Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoess oversaw the slaughter of around 1.1 million Jews, along with 20,000 gypsies and tens of thousands of Polish and Russian political prisoners.
Metres away, his family — including his daughter Brigitte — lived in a villa as he masterminded the mass murder.
Brigitte was 7 years old when she first arrived at the villa in 1940. She would remain there till 1944 and still, after all those years, her memory remained crystal clear.
The story of this Nazi family was also told in the Oscar-winning film Zone of Interest, though the actual house that was used to shoot the film stands a few hundred yards from the original villa.
Thomas Harding interviewed Brigitte before she died in October 2023.
Thomas Harding’s book ‘The Einstein Vendetta: Hitler, Mussolini, and a true story of murder’ will be published by Michael Joseph in April. You can follow him on Twitter/ X @thomasharding
