Due to its large size and key role in the Nazi genocide program, the Auschwitz concentration camp encompassed personnel from several different branches of the SS, some of which held overlapping and shared areas of responsibility.
Himmler would also occasionally receive broad instructions from Adolf Hitler, which he would then interpret as he saw fit and transmit to the Auschwitz Camp Commander.
Below Himmler, the most senior operational SS commander involved with Auschwitz was SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald Pohl, who served as head of the SS-Economics Main Office, known as the SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt or SS-WVHA.
In addition to this direct chain of command, the geographical location of Auschwitz placed some of its supply and wartime functions under the authority of Regional SS and Nazi Party leaders.
When the camp was first constructed, Auschwitz was located within the borders of the newly established General Government, under the control of Reichsleiter Hans Frank.
Krüger's subordinate, the SS and Police Leader of Kraków was also technically senior to the Commander of Auschwitz and could issue orders concerning wartime needs.
During Hanke's tenure, the SS command of the region stayed the same, with the addition of Auschwitz now falling under the administrative realm of the Allgemeine-SS division SS-Oberabschnitt Südost.
During the Nuremberg trials, heavy emphasis was placed on the knowledge which the civil government of Nazi Germany had of Auschwitz, which was a primary source of labor for such major firms as IG Farben.
Both Fritz Sauckel and Albert Speer were directly accused of having knowledge of Auschwitz, although both denied knowing the scope of the genocide program in place there.
In all, there were usually four SS personnel per gas chamber, led by a non-commissioned officer, who oversaw around one hundred Jewish prisoners (known as the Sonderkommando) forced to assist in the extermination process.
This was accomplished by a special SS unit known as the "Hygiene Division" which would drive Zyklon B to the crematorium in an ambulance and then empty the canister into the gas chamber.