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Four S-S officers stand around with other uniformed soldiers. The second from the left is pointing towards the left while talking to the officer closest to him.

Auschwitz Through the Lens of the SS: The Album

Shortly after World War II, an American intelligence officer living in Germany uncovered a personal album of photographs chronicling SS officers’ activities at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Museum received this photograph album in 2007. The rare images show Nazis singing, hunting, and even trimming a Christmas tree. They provide a chilling contrast to the photographs of thousands of Hungarian Jews deported to Auschwitz at the same time. 

Karl Höcker's photograph album includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed.

Auschwitz Through the Lens of the SS: The Album
  • Nazi ceremony in Auschwitz-Birkenau

    The beginning of a ceremony to dedicate a new SS hospital in Auschwitz-Birkenau. A Nazi soldier salutes as the Nazi and SS flags are raised while a line of troops stand with rifles at attention during the dedication.

    From Karl Höcker's photograph album, which includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed. These rare images show Nazis singing, hunting, and even trimming a Christmas tree. They provide a chilling contrast to the photographs of thousands of Hungarian Jews deported to Auschwitz at the same time.

  • Solahütte, an SS retreat

    View of Solahütte, an SS retreat near Auschwitz.

    From Karl Höcker's photograph album, which includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed. These rare images show Nazis singing, hunting, and even trimming a Christmas tree. They provide a chilling contrast to the photographs of thousands of Hungarian Jews deported to Auschwitz at the same time.

  • A group of SS officers at an SS retreat outside Auschwitz

    This photograph shows a group of SS officers at Solahuette, the SS retreat outside of Auschwitz. Pictured from left to right: Josef Kramer, Dr. Josef Mengele, Richard Baer, Karl Höcker, and an unidentified officer.

  • A group of SS officers socializing at an SS retreat outside Auschwitz

    A group of SS officers socialize at an SS retreat outside Auschwitz. Pictured from left to right: Dr. Josef Mengele, Rudolf Höss, Josef Kramer, and an unidentified officer.

  • SS social gathering

    A "sing-along" during a social gathering of the SS hierarchy at Solahütte. The front row consists of (left to right): Karl Höcker, Otto Moll, Rudolf Höss, Richard Baer, Josef Kramer, Franz Hössler, and Josef Mengele. From Höcker's album.

  • "Rain from a Clear Sky": SS female auxiliaries at an SS retreat

    SS female auxiliaries (Helferinnen) pose on a bridge with several SS officers at the Solahütte, an SS retreat at Międzybrodzkie Lake south of Auschwitz. This photograph was taken in July 1944.

    The photo is from SS officer Karl Höcker's photograph album. The Höcker album includes 116 pictures taken in and around Auschwitz between June 1944 and January 1945. Among the images are photographs of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz, as well as personal photographs. Some of the images depict social activities that Höcker and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff participated in. This particular image is one of three photographs in a series. In the album, there is a handwritten caption describing the photos as "Rain from a clear sky" ("Regen aus heiterem Himmel"). The man in the center of the photograph is Höcker.

  • "Here there are blueberries": SS female auxiliaries pose for photos

    SS female auxiliaries (Helferinnen) pose for photos at Solahütte, an SS retreat at Międzybrodzkie Lake south of Auschwitz. This photograph was taken on July 22, 1944.

    The photo is from SS officer Karl Höcker's photograph album. The Höcker album includes 116 pictures taken in and around Auschwitz between June 1944 and January 1945. Among the images are photographs of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz, as well as personal photographs. Some of the images depict social activities that Höcker and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff participated in. This image is one of six photographs in a series. In the album, there is a handwritten caption describing the photos as "Here there are blueberries" ("Hier gibt es Blaubeeren"). The man in the photograph is Höcker.

  • Richard Baer at a ceremony

    September 1, 1944, Richard Baer ceremonially accepts a copy of the construction plans from the Chief of the Central Construction Directorate of the Waffen SS, SS-Sturmbannführer Karl Bischoff, celebrating the opening of an SS military hospital (SS-Lazarette). Baer was the last commandant of the Auschwitz camp. 

    From Karl Höcker's photograph album, which includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed. These rare images show Nazis singing, hunting, and even trimming a Christmas tree. They provide a chilling contrast to the photographs of thousands of Hungarian Jews deported to Auschwitz at the same time.

  • Funeral for SS officers

    SS officer Karl Höcker salutes in front of an array of wreaths during a military funeral near Auschwitz. The original caption for the photograph reads "Beisetzung von SS Kameraden nach einem Terrorangriff." (Burying our SS comrades from a terror attack.) Pictured in the background are Josef Kramer and Karl Moeckel.

    This image shows the aftermath of the September 13, 1944, bombing of IG Farben in which 15 SS men died in the SS residential blocks and 28 were seriously wounded. 

     

     

  • Funeral of SS officers

    Scene during the funeral of SS officers killed in the December 26, 1944, Allied bombing of Auschwitz.

Many of the most remarkable photographs are taken at Solahütte, a little known SS resort some 30 km south of Auschwitz on the Sola River. Archival records reveal that the SS rewarded Auschwitz guards who performed their work at Auschwitz in an exemplary fashion with a trip to Solahütte. Danuta Czech, in her daily chronicle of the camp wrote that on August 18, 1944, "SS Private Johann Antoni and SS man Hans Kartusch from the 3rd Guard Company of Auschwitz II receive eight days' special leave in the SS recreation center of Solahütte as recognition for the successful use of their weapons during the escape of four prisoners, in spite of darkness."

Though there are photos taken upon visits to Solahütte throughout the album, a series of photographs document a social gathering at Solahütte for the SS hierarchy. In attendance were some of the most notorious officers of the concentration camp system.

Rudolf Höss, the former commandant, returned to Auschwitz between May and July 1944 specifically to oversee the arrival of the Hungarian Jews. Josef Kramer was the commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Later, as commandant of Bergen-Belsen, he would be known as the "Beast of Belsen." And Dr. Josef Mengele selected "specimens" for his medical experiments from among the transports of Hungarian Jews. Höcker and Auschwitz I commandant Richard Baer are there, shown in conversation with Höss, Kramer, and Mengele, along with other officers who have yet to be identified.

Dozens of unformed soldiers stand in a field looking towards a lone performer with a guitar. Several people appear to be swaying or singing along with the music. A foot bridge can be seen along the bottom of the photograph.
SS social gathering

A "sing-along" during a social gathering of the SS hierarchy at Solahütte. The front row consists of (left to right): Karl Höcker, Otto Moll, Rudolf Höss, Richard Baer, Josef Kramer, Franz Hössler, and Josef Mengele. From Höcker's album.

  • US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Perhaps the most extraordinary photograph depicts an accordionist leading a sing-along for approximately 70 SS men. In the front row of the group are Höcker, SS-Hauptscharführer Otto Moll (the supervisor of the gas chambers), Höss, Baer, Kramer, Franz Hössler (commander of the female prisoner compound at Birkenau), and Mengele. These are some of the only known photographs of some of these men, including Mengele, taken while they were stationed at Auschwitz.

Eleven women in uniform sit on a deck railing while holding up empty containers. One man leans against the fence, standing in the middle of the line of women. A person can be seen lounging in a deck chair in the foreground of the photograph.
"Here there are blueberries": SS female auxiliaries pose for photos

SS female auxiliaries (Helferinnen) pose for photos at Solahütte, an SS retreat at Międzybrodzkie Lake south of Auschwitz. This photograph was taken on July 22, 1944.

The photo is from SS officer Karl Höcker's photograph album. The Höcker album includes 116 pictures taken in and around Auschwitz between June 1944 and January 1945. Among the images are photographs of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz, as well as personal photographs. Some of the images depict social activities that Höcker and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff participated in. This image is one of six photographs in a series. In the album, there is a handwritten caption describing the photos as "Here there are blueberries" ("Hier gibt es Blaubeeren"). The man in the photograph is Höcker.

  • US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Several pages are devoted to a day trip for SS Helferinnen (female auxiliaries, young women who worked for the SS as communications specialists) on July 22, 1944. They arrive at Solahütte and run down a ramp accompanied to the music of an accordionist. A full-page spread of six photographs entitled "Hier gibt es Blaubeeren" (Here there are blueberries) shows Höcker passing out bowls of fresh blueberries to the young women sitting on a fence. When the girls finish theatrically eating their blueberries for the camera, one girl poses with fake tears and an inverted bowl. Only miles away on the very same day, 150 prisoners (Jews and non-Jews) arrived on a transport to Auschwitz. The SS selected 21 men and 12 women for work, and killed the remaining members of the transport in the gas chambers.

Two uniformed Nazi officers stand next to each other passing a rolled paper between them. They are surrounded by a dozen or more officers.
Richard Baer at a ceremony

September 1, 1944, Richard Baer ceremonially accepts a copy of the construction plans from the Chief of the Central Construction Directorate of the Waffen SS, SS-Sturmbannführer Karl Bischoff, celebrating the opening of an SS military hospital (SS-Lazarette). Baer was the last commandant of the Auschwitz camp. 

From Karl Höcker's photograph album, which includes both documentation of official visits and ceremonies at Auschwitz as well as more personal photographs depicting the many social activities that he and other members of the Auschwitz camp staff enjoyed. These rare images show Nazis singing, hunting, and even trimming a Christmas tree. They provide a chilling contrast to the photographs of thousands of Hungarian Jews deported to Auschwitz at the same time.

  • US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Several pages depict a ceremony on September 1, 1944, commemorating the opening of the SS military hospital at the entrance to Birkenau. The festivities included an honor guard and official presentations by Baer and Dr. Enno Lolling. Scores of Nazi officials including many of the physicians (most notably Dr. Eduard Wirths and Dr. Carl Clauberg) and nurses attended the ceremony. The Allies bombed the field hospital on December 26, 1944, killing five SS personnel.

The album also contains photographs taken most likely in the aftermath of that very same December 26, 1944, air raid. These photographs were taken just weeks prior to the SS evacuation of the camp to avoid capture by Soviet troops. That day, the US 455th Bombing Group hit targets on the outskirts of Birkenau, where the SS military hospital was located, and on the factories and oil refineries attached to Auschwitz (located in Auschwitz III-Monowitz). Höcker's photographs, captioned "Beisetzung von SS-Kameraden nach einem Terrorangriff" (The Burial of our SS Comrades after a Terror Attack), show a processional with horse-drawn hearses, seventeen flag-draped coffins, and a large group of mourners, including widows and children. The SS funeral service involved wreath laying, lots of flowers, and a military honor guard. One month later, Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz.

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

Critical Thinking Questions

  • Why do militaries and individuals document their activities?

  • To what degree was the local population aware of this camp, its purpose, and the conditions within? How would you begin to research this question?

  • Did the outside world have any knowledge about these camps? If so, what, if any, actions were taken by other governments and their officials?

  • How does the example of this camp demonstrate the complexity and the systematic nature of the German efforts to abuse and kill the Jews?

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