What Happened to the Hoss Family After HBO’s ‘The Commandant’s Shadow’? FSalinks

Even though many movies have been made about the Holocaust, there are still many aspects that haven’t been explored yet. The 2023 film, The Zone of Interest (which won the Oscar for Best International Film and was nominated for Best Picture), is a fascinating look at the Nazi leader of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hoss. He raised his family in an idyllic setting just yards away from the death camp. The film never actually shows the atrocities of what is happening to the countless prisoners who have been forced to come to the death camp, but it is clear from the terrifying sounds what horrors are taking place on the other side of the wall. But in some ways, the movie feels like it leaves the story unfinished. What happened to Hoss and his children after the war? And what are the long-lasting impacts of being closely connected to the mastermind of a genocide?

The recent HBO documentary, The Commandant’s Shadow, explores the aftermath of the events depicted in The Zone of Interest, while also taking a look at the legacy of Hoss’ actions. The film centers around Hoss’ son, Hans-Jurgen, a now 87-year-old man who has fond memories of both living at Auschwitz and of his father. He has just now begun to reflect on the type of man his father really was, with the help of his own son, Kai (who has always wanted to more fully come to terms with his family’s dark past). But the documentary also follows the story of one of Hoss’ victims: Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Along with her daughter, Maya, the women also go on a journey of reflection on how the past has continued to influence their lives. The film is a comprehensive look at the trauma that came out of the Holocaust, but what happened after the documentary was filmed?

The Commandant’s Shadow (2024)

The Commandant’s Shadow is a 2024 documentary that follows Hans Jürgen Höss, the son of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, as he confronts his father’s horrific legacy. It also features Auschwitz survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who meets Jürgen for a powerful, historic encounter. 

Release Date

May 29, 2024

Director

Daniela Völker

Runtime

103 Minutes

Main Genre

Documentary

Writers

Daniela Völker

Studio(s)

Snowstorm Productions , Creators Inc.

Distributor(s)

HBO Documentary Films , Warner Bros. Pictures

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What Happened to the Hoss Children in ‘The Commandant’s Shadow’?

One of the most disturbing scenes in the documentary involves Hoss’ daughter, Brigitte, who goes by the nickname “Puppi.” She has been reunited with her brother, Hans-Jurgen, after many years, but is still extremely reluctant to discuss her family’s involvement in Auschwitz. She makes statements that question the events of the Holocaust and insinuates that it was not really that bad if there were any survivors from it. She maintains that her dad was a good person who was merely following orders. In an interview with The Guardian in 2021, Brigitte finally admitted that it was true her father was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. But she was unable to show any compassion for the victims (a sharp contrast to her brother and nephew who do display empathy in the documentary). Brigitte died in October 2023, after the filming of The Commandant’s Shadow had wrapped (and before The Zone of Interest would hit theaters in the U.S.).

But Brigitte wasn’t the only descendant of Hoss’ to bring some dishonor to the family. Hans-Jurgen’s son (and Kai’s brother), Rainer, tried to capitalize on his family’s connection to the Holocaust by selling stolen Jewish belongings that he was supposed to be donating to the Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem. But it was the role he played in a fictitious film project that got Rainer in real trouble. He had borrowed $20,000 from a German businessman to finance a film about the Holocaust that he claimed to be producing himself, but he really just pocketed the money due to being in serious debt. He was sentenced in 2020 to eight months in prison for fraud, along with 80 hours of community service and a fine to pay back the money.

‘The Commandant’s Shadow’s Anita Lasker-Wallfisch Gets Her Own Spotlight

Lasker-Wallfisch’s participation in The Commandant’s Shadow is one of the most moving parts of the documentary. Her story is a remarkable one in that she survived Auschwitz as a young woman because she was a talented cello player, and the Nazis wanted her to be part of a group of musicians that played music as the prisoners would march to work (or to their deaths). Her account of her time in the concentration camp is a chilling one, and it helps to illustrate the long-lasting effects that Hoss’ actions had on millions of people. But it’s not just the actual Auschwitz survivors who were traumatized; future generations also continue to experience the immense pain that goes along with the genocide. The documentary looks at how Lasker-Wallfisch’s daughter has also faced lifelong struggles with her identity because of her family’s tragic past.

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It was recently announced that Lasker-Wallfisch’s story will get to be told in even greater detail in a documentary called The Last Musician of Auschwitz. The film, which just received financial backing from the same group behind The Zone of Interest, will be an in-depth look at Lasker-Wallfisch’s life, including interviews with the woman and with her family and friends. It is a full-circle moment that Lasker-Wallfisch will finally get to crawl out from under Hoss’ shadow to give voice to her own experiences that occurred while she was imprisoned in the camp. Lasker-Wallfisch’s scenes in The Commandant’s Shadow give the film weight; it would be hard to fully understand the widespread implications of Hoss’ actions without hearing directly from someone who witnessed the atrocities firsthand, so a documentary that solely focuses on her story is extra meaningful.

It would be impossible for The Commandant’s Shadow to explain all of the details of the Hoss family story. While it does cover Hoss’ subsequent trial at Nuremberg and his eventual execution for war crimes, it doesn’t cover the year Hoss, his wife, and his children spent in hiding after the war or how exactly the family moved forward after his death. The documentary hints that they might have taken funds from Nazi sympathizers over the years, since the Hoss matriarch never worked and did not receive a pension from Germany because of Hoss’ crimes. But it would have been interesting to dive even deeper into how the Hoss children were faced with his legacy in the immediate decades following the war. Some members of the family have tried to move forward with honesty and an appropriate sense of guilt for what Hoss was a part of, while others continued to deflect and avoid taking responsibility. In the case of Rainer, he even tried to exploit his family connection for his own greed. In the end, The Commandant’s Shadow still provides audiences with a captivating look into the far-reaching effects of one man’s despicable actions.

The Commandant’s Shadow is available to watch on Max in the U.S.

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