Höss began turning against religion as a young teenager. This happened after he gave a confession to a priest (he told the priest what he had done wrong). In Catholicism, the "Seal of the Confessional" is supposed to be unbreakable. This means a priest is never supposed to tell anyone what someone has said in a confession. Höss said he started to dislike religion when the priest told Höss's father about something Höss had said in a confession. Soon after this, Höss's father died, and Höss began moving toward a military life.