What is The Zone of Interest based on? As the haunting film brings in the accolades, we look at the story behind it and what happened to the Höss family after the war.
The Zone of Interest depicts the life of commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Rudolf Höss, and the life he lives with his family next door to the death camp. In 1943, Höss and his wife Hedwig lived an idyllic existence with their five children, growing vegetables and flowers, picnicking by the river, with servants to help around the home. In stark contrast, an aural backdrop on the other side of the family's garden wall tells of the horrors going on, ignored, under their noses. Gunshots, shouting, furnaces, and the sound of trains arriving, offer harrowing insight into the depravity inflicted on those imprisoned in the camp.
