The article discusses the villa of Rudolf Hoss, commandant of Auschwitz, which is situated next to the concentration camp. The Hoss family lived a seemingly normal life, marking Christmas with a tree and enjoying their garden, oblivious or indifferent to the atrocities occurring next door. The villa will be open to the public for the first time to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the camp's liberation. Hoss established systematic mass murder at Auschwitz under Nazi orders, making the villa's peaceful atmosphere starkly contrast the horrors of the Holocaust.
At Christmas time, they put up a tree in the living room and festooned it with ornaments and candles, while only yards away horrors unfolded.
The villa, described by Hedwig as 'like paradise,' hosted the family of Commandant Rudolf Hoss, proximity contrasting with the horrors of Auschwitz.
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