Rudolf Hoess at Nuremberg
I was to enlarge the camp, build workshops,
Drain the swamps, and establish farms. The camps
Already operating in the east
Were said to be too small, and inefficient,
And I was sent to learn from their mistakes.
Disorder at the outset was expected.
With time and practice, our technique improved.
We posted signs for them to read, and gave
Instructions, suggesting bathing was the purpose.
Attendants would accompany them inside,
And slip out just before the doors were shut.
This helped create a calm environment.
It may be you misunderstand the role
Of a director, in a larger scheme.
You can be sure the smell, and all that ash,
Were disagreeable. I could not hide
That part of my work from my wife forever.
We slowly disengaged. Passion became
A cheap, familiar ghost. In truth, all people
Were, to me, faded shadows for a time.
I was still subject to the usual hungers,
As you’ll appreciate; and I found outlets.
The weather, wind, and temperature were factors.
The gas itself would vary in effectiveness.
Peek holes, installed in chambers I designed,
Eliminated any risk of finding
Signs of life when the doors were finally opened.
After the war I hid out on a farm.
The horses were my one responsibility:
Massive, alien, they looked me in the eye.
The solitude of care was liberating.
We fell behind. The crematoriums
Could not keep up with the exterminations.
Open pits were a feasible solution.
A layer of wood, a layer of corpses, alternating.
And when the fire was strong, we could omit
The wood, the human fat was adequate
To keep it burning at the needed temperature.
But this was all a small part of my work.
Rudolf Hoess was the commandant of Auschwitz. Captured too late to be indicted at Nuremberg, he was called as a witness, and later hanged by a Polish tribunal in 1947.
This poem is part of the series Interviews With Vampires. For more on Hoess, and the Nuremberg Trials, see Controlled Experiments on Social Pathology
If you like this poem, you might enjoy American Independence in Verse, now available for purchase.