On
this date, 17 August 1987, The Deputy Fuhrer, Rudolf Hess, committed suicide by
hanging himself in Spandau Prison. I will post information about this war
criminal from Wikipedia and other links.
 |
|
Rudolf
Hess in 1933
|
Deputy
Führer
Stellvertreter des Führers |
|
In
office
21 April 1933 – 12 May 1941 |
|
Deputy
|
Martin Bormann
|
Führer
|
Adolf Hitler
|
Preceded by
|
Post created
|
Succeeded by
|
Martin Bormann
(as Chief of the Parteikanzlei) |
Reichsleiter
|
|
In
office
1933–1941 |
|
Leader
|
Adolf Hitler
|
Personal
details
|
|
Born
|
Rudolf Walter Richard Heß
26 April 1894 Alexandria, Khedivate of Egypt, Ottoman Empire |
Died
|
17 August 1987 (aged 93)
Spandau, West Berlin, West Germany |
Nationality
|
German
|
Political party
|
National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)
(1920–1941)
|
Spouse(s)
|
Ilse Pröhl
(22 June 1900 – 7 September 1995) married 20 December 1927 |
Children
|
Wolf Rüdiger Heß
(18 November 1937 – 14 October 2001) |
Alma mater
|
University of Munich
|
Rudolf Walter Richard Heß, also spelled Hess (26 April
1894 – 17 August 1987), was a prominent politician in Nazi Germany.
Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, he served in this position
until 1941, when he flew solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with
the United Kingdom during World War II. He was taken prisoner and eventually
was convicted of crimes against peace, serving a life sentence.
Hess
enlisted in the 7th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment as an infantryman at the
outbreak of World War I. He was wounded several times over the course of the
war, and won the Iron Cross, second class, in 1915. Shortly before the war
ended, Hess enrolled to train as an aviator, but he saw no action in this role.
He left the armed forces in December 1918 with the rank of Leutnant der
Reserve.
In
autumn 1919 Hess enrolled in the University of Munich, where he studied geopolitics
under Karl Haushofer, a proponent of the concept of Lebensraum
("living space"), which later became one of the pillars of Nazi Party
(National Socialist German Workers Party; NSDAP) ideology. Hess joined the
NSDAP on 1 July 1920, and was at Hitler's side on 8 November 1923 for the Beer
Hall Putsch, a failed Nazi attempt to seize control of the government of
Bavaria. Whilst serving time in jail for this attempted coup, Hess helped
Hitler write his opus, Mein Kampf,
which became a foundation of the political platform of the NSDAP.
After
the Nazi Seizure of Power in 1933, Hess was appointed Deputy Führer of the
NSDAP and received a post in Hitler's cabinet. He was the third most-powerful
man in Germany, behind only Hitler and Hermann Göring. In addition to appearing
on Hitler's behalf at speaking engagements and rallies, Hess signed into law
much of the legislation, including the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, that stripped
the Jews of Germany of their rights in the lead-up to the Holocaust.
Hess
continued to be interested in aviation, learning to fly the more advanced
aircraft that were coming into development at the start of World War II. On 10
May 1941 he undertook a solo flight to Scotland, where he hoped to arrange
peace talks with the Duke of Hamilton, whom he believed was prominent in
opposition to the British government. Hess was immediately arrested on his
arrival and was held in British custody until the end of the war, when he was returned
to Germany to stand trial in the Nuremberg Trials of major war criminals in
1946. Throughout much of the trial, he claimed to be suffering from amnesia,
but later admitted this was a ruse. Hess was convicted of crimes against peace
and conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes and was transferred
to Spandau Prison in 1947, where he served a
life sentence. Repeated attempts by family members and prominent politicians to
win him early release were blocked by the Soviet Union, and he committed
suicide, still in custody in Spandau, in 1987 at the age of 93.
Early
life
World
War I
Relationship
with Hitler
Deputy
Führer
Attempted
peace mission
Flight
to Scotland
Capture
Trial
and imprisonment
Prisoner
of war
From
Buchanan Castle, Hess was transferred briefly to the Tower of London and then
to Mytchett Place in Surrey, a fortified mansion, designated "Camp
Z", where he stayed for the next thirteen months. Churchill issued orders
that Hess was to be treated well, though he was not allowed to read newspapers
or listen to the radio. Three intelligence officers were stationed onsite and
150 soldiers were placed on guard. By early June Hess was allowed to write to
his family. He also prepared a letter to the Duke of Hamilton, but it was never
delivered, and his repeated requests for further meetings were turned down. Dr
Henry V. Dicks and Dr John Rawlings Rees, psychiatrists who treated Hess during
this period, note that while he was not insane, he was mentally unstable, with
tendencies toward hypochondria and paranoia. Hess repeated his peace proposal
to John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, then serving as Lord Chancellor, in an
interview on 9 June. Lord Simon noted that the prisoner's mental state was not
good; Hess claimed he was being poisoned and was being prevented from sleeping.
He would insist on swapping his dinner with that of one of his guards, and
attempted to get them to send samples of the food out for analysis.
In
the early morning hours of 16 June Hess rushed his guards and attempted suicide
by jumping over the railing of the staircase at Mytchett Place. He fell onto
the stone floor below, fracturing the femur of his left leg. The injury
required that the leg be kept in traction for twelve weeks, with a further six
weeks bed rest before he was permitted to walk with crutches. Captain Munro
Johnson of the Royal Army Medical Corps, who assessed Hess, noted that another
suicide attempt was likely to occur in the near future. Hess began around this
time to complain of amnesia. This symptom and some of his increasingly erratic
behaviour may have in part been a ruse, because if he were declared mentally
ill, he could be repatriated under the terms of the Geneva Conventions.
Hess
was moved to Maindiff Court Hospital on 26 June 1942, where he would remain for
the next three years. The facility was chosen for its added security and the
need for fewer guards. Hess was allowed walks on the grounds and car trips into
the surrounding countryside. He had access to newspapers and other reading
materials; he wrote letters and journals. His mental health remained under the
care of Dr Rees. Hess continued to complain on and off of memory loss and made
a second suicide attempt on 4 February 1945, when he stabbed himself with a
bread knife. The wound was not serious, requiring two stitches. Despondent that
Germany was losing the war, he took no food for the next week, only resuming
eating when he was threatened with being force-fed.
Germany
unconditionally surrendered on 8 May 1945. Hess, facing charges as a war
criminal, was ordered to appear before the International Military Tribunal and
was transported to Nuremberg on 10 October 1945.
 |
|
Nuremberg Trials. Defendants in their dock,
circa 1945-1946.
(in front row, from left to right): Hermann Göring, Rudolf Heß, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel (in second row, from left to right): Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, Fritz Sauckel |
 |
| Rudolf Hess reading the book Jugend by Ernst Claes in Landsberg Prison. |
Nuremberg
Trials
Further
information: Nuremberg Trials
The
Allies of World War II held a series of
military tribunals and trials, beginning with a trial of the major war
criminals from November 1945 to October 1946. Hess was tried with this first
group of twenty-three defendants, all of whom were charged with four
counts—conspiracy to commit crimes, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes
against humanity, in violation of international laws governing warfare.
On
his arrival in Nuremberg, Hess was reluctant to give up some of his
possessions, including samples of food he claimed had been poisoned by the
British; he proposed to use these for his defence during the trial. The
commandant of the facility, Colonel Burton
C. Andrus of the United States Army, advised him that he would be allowed
no special treatment; the samples were sealed and confiscated. Hess's diaries
indicate that he did not acknowledge the validity of the court and felt the
outcome was a foregone conclusion. He was thin when he arrived, weighing 65
kilograms (143 lb), and had a poor appetite, but was deemed to be in good
health. As one defendant, Robert Ley, had managed to hang himself in his cell
on 24 October, the remaining prisoners were monitored around the clock. Because
of his previous suicide attempts, Hess was handcuffed to a guard whenever he
was out of his cell.
Almost
immediately after his arrival, Hess began exhibiting amnesia, which may have been
feigned in the hope of avoiding the death sentence. Medical personnel who
examined Hess reported he was not insane and was fit to stand trial. At least
two examiners, the British doctor and the Russian one, noted their belief that
Hess's amnesia might be fake. Efforts were made to trigger his memory,
including bringing in his former secretaries and showing old newsreels, but he
persisted in showing no response to these stimuli. When Hess was allowed to
make a statement to the tribunal on 30 November, he admitted that he had faked
memory loss as a tactic. He spoke to the tribunal again on 31 August 1946, the
last day of closing statements.
The
prosecution's case against Hess was presented by Mervyn Griffith-Jones
beginning on 7 February 1946. By quoting from Hess's speeches, he attempted to
demonstrate that Hess had been aware of and agreed with Hitler's plans to
conduct a war of aggression in violation of international law. He declared that
as Hess had signed important governmental decrees, including the decree
requiring mandatory military service, the Nuremberg racial laws, and a decree
incorporating the conquered Polish territories into the Reich, he must share responsibility
for the acts of the regime. He pointed out that the timing of Hess's trip to
Scotland, only six weeks before the German invasion of the Soviet Union, could only be
viewed as an attempt by Hess to keep the British out of the war. Hess resumed
showing symptoms of amnesia at the end of February, partway through the
prosecution's case.
The
case for Hess's defence was presented from 22–26 March by his lawyer, Dr Alfred
Seidl. He noted that while Hess accepted responsibility for the many decrees he
had signed, he said these matters were part of the internal workings of a
sovereign state and thus outside the purview of a war crimes trial. He called
to the stand Ernst Wilhelm Bohle, the man who had been head
of the NSDAP/AO, to testify on Hess's behalf. When presented by Griffith-Jones
with questions about the organisation's spying in several countries, Bohle
testified that any warlike activities such as espionage had been done without
his permission or knowledge. Seidl called two other witnesses, former mayor of Stuttgart
Karl Strölin and Hess's brother Alfred, both of whom refuted the allegations
that the NSDAP/AO had been spying and fomenting war. Seidl presented a
summation of the defence's case on 25 July, in which he attempted to refute the
charge of conspiracy by pointing out that Hitler alone had made all the
important decisions. He noted that Hess could not be held responsible for any
events that took place after he left Germany in May 1941. Meanwhile Hess
mentally detached himself from what was happening, declining visits from his
family and refusing to read the newspapers.
The
court deliberated for nearly two months before passing judgement on 30
September, with the defendants being individually sentenced on 1 October. Hess
was found guilty on two counts: crimes against peace (planning and preparing a
war of aggression), and conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes.
He was found not guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was given
a life sentence, one of seven Nazis to receive prison sentences at the trial.
These seven were transported by aircraft to the Allied military prison at Spandau
in Berlin on 18 July 1947. The Soviet member of the tribunal, Major-General Iona
Nikitchenko, filed a document recording his dissent of Hess's sentence; he
felt the death sentence was warranted.
 |
| Rudolf Hess and Joachim von Ribbentrop on trial at the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg |
 |
| Changing the guard at Spandau Prison |
Spandau
Prison
Spandau
was placed under the control of the Allied Control Council, the governing body
in charge of the military occupation of Germany. It consisted of
representatives from four member states: Britain, France, the United States and
the Soviet Union. Each country supplied guards for the prison for a month at a
time on a rotating basis. After the inmates were given medical examinations,
Hess refused his body search, and had to be held down—they were provided with
prison garb and assigned the numbers by which they would be addressed
throughout their stay. Hess was Number 7. The prison had a small library, and
inmates were allowed to file special requests for additional reading material.
Writing materials were limited; each inmate would be allowed four pieces of
paper per month for letters. The prisoners were not allowed to speak to one
another without permission and were expected to work in the facility, helping
with cleaning and gardening chores. The inmates were taken for outdoor walks
around the prison grounds for an hour each day, separated about 10 yards
(9 m) apart. Some of the rules became more relaxed as time went on.
Visits
to Spandau of half an hour per month were allowed, but Hess forbade his family
to visit until December 1969, when he was a patient at the British Military
Hospital in West Berlin for a perforated ulcer. By this time Wolf Rüdiger Hess
was 32 years old and Ilse 69; they had not seen Hess since his departure from
Germany in 1941. After this illness, he allowed his family to visit regularly.
His daughter-in-law Andrea, who often brought photos and films of his
grandchildren, became a particularly welcome visitor. Hess's health problems,
both mental and physical, were ongoing during his captivity. He cried out in the
night, claiming he had stomach pains. He continued to suspect that his food was
being poisoned and complained of amnesia. A psychiatrist who examined him in
1957 deemed he was not ill enough to be transferred to a mental hospital.
Another unsuccessful suicide attempt took place in 1977.
Other
than his stays in hospital, Hess spent the rest of his life in Spandau Prison.
His fellow inmates Konstantin von Neurath, Walther Funk and Erich
Raeder were released because of poor health in the 1950s; Karl Dönitz, Baldur von Schirach and Albert Speer served their time and were released, Dönitz
in 1956, Schirach and Speer in 1966. The 600-cell prison continued to be
maintained for its lone prisoner from Speer and Shirach's release until Hess's
death in 1987, at an estimated cost of DM 800,000. Conditions were far more
pleasant in the 1980s than in the early years; Hess was allowed to move more
freely around the cell block, setting his own routine and choosing his own
activities, which included television, films, reading and gardening. A lift was
installed so he could more readily access the garden, and he was provided with
a medical orderly from 1982 onward.
Numerous
appeals for Hess's release were launched by his lawyer, Dr Seidl, beginning as
early as 1947. These were denied, mainly because the Soviets repeatedly vetoed
the proposal. Spandau was located in West Berlin, and its existence gave the
Soviets a foothold in that sector of the city. Additionally, Soviet officials
believed Hess must have known in 1941 that an attack on their country was
imminent. In 1967 Wolf Rüdiger Hess began a campaign to win his father's
release, garnering support from notable politicians such as Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron Oaksey
in Britain and Willy Brandt in Germany, but to no avail, in spite of the
prisoner's advanced age and deteriorating health.
Death
and aftermath
Hess
died on 17 August 1987 at the age of 93 in a summer house that had been set up
in the prison garden as a reading room. He took an extension cord from one of
the lamps, strung it over a window latch, and hanged himself. Death occurred by
asphyxiation. A short note to his family, thanking them for all they had done,
was found in his pocket. The Four Powers released a statement on 17 September
ruling the death a suicide. Initially buried at a secret location to avoid
media attention or demonstrations by Nazi sympathisers, Hess was re-interred in
a family plot at Wunsiedel on 17 March 1988, and his wife was buried beside him
when she died in 1995. Spandau Prison was demolished to prevent it from
becoming a Nazi shrine.
His
lawyer, Dr Seidl, felt Hess was too old and frail to have managed to kill
himself. Wolf Rüdiger Hess repeatedly claimed that his father had been murdered
by the British Secret Intelligence Service to prevent him from revealing
information about British misconduct during the war. Abdallah Melaouhi, who
served as Hess's medical orderly from 1982 to 1987, was dismissed from his
position at his local district parliament's Immigration and Integration
Advisory Council after he wrote a self-published book on a similar theme.
According to an investigation by the British government in 1989, the available
evidence did not back up the claim that Hess was murdered, and Solicitor
General Sir Nicholas Lyell saw no grounds for further investigation. Further,
the autopsy results support the conclusion that Hess committed suicide. A
report released in 2012 again raised the question of whether Hess was murdered.
Historian Peter Padfield claims the suicide note found on the body appears to
have been written when Hess was hospitalised in 1969.
After
the town of Wunsiedel became the scene of pilgrimages and neo-Nazi
demonstrations every August on the date of Hess's death, the parish council
decided not to allow an extension on the grave site's lease when it expired in
2011. With the consent of his family, Hess's grave was re-opened on 20 July
2011 and his remains exhumed, then cremated. His ashes were scattered at sea by
family members; the gravestone, which bore the epitaph "Ich hab's
gewagt" ("I dared"), was destroyed.
OTHER LINKS:
No comments:
Post a Comment