Skip to main content

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Site
    • English home page
    • المصادر بالعربية
    • Πηγές στα Ελληνικά
    • Recursos en español
    • منابع موجود به زبان فارسی
    • Ressources en français
    • Gyűjtemény és tudástár magyar nyelven
    • Sumber Bahasa Indonesia
    • Materiali e risorse in italiano
    • 日本語のリソース
    • 한국어 자료
    • Recursos em Português (do Brasil)
    • Материалы на русском языке
    • Türkçe Kaynaklar
    • اُردو ری سورسز
    • 中文参考资料
  • Events
  • Plan Your Visit
  • Support the Museum
  • Connect
  • Donate
  • Learn About The Holocaust
  • Remember Survivors and Victims
  • Confront Genocide and Antisemitism

  • Home
  • The Museum's Collections
  • The Museum's Collections
  • Highlights from the Collections
  • Auschwitz through the Lens of the SS: Photos of Nazi Leadership at the Camp

The Album

  • The Museum's Collections
    • About the Museum's Collections
    • Browse the Collections
    • Highlights from the Collections
      • Deaf Victims of Nazi Persecution and the Holocaust
    • Artifacts Unpacked
    • The Shapell Center
    • Donate to the Collections
  • Plan a Research Visit
  • Ask a Research Question
  • Bibliographies
  • Database of Holocaust Survivor and Victim Names
  • Auschwitz through the Lens of the SS: Photos of Nazi Leadership at the Camp
  • The Album
  • A Tale of Two Albums
  • Frankfurt Trial
  • View a Short Documentary about the Album
  • The beginning of a ceremony.

    The beginning of a ceremony. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34649

  • Solahütte, an SS retreat.

    Solahütte, an SS retreat. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34750

  • Left to right: Josef Kramer, Dr. Josef Mengele, Richard Baer, Karl Höcker, and an unidentified officer.

    Left to right: Josef Kramer, Dr. Josef Mengele, Richard Baer, Karl Höcker, and an unidentified officer. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34759

  • Left to right: Dr. Josef Mengele, Rudolf Höss, Josef Kramer, and an unidentified officer.

    Left to right: Dr. Josef Mengele, Rudolf Höss, Josef Kramer, and an unidentified officer. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34755

  • 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.

    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. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34739

  • The SS female auxiliaries (Helferinnen) run down a ramp in Solahütte to the music of an accordion.

    The SS female auxiliaries (Helferinnen) run down a ramp in Solahütte to the music of an accordion. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34587

  • The SS female auxiliaries show with mock sadness that they have finished eating their blueberries, July 22, 1944.

    The SS female auxiliaries show with mock sadness that they have finished eating their blueberries, July 22, 1944. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34769

  • 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).

    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). —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34803

  • The funeral of SS officers killed in the December 26, 1944, Allied bombing of Auschwitz.

    The funeral of SS officers killed in the December 26, 1944, Allied bombing of Auschwitz. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34793

  • The funeral of SS officers killed in the December 26, 1944, Allied air raid on Auschwitz.  Karl Höcker is giving the Nazi salute in front of a group of mourning women and children.

    The funeral of SS officers killed in the December 26, 1944, Allied air raid on Auschwitz. Karl Höcker is giving the Nazi salute in front of a group of mourning women and children. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34794

Viewing 1-2 / 10

 Close

The beginning of a ceremony.

The beginning of a ceremony. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34649

 Close

Solahütte, an SS retreat.

Solahütte, an SS retreat. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34750

 Close

Left to right: Josef Kramer, Dr. Josef Mengele, Richard Baer, Karl Höcker, and an unidentified officer.

Left to right: Josef Kramer, Dr. Josef Mengele, Richard Baer, Karl Höcker, and an unidentified officer. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34759

 Close

Left to right: Dr. Josef Mengele, Rudolf Höss, Josef Kramer, and an unidentified officer.

Left to right: Dr. Josef Mengele, Rudolf Höss, Josef Kramer, and an unidentified officer. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34755

 Close

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.

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. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34739

 Close

The SS female auxiliaries (Helferinnen) run down a ramp in Solahütte to the music of an accordion.

The SS female auxiliaries (Helferinnen) run down a ramp in Solahütte to the music of an accordion. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34587

 Close

The SS female auxiliaries show with mock sadness that they have finished eating their blueberries, July 22, 1944.

The SS female auxiliaries show with mock sadness that they have finished eating their blueberries, July 22, 1944. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34769

 Close

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).

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). —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34803

 Close

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

The funeral of SS officers killed in the December 26, 1944, Allied bombing of Auschwitz. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34793

 Close

The funeral of SS officers killed in the December 26, 1944, Allied air raid on Auschwitz.  Karl Höcker is giving the Nazi salute in front of a group of mourning women and children.

The funeral of SS officers killed in the December 26, 1944, Allied air raid on Auschwitz. Karl Höcker is giving the Nazi salute in front of a group of mourning women and children. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum #34794

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

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 was, at the time of this photograph, continuing to select "specimens" for his medical experiments from among the newly arriving transports of Hungarian Jews. Höcker and Baer are there, shown in conversation with Höss, Kramer, and Mengele, along with other officers who have yet to be identified.

Perhaps the most extraordinary photograph depicts an accordionist leading a sing-along for approximately 70 SS men taken at this gathering. 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.

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.

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 U.S. 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.

About the Museum

  • Plan Your Visit
  • Current Exhibitions
  • Calendar of Events
  • Support the Museum
  • Donate

Resources

  • Learn
  • Teach
  • Collections
  • Academic Research
  • Remember Survivors and Victims
  • Genocide Prevention
  • Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial
  • Outreach

Museum Websites

  • Holocaust Encyclopedia
  • Collections Search
  • Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center
  • History Unfolded
  • Experiencing History
  • Early Warning Project
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20024-2126
Main telephone: 202.488.0400
TTY: 202.488.0406

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • About the Museum
  • Contact the Museum
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility
  • Legal