Thomas Harding

80 years ago today my great uncle Hanns Alexander, a German-Jew, tracked down and arrested the kommandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hoess.

Hoess was responsible for setting up and running Auschwitz, where over a million women, men and children were murdered, the vast majority of who were Jews. Hoess lived with his family next to the camp, this is the house featured in the movie “Zone Of Interest”.

Hanns was born in Berlin in 1917 and in 1935 fled N**i Germany to England. In September 1939, he joined up with the British Army but was not allowed to fight as he was seen as a German immigrant and not trusted. At the war’s end he was sent to the recently liberated Bergen-Belsen camp and worked as a translator, interviewing captured SS officers including many who had worked at Auschwitz. Soon he was hunting down N**is including the Kommandant of Auschwitz.

According to my uncle Hanns, there were ‘lots of people’ involved with the arrest of Rudolf Hoess, there were those monitoring the mail between the kommandant and his wife, there was a medical officer to check for su***de pills, there were drivers and others who provided security backup during the arrest itself. In other words, there was plenty of glory to go around.

Rudolf Hoess gave testimony at Nuremberg, the first time the court heard directly from someone at the heart of the industrial system of murder, the so-called ‘Final Solution’. His statement changed the course of the trial. Hoess was then handed to the Polish authorities, put on trial and hanged in April 1947 on a gallows near the old crematorium in Auschwitz.

Hanns lived till 2006. He rarely spoke about his war-time years, but when he did, he said his most important achievement was the arrest of the kommandant of Auschwitz.



Captions:
Hanns Alexander (Alexander family archive)

Rudolf Hoess after capture (Yad Vashem)

Barn in Gottruppel site of arrest

Hoess with family (IFZ)

Hungarian Jews being “selected” in Auschwitz (USHMM)

Hoess with Himmler in Auschwitz (Yad Vashem)

In 1984, I worked for a short time at Children's Bookshop London

It was my first job.

I was 15 years old.

I fell in love with the magic and colour and variety of children’s books.

I fell in love with bookshops.

I fell in love with storytelling.

I loved every moment.

It was perhaps my favourite job ever.

Going through my files, I found this employment letter today.

Can’t believe 42 years later, two books that I’ve written are stocked on their shelves.

😍😍

Should you judge a book by its cover?

The American edition of my book about the tragic murder of the Einstein family will be published next month on 21 January 2026. This is the “book jacket” as it is called in the US.

Compare it to the covers from the British, Italian, Dutch and German publishers.

Each has a different concept, tone, narrative; each is trying to convey a particular message. Each has a different market of readers to which the design team is trying to reach, excite, appeal.

What do you think? How do you respond to these covers?

This was an incredibly moving event at the town hall near the place where the Einstein family members were murdered in 1944.

I’m very excited to announce a book tour in Italy, yes, a tour in Italy! How fun is that? I’ll be speaking about my new book about the Einsteins in Florence during WW2, known in Italian as “Hi**er & Mussolini Contro Einstein”. I am really looking forward to this. Please do join us if you can.

And in other news..... the 10th anniversary edition of THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE is out this month (can you believe it?). It has a brand new spectacular cover and a new epilogue update about all that has happened over the last 10 years (renovating the house, opening to the public, visit by German chancellor, emotional meetings with previous occupants and more). It is also for a short time available for 0.99 pence on Kindle! So what are you waiting for….??!

The House by the Lake: A Story of Germany The House by the Lake: A Story of Germany