On April 5, 1946, Nuremberg prosecutor Whitney R. Harris witnessed one of the most damning affidavits to the Nazi defendants at Nuremberg, the confession of Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Hoess, Commandant of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. This is the story of Hoess' life before, during and after his service at Auschwitz, ending with his trial and execution in Poland. Through primary documents, many previously unpublished in English, Harris reveals the horrors that occurred at Auschwitz, and the thoughts and deeds of the man behind the massacre of two and a half million people.