The Northampton shoe craftsman who apprehended the Auschwitz leader

William Cross's father, Capt Victor Cross, played a crucial role in capturing Rudolf Höss, the former commander of Auschwitz concentration camp, after World War Two. Victor Cross, a Northampton leather merchant, joined the British Army Intelligence Corps during the war and was sent to Germany, where he became fluent in the language. At the end of the war, he was tasked with capturing escaped Nazis, including Rudolf Höss. After months of investigations and interrogations, Victor Cross's team located Höss at a farmhouse in northern Germany. Höss was arrested and later admitted to being responsible for the deaths of millions of Jewish people at Auschwitz. He was sentenced to death and hanged in April 1947. However, Victor Cross never spoke about his wartime experiences to his children, and it wasn't until after his death that his role in capturing Höss came to light.