Rudolphs': Man of Evil

The history of humanity was violated drastically during the first half of the twentieth century. The atrocities of the Holocaust would be almost unbelievable if it were not for the documents, stories and most important the victims. One of the documents that we have to look at and see what occurred is the biography/confessional of the SS Kommandant of Auschwitz, Rudolph HÐ"¶ss. This is a chilling account of a high-ranking SS officer in the Nazi Party. Rudolph HÐ"¶ss wrote quite a few things that I had to read a second time because I was speechless. However, the things that happened were real and indeed occurred. I do wonder, were his writings "watered-down," because a guilty man would most likely try to make it sound better than it was to save his life.

Rudolph HÐ"¶ss' life began in a very strict, pro-Catholic home outside the German town of Baden-Baden. He spent his young years on a farm and loved horses and water. His father, a devout Catholic, was determined that his son would enter the church and even made a vow for his son that young Rudolph would one day be a priest. All was well, until he was thirteen when the church betrayed him (HÐ"¶ss, pg. 52) and he was changed forever. The next year his father passed away. He immediately wanted to join the military. His family was strongly against this, but secretly he joined the same regiment his father and grandfather served. By the time he was sixteen, he was serving on the front line during World War I. HÐ"¶ss developed a regiment military mentality very early on.

Like many, once HÐ"¶ss returned from the war, he found it difficult to engage with civilian life. He possessed the "Front Mentality" and found it difficult to cope. HÐ"¶ss joined the Friekorps and explained, 'the problem of my profession was suddenly solved! (HÐ"¶ss, pg. 60) After five years in the Friekorps, HÐ"¶ss found himself a defendant in the Parchimer Vehme murder trial. He was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison. However, after six years, he was released because of an Amnesty Law that went into effect. Soon after being released, he was married and for the next six years, he led a civilian life. HÐ"¶ss did join the NSDAP (Nazi Party) in 1922 but was not an active member and did not think much about them. In 1934 that would change. Heinrich Himmler contacted HÐ"¶ss and asked him to join the active SS. His experience in the SS would take him to various camps and finally to Auschwitz. His name would forever be part of history.

Rudolph HÐ"¶ss had goals in his life like many young men. During his time in prison, he became acquainted with an organization called the Artamans. This group left a great impression on HÐ"¶ss. The Artamans were a group of young men and women who wanted to lead a simple way of life in the country and escape the complicated city life. HÐ"¶ss explained that this was truly his "long-sought goal" (HÐ"¶ss pg. 79) In fact, HÐ"¶ss met his wife in the Artaman community. To simply own a plot of German land and lead a natural life harmonious with nature was HÐ"¶ss' only plan. However, when to opportunity arose for him to return to the life of a soldier a struggle began. He had a hard time deciding if leaving the Artaman community was worth it. HÐ"¶ss finally decided that this would just be a deviation in the plan. By serving in the SS, HÐ"¶ss and his wife would gain financially and eventually they would be able to return to the community. Their goal would be had in due time. They would have to be patient.

Rudolph HÐ"¶ss' ideology was his downfall. This was the case for many of the members of the Nazi Party in the mid-1930s. HÐ"¶ss explains that his "tremendous love for my country and my feeling for everything German brought me into the NSDAP and into the SS." (HÐ"¶ss Pg. 185) The totalitarianism ideology that the Nazi Party ruled Germany with was fundamental in understanding HÐ"¶ss' thought process and what went on in his psyche. The German people were hungry and desperate for a political system that would end the chaos that ensued in society. They were ready to welcome anything that would cure the disease. The NSDAP appeared at the right time and place and disguised itself as a legitimate political system that would answer the needs of the people Ð'- or so they thought.

The Nazi party was able to look efficient - like a well-oiled machine. It began to appeal to the masses and when Himmler called HÐ"¶ss to become active, he answered and became part of the machine. The ideological Nazi machine was able to turn normal Germans into people who needed commands, regiment and total order. This would be their answer. HÐ"¶ss was so completely wrapped up in the need to be controlled that he lost all independence. Did simply the Third Reich and their propaganda enchant HÐ"¶ss? Through his upbringing, time in the military, prison and back into military, he was always in an environment where he was not the one in control. Could HÐ"¶ss ever make real decisions on his own accord?

So again, once the decision to leave the Artaman community was made, HÐ"¶ss would be back in the mindset where decisions would be made for him. While on the outside he said he wanted a plot of land for him and his family, on the inside, he had a longing desire to return to regiment and order. He loved his wife and family but HÐ"¶ss loved his country more. HÐ"¶ss explained that, "the only thing I could see was the active military life of being a soldier again." This flaw of putting country primarily first cost him dearly.

Once HÐ"¶ss entered the active SS, through observation, he came up with a theory on the type of guards that he worked with. There were three types of guards. He based his theory on observing guards during his time in prison and leading groups in the concentration camps. All three of these three types of men worked for him. The first type is the guard who is mean, perverted, and sadistic and would do whatever to make a prisoners life a living-hell. The second was what the majority was made up of. These were the men who where simply taking orders and doing what they were supposed to. They do not enjoy hurting or harming the prisoners but simply do what is task. It is their job. The third type is compassionate and will do anything to alleviate human suffering. They try to ease the prisoner's life. By keeping this theory in