At one point Reichsführer SS Himmler sent various high-ranking SS officers and Nazi leaders to Auschwitz to witness the “final solution” firsthand. According to Hoess [Rudolph Hoess, Commandant of Auschwitz], they were all struck by the horror of it. “Some who had previously spoken most loudly about the necessity for this extermination fell silent once they had actually seen the ‘final solution of the Jewish question.’ I was repeatedly asked how I and my men could go on watching these operations, and how we were able to stand it… Even Mildner [the head of Gestapo in the district where Auschwitz was located] and [Adolf] Eichmann [the SS ‘Jewish specialist’] who were certainly tough enough, had no wish to change places with me. This was one job which nobody envied me.”
Source:
Stephens, John Richard. “Victims of History.” Weird History 101: Tales of Intrigue, Mayhem, and Outrageous Behavior. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2006. 190. Print.
Further Reading:
The loss of Reinhard Heydrich was a huge blow to the Nazis. He never got to see Auschwitz in this capacity, I wonder how he would have reacted.