New Documentary Traces Auschwitz Commandant’s Son as He Reckons With His Father’s Past

A trailer debuted on Monday for a new documentary about the son of the commandant of Auschwitz coming to terms with his father’s notorious legacy and his own childhood growing up next door to the Nazi death camp in Poland.

The Commandant’s Shadow follows 87-year-old Hans Jürgen Höss, whose late father, Rudolf Höss, was the camp commandant of Auschwitz during World War II and helped oversee the murder of over 1 million Jews during the Holocaust. Höss’s family life inspired the recent Academy Award-winning film The Zone of Interest, but while that film fictionalized the family’s story, The Commandant’s Shadow details the lives of the real people who lived on site at Höss’s death camp.

Hans Jurgen Höss says in the film that he had a “really lovely and idyllic childhood” growing up next door to the Auschwitz concentration camp, while Jews suffered in the extermination camp nearby. The film also introduces viewers to Jewish Auschwitz survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and the historic moment, eight decades after the Holocaust, when she meets the son of the Auschwitz commandant face-to-face. The film additionally features original excerpts of Rudolf Höss’s autobiography, which was written not long before his execution.

The elder Höss was captured by the British after World War II, testified in the Nuremberg Trials, and sentenced to death. He was ordered to write his autobiography in the weeks between his trial and his execution, which took place in Auschwitz. He was hanged in 1947 in the courtyard next to the former gas chambers.

Filmmaker Daniela Völker spent four years writing, producing, and directing The Commandant’s Shadow, which she started developing during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

The Commandant’s Shadow will be released in theaters across the US on May 29, with an encore presentation the following day, as part of a partnership between Fathom Events and Warner Bros. Pictures. Screenings will be available in more than 500 theaters. Tickets are on sale online from Fathom Events and participating theater box offices.

“This documentary is an incredible look at the reality of Auschwitz through the eyes of those who experienced it in very different ways,” said Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events. “We are very pleased to again partner with Warner Bros. to bring this very important film to the big screen.”

Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures, added: “We are always looking for opportunities to partner with our friends at Fathom, and The Commandant’s Shadow is especially worthy of this kind of event-ized theatrical release. This real and raw documentary tells not one but two truly moving stories that will connect to the hearts and minds of audiences, and we’re proud to be able to share it with them through our Fathom program.”

Watch the trailer for The Commandant’s Shadow below.