Rudolf Hess

Rudolf Hess
Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · source
Name	Rudolf Hess
Caption	Hess in 1935
Office	Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler
Term start	21 April 1933
Term end	12 May 1941
Predecessor	Office established
Successor	Martin Bormann (as Chief of the Party Chancellery)
Office1	Reichsminister without Portfolio
Term start1	1 December 1933
Term end1	12 May 1941
Chancellor1	Adolf Hitler
Birth date	26 April 1894
Birth place	Alexandria, Khedivate of Egypt
Death date	17 August 1987 (aged 93)
Death place	Spandau Prison, West Berlin, West Germany
Party	Nazi Party (NSDAP)
Spouse	Ilse Pröhl
Children	Wolf Rüdiger Hess
Allegiance	German Empire
Branch	Imperial German Army
Serviceyears	1914–1918
Battles	World War I
Unit	7th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment

Rudolf Hess was a prominent German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, he was a central figure in the regime's early consolidation of power until his dramatic, unauthorized solo flight to Scotland in 1941 in a purported attempt to broker peace with the United Kingdom. Declared insane by Hitler and interned by the British, he was later convicted of crimes against peace and conspiracy at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to life imprisonment, dying by suicide in Spandau Prison in 1987. His actions and legacy remain subjects of significant historical controversy and conspiracy theories.

Early life and career

Born in 1894 in Alexandria, then part of the Khedivate of Egypt, to a German merchant family, Hess was educated in Germany and Switzerland. He served with distinction in World War I with the Imperial German Army, first in the 1st Infantry Regiment (Royal Saxon) and later as a pilot in the Luftstreitkräfte. After the war, he studied at the University of Munich, where he became deeply influenced by geopolitical theories and the burgeoning völkisch movement. In 1920, he joined the fledgling Nazi Party after hearing a speech by Adolf Hitler, quickly becoming a devoted acolyte. He participated in the failed Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 in Munich, was imprisoned alongside Hitler at Landsberg Prison, and acted as a personal secretary, assisting in the transcription of Mein Kampf. His unwavering loyalty cemented his position within Hitler's inner circle as the party rebuilt during the Weimar Republic.

Deputy Führer and World War II

Following the Nazi seizure of power, Hitler formally appointed Hess as his Deputy Führer in April 1933, and he was also named a Reichsminister without portfolio. In this powerful role, he was the head of the Nazi Party Chancellery and had broad authority over party affairs and the coordination of the state apparatus. He signed the Nuremberg Laws in 1935 and was a fervent public speaker, often introducing Hitler at major rallies like the Nuremberg Rally. However, after the outbreak of World War II, with the increasing influence of rivals like Hermann Göring, Heinrich Himmler, and Martin Bormann, his political power began to wane. He was largely sidelined from major strategic decisions concerning the war, particularly after the launch of Operation Barbarossa was being planned.

Flight to Scotland

On 10 May 1941, Hess undertook a secret, solo flight from Augsburg, piloting a Messerschmitt Bf 110 to Scotland in a self-appointed mission to negotiate peace with the British government. He parachuted near Eaglesham, intending to contact the Duke of Hamilton, whom he believed was part of a British faction opposed to Winston Churchill. Captured by the Home Guard, he was eventually interrogated by officials including Ivone Kirkpatrick of the Foreign Office. The British government, treating him as a prisoner of war and a potential war criminal, rejected his peace overtures. The German High Command, embarrassed and furious, declared him insane, and Hitler stripped him of all offices, ordering his arrest should he ever return.

Trial and imprisonment

Hess was held in British custody for the remainder of the war, initially at locations like the Tower of London and Maindiff Court Hospital. In 1945, he was transferred to Nuremberg to stand trial before the International Military Tribunal. During the Nuremberg trials, he was charged with crimes against peace, conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, and war crimes; he was found guilty on the first two counts but acquitted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. His erratic behavior, including claims of amnesia, led to psychiatric evaluations but did not avert a verdict. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and, following the release of other major convicts like Albert Speer, became the sole inmate at Spandau Prison in West Berlin, guarded in four-power rotation by the United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union.

Death and legacy

Hess died on 17 August 1987 at the age of 93 in a summer house in the Spandau prison garden; an official investigation by the Allied Control Council concluded he died by suicide via asphyxiation. His death sparked numerous conspiracy theories, with some alleging he was murdered to prevent the disclosure of secrets. His burial in Wunsiedel became a site of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis, leading to the removal of his remains in 2011. Historians largely view his 1941 flight as a deluded act that removed a once-powerful but increasingly marginal figure from the Third Reich. His legacy is inextricably tied to his fanatical loyalty to Hitler, his conviction as a leading architect of Nazi aggression, and his enduring status as a symbol for extremist movements.

Category:1894 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Nazi Party officials Category:People convicted by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg Category:Recipients of the Blood Order Category:Suicides in Germany