under the sign
of the cross
in the name
of the father
his jewish son
and the holy spirit
bless me father
for I have sinned
it has been
one million jews
since my last confession
a few thousand
poles gypsies
some deviants
a handful
of Jesuits
like you
my sins
my sins
now what are my sins. . . .
On Good Friday, April 4, 1947, awaiting execution, Rudolf Höss, commandant of Auschwitz, asked to see a Catholic priest. On April 10, 1947, the Thursday after Easter, three days before Divine Mercy Sunday, Fr. Władysław Lohn, SJ, heard Höss’s confession and gave him absolution. The next day, Friday, Höss received communion. On April 16, Höss was hanged on a one-person gallows next to the gas chambers he had built in Auschwitz.
