British journalist Thomas Harding's new book, "Hanns and Rudolf," reads like a combination of a documentary and a suspense story.
It is the true story of the Nazi commander of the Auschwitz concentration camp, and of the British Army officer who finally brought this commander to justice.
Rudolf Höss — not to be confused with his fellow Nazi Rudolf Hess — quickly rose in the leadership ranks of the Third Reich to become the Auschwitz commander.
British Army officer Hanns Alexander was a Jew who fled Berlin for London as the Third Reich increased the pressure on Jews in Germany. Almost immediately after settling his family in England, he joined the British army to fight the Nazis in World War II.
Harding has a personal interest in this story, because Alexander was his great uncle. This fueled his ambition to research the story of his uncle's work during and after the war.
The book uses alternating chapters to give the reader a matching time line in the lives of the two men. Their paths were sometimes less than a hundred miles apart. However, it wasn't until after the German surrender that Höss' location became Alexander's prime concern.
As Hitler gained popularity in Germany, Höss met Heinrich Himmler and was appointed a member of the Schutzstaffel — the SS troops. His friendship with Himmler was a prime reason for his eventual appointment to run the prison camp at Auschwitz.
There is no need for hyperbole in describing the terrors of Auschwitz, and Harding spares any embellishment when he recounts Höss' leadership there.