Hanns Alexander

Hanns Alexander (6 May 1917 – 23 December 2006) was a German Jewish refugee who tracked down and arrested the Kommandant of Auschwitz Rudolf Höss.

Born in Berlin to father Alfred Alexander and mother Henny Alexander, he grew up in Weimar Germany. In 1936 the family fled to England.

In 1940, he joined the Royal Pioneer Corps and in 1945 he became an interpreter for the No. 1 War Crimes Investigation Team at Belsen.

Later that year he became a full-time Nazi hunter who tracked down and arrested Gustav Simon and Rudolf Höss.

After the War he had a long professional career as a merchant banker at S.G. Warburg. Hanns Alexander died in London at age 89.

His story is featured in the book Hanns and Rudolf by Thomas Harding.