Gallows Buillt for Höss

Opposite these gallows is where the camp Gestapo was located. Prisoners suspected of involvement in the camp's underground resistance movement or of preparing to escape were interrogated here. Many prisoners died as a result of being beaten or tortured.

The first commandant of Auschwitz, SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Rudolf Höss, who was tried and sentenced to death after the war by the Polish Supreme National Tribunal, was hanged here on April 16, 1947. This was the only time this gallows was used.

Source: Photo by Mitchell Bard from Auschwitz museum. All rights reserved.