My grandfather was the biggest mass murderer in history
As a teenager Kai Hoss discovered his grandfather Rudolf had been a Nazi war criminal, the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp.
He was the grandparent the family never talked about, until Kai discovered in a school lesson on the Holocaust that he was related to leading Nazi, Rudolph Hoss. After the second world war his grandfather had been put on trial and executed for his role in overseeing the murder of more than a million people in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
Kai was shocked and appalled by his grandfather's role and it affected him greatly, though eventually a religious path helped him.
Kai had a difficult relationship with own his father, who as a young child lived within sight of the Auschwitz concentration camp, but was always reluctant to talk about it.
Recently they have reconciled, after not speaking for over 30 years and took part in a documentary film called The Commandant’s Shadow which explores the lives of both the Hoss family at Auschwitz and survivors.
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer : Julian Siddle
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Kai Hoss. Credit: Kai Hoss)
On air
More episodes
Next
Broadcasts
- Today 11:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service
- Today 17:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Today 21:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Tomorrow 02:06GMT±«Óãtv World Service
Contact Outlook
Info on how we might use your contribution on air
Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected