The house stands at 88 Legionów Street in Oświęcim, just on the other side of the camp’s walls. It is the former home of Rudolf Hoss, the commandant of Auschwitz I. From the garden, the family could see the camp where more than a million people were murdered. The house depicts the contrast between the ordinary family life of the Hoss family and the atrocities occurring just beyond their garden wall. The house became widely known after the 2023 film The Zone of Interest.
How could someone live a seemingly normal family life while directing mass murder just steps away?
Rather than preserving it as the home of a Nazi perpetrator, the home was purchased and transformed it into the ARCHER (Auschwitz Research Centre on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization) at House 88. Its purpose is to educate visitors about antisemitism, extremism, and the dangers of dehumanization, turning a site associated with evil into one dedicated to combating hate.
