conservation Areas, taking advantage of the warm weather, both glorious and ominous. As a result I've been getting to this blog later and later it seems.

We've managed to watch seven out of the ten films up for top picture at this year's Oscars with a couple more on the horizon. The most chilling -- well, other than Oppenheimer -- is The Zone of Interest, another biopic. The title refers to the exclusion area around Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous death camp where more than three million European Jews starved to death or were murdered by the Nazis during WWII. 

Within the zone, essentially up against one of the walls of Auschwitz, was the home of the commandant, Rudolf Hoess. He lived there with his wife, Hedwig, and their children. It was a home with a garden maintained by prisoners, and a swimming pool. They went on picnics and canoe rides in a nearby river. It was seemingly idyllic, except for the horrors unfolding nearby. 

                                                                          Hoess and Family

In the film it's evident that Hedwig was aware of the purpose of the camp, as was at least one of the older children. Yet when Rudolf was promoted to a role away from Auschwitz she implored him, successfully, to arrange for them to stay. 

As we watched, Hannah Arendt's term "the banality of evil" to describe the way many Germans participated in evil in a chillingly matter-of-fact way came to mind. 

After the war Hoess and his family faded into the background of German society with Rudolf working under an assumed name as a gardener. He was found by a German Jewish officer who worked for the British, brought to trial, and hanged from a gallows built at Auschwitz for this specific purpose. 

I've been reading more about  Hoess's life in a book called Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz. It described Hoess's early years in a strict but devout Roman Catholic family and his early thoughts about entering the priesthood. Instead he lied about his age and fought in WW1 at only fifteen. After the war he become a follower of Hitler and joined the Nazi movement. 

Before his death in 1947 Hoess wrote a detailed memoir describing his role, including his dedication to ever more efficient ways to gas inmates and incinerate their bodies. Much would have been lost without his candour. 

 How does someone become what we might describe as a monster? The film shows his devotion to his family and the love he had for horses from childhood, even as he carrying out "the Final Solution." Considerable attention was given to recreating the Hoess home from photographs and on the walls there are crosses, truly an abomination.

  We never see inside Auschwitz but we hear the distant sounds of destruction and see the smoke rising from the chimneys. It makes the narrative even more chilling, in my estimation. This isn't an easy film to watch but it is exceptional storytelling with fine performances.