Can Reconciliation Even Extend to the Commandant of Auschwitz?

We don’t see him shout at or abuse prisoners, in contrast to Amon Goeth – commandmant of Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp and portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List – who would shoot at prisoners for sport and set his dogs on them. For Hoess, genocide was not something to be enjoyed, but a logistical problem to be tackled in a disciplined and orderly manner. ...Rudolf Hoess offers no reassurance for hopes of cosmic vengeance, though. If his Confession was sincere, his soul has been saved. Should we, then, pray for Rudolf Hoess? Such a prayer feels uncomfortable; an insult to those he turned into ashes. But at the same time, to reject the possibility of his salvation is not to question the enormity of his crimes, but to doubt the power of Christ’s redeeming love.