Rudolf Hess died on August 17, 1987, in Spandau Prison in Berlin. For 21 years he had been its only inmate. One of the leading figures of the Nazi regime, he had been convicted for his role in the start of World War II. His story remains shrouded in conspiracy.
Hess was born on April 26, 1894, in Egypt. His family was wealthy, and he grew up witnessing the British occupation of Egypt, developing an admiration for the British. He received a varied education in Egypt, Germany, and Switzerland in preparation for joining his father's shipping company.
In 1914, the start of World War I saw Hess enlist in the Bavarian artillery regiment as a private. His military career took him into action at the Battle of Verdun and the Somme, where he received a number of injuries and promotions. By 1915 he was a corporal, and by 1916 a platoon sergeant.
That same year he received a serious wound to his hand. After a period of recovery, he was sent from the Western Front to the Eastern Front in Romania. In 1917 he was wounded again, taking a bullet to the chest and artillery shrapnel to the arm.
Following further time in hospital, he was promoted to second lieutenant and put forward for the Iron Cross First Class, although he never received the award. In October 1918, Hess began a short stint as a pilot, though he never saw action. A month later, Germany surrendered and the war was over.
Like many former soldiers, Hess was shocked at the state of Germany. Economic collapse had crippled the country, while his father's company had been appropriated by the British during the war. Because of this, Hess joined one of the many Freikorps groups.
Freikorps were paramilitary bands of soldiers who fought against Communists and Marxist revolutionaries. Hess joined the Freikorps led by Colonel Ritter von Epp, a group responsible for a number of massacres in Bavaria. The group also included the future head of the Nazi Brown Shirts, Ernst Röhm.
During this time, Hess's anti-Semitism became apparent and expanded during his studies at Munich University. There he developed a close relationship with his politics professor, the former General Karl Haushofer, from whom he learned the concept of Lebensraum.
This was the idea that land in the East ought to be conquered and settled by Germans, with its inhabitants displaced. It would be Hess who introduced the concept of Lebensraum to Hitler, forming a key part of Nazi ideology.
Hess was an early member of the Nazi Party, joining as its 16th member in July 1920. He was drawn to the notion that Jews in Germany had betrayed the war effort and led to its defeat. He threw himself into becoming a key member of the party.
He was a leading member of the Brown Shirts, organizing the recruitment of new members. Hess became a vital functionary for the party in terms of organizing and fundraising. He was even part of the failed Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, an attempt by the Nazis to take power.
For his role in the failed coup, Hess was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment at Landsberg Prison. It was here that Hitler and Hess worked on the writings of Mein Kampf, Hitler's memoir and political manifesto. Hess took dictation from Hitler while also making his own suggestions, notably regarding Lebensraum and the value of the British Empire.
During Hitler's stay in prison, Hess acted as his secretary, assisting his idol with day-to-day life and correspondence. In December 1924, the pair were released, and not long after, Hess cemented his place as Hitler's right-hand man. In 1925 he was appointed as Hitler's personal secretary.
As the National Socialists sought to prepare to take control, Hess remained a fanatic devotee to Hitler despite having no official rank in the Nazi Party. It was not until 1932 that Hess was appointed chairman of the Central Political Commission of the National Socialist Party, as well as being appointed an honorary SS General.
When the Nazis took power in 1933, Hitler named Hess as his Deputy Führer, a position second only to the Führer. Hess played a vital role in the Nuremberg rallies, both organizing and delivering speeches on his obedience to Hitler and how unflinching, uncritical loyalty to Hitler would be Germany's salvation.
Hess's speeches were either about how perfect he thought Hitler was or ramblings about the role of international Jewry in the calamities of the world. His subservience to Hitler, without a care for his own power, was fairly unique among the other leading Nazis.
By all accounts, Hess lived a relatively modest life, busying himself with obtaining a civilian pilot's license. He did not solidify his power base, nor did he levy control over certain aspects of Germany, unlike Himmler, for example, who grew the SS from a bodyguard unit to a state within a state. Hess's purpose was seemingly just to be Hitler's deputy.
Hess's office did deal with several key matters, including the drafting of the infamous Nuremberg race laws that saw Jews stripped of many rights. He did, however, make an exemption to these rules for Karl Haushofer's half-Jewish wife.
At the outbreak of World War II, Hess was appointed to the war cabinet and designated as second in line to succeed Hitler, behind Hermann Göring. At this time, Hess was replaced as Hitler's personal secretary by Martin Bormann. Unlike Hess, Bormann built up his own power base and began to marginalize what little power Hess had.
Hess busied himself with the war in the East, working with Heinrich Himmler. They established racial registries and advised separate legal codes for Polish people and Jews. But over time, Hitler and Hess grew ever more distant.
What occurred next is something not fully understood. Hess believed that war with the Soviet Union should not begin in the East until Britain had been defeated or pacified in the West. He believed there were plenty in Britain opposed to the war and sympathetic to the Nazi cause, especially among the upper classes and even the royal family.
Hess believed he could convince these people to depose Churchill and take Britain out of the war. In doing so, he would avoid the war on two fronts that had stretched Germany to a breaking point during World War I. More importantly to Hess, he would be able to win back the favor of his beloved Führer.
On May 10, 1941, Hess took off in his modified long-range plane, heading north in the direction of Scotland. His intended destination was the home of Douglas Hamilton, the 14th Duke of Hamilton and an air commodore of the Royal Air Force. Hess had met Hamilton during the Berlin Olympics, and the two had met at various dinner parties hosted by leading Nazis.
Hess believed Hamilton was sympathetic to the Nazis and could be the figure for those British sympathizers to rally around. Hess had sent a letter to Hamilton explaining his desire for peace, though these letters were intercepted by British intelligence. Without receiving a response from Hamilton, Hess nevertheless embarked on his journey.
During the flight, Hess's plane was picked up by British radar, and Spitfires were sent to intercept him. He was able to evade these planes but could not get close enough to Hamilton's estate, which had its own runway. Hess had to abandon his plane mid-flight, parachuting down just outside Glasgow.
He was detained by a farmer and shortly after arrested. During his arrest, he stressed that he must meet with Hamilton while keeping his identity hidden. Hamilton was eventually summoned to a local barracks, and Hess and Hamilton discussed the peace plan.
Hamilton then contacted Winston Churchill and was briefed on the peace plan. The plan was similar to other offers of peace put forward by the National Socialists in the early stages of the war. It offered that Britain would be left to rule its empire as long as Britain allowed the National Socialists free rein over Europe. If Britain refused, Hess threatened that Britain would starve to death following a naval blockade.
There were further meetings between Hess and members of the British government, with Hess interrogated by British intelligence. He remained in British captivity for the remainder of the war. During this time he attempted to take his own life, including with a blunted bread knife and by throwing himself down a flight of stairs.
A psychological evaluation by the British deemed Hess paranoid, a hypochondriac, and mentally unstable. During his captivity, his delusions included believing that Jews were using mind control on leading Nazis and that the Holocaust was a plot to gain sympathy for Jews. He refused to eat anything, believing the British were trying to poison him, and subsequently lost a lot of weight.
Hitler's reaction to Hess's flight was one of dismay and fear, fear that other leading Nazis were going to attempt a coup. But when it was clear that Hess had acted alone, Hitler set about decrying Hess as a madman. He was stripped of all his ranks and duties, and much of these responsibilities were given to Martin Bormann. The position of Deputy Führer was abolished, and Hess was left in British captivity for the remainder of the war.
After the war ended, Hess was sent back to Germany to face the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal. He was charged on four counts: conspiracy to commit crimes, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. He was one of the key architects of the Nazi government and a key figure to face the court. Hitler, Göring, and Himmler were all dead, so Hess was vital as one of the few leading Nazis left.
During the trial, Hess displayed signs of amnesia, though whether this was a defense tactic is unclear. He stated that the trials were little more than a sham and refused to accept their jurisdiction. Hess's own speeches were used as evidence of his willingness to engage in a war of aggression, but the fact he had been imprisoned since 1941 was used to defend him against some of the later atrocities.
Hess was found guilty on two counts, for conspiracy to commit crimes and crimes against peace. His sentence was life imprisonment, to be served in Spandau Prison in Berlin. He was held in Spandau from July 1947 until his death.
Hess was assigned the moniker Prisoner Number 7 and was guarded by a detachment of guards from the occupying powers: Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union. These guards would rotate monthly. Life in the prison was regimented, with prisoners monitored closely for fear of them taking their own lives.
Over time, the few prisoners at Spandau were released, either for medical reasons or because they had served their sentence. From 1966, Hess remained as the sole prisoner of Spandau. He was allowed to wander through the grounds, although always under the watchful eye of his guards.
It was not until 1969 that Hess was allowed his wife and son to visit him in the prison, having not seen them since 1941. As he aged, he was allowed to have his cell door remain open, and a lift was installed to allow him to reach the gardens. There were even attempts made in the 1970s to have Hess released on compassionate grounds, and arguments that the solitary nature of his imprisonment was too cruel.
During his imprisonment, he remained an unrepentant National Socialist and attempted multiple times to smuggle out statements. He attempted to take his life on multiple occasions, but there were still plenty of times when he was left unattended. Hess would finally succeed on August 17, 1987.
Hess's body was found by the guards. He was 93 when he succeeded, using a length of cable to create a noose. He was buried at a secret location before being buried at his family's grave. The site would later become a gathering place for neo-Nazis, who saw Hess as a true believer in the ideology.
To this day, the flight to Scotland is rife with speculation and conspiracy. Hamilton denied ever meeting Hess at the dinner parties in Berlin, but the two would have likely bonded over their shared passion for flying. Hamilton also later met with Albrecht Haushofer, the son of Karl Haushofer, so again there is a link back to Hess.
The exact details of Hess's and Hamilton's conversation remain known only between the two. What Hamilton revealed is all that is known. So too is there speculation as to the contents of classified documents relating to Hess's flight to Britain, which remain state secrets until 2041 at the earliest. This is likely due to them containing embarrassing information about some rather important people.
Such circumstances have led to theories as to whether it was even the real Rudolf Hess who made the flight to Britain. There has also been speculation as to whether British intelligence lured Hess and whether the British had prior knowledge of his flight. Even his death was subject to speculation, including Hess's son accusing British intelligence of murder.
Rudolf Hess remained a devoted National Socialist. He was focused on his beloved Führer to the point of delusion. His anti-Semitic beliefs and the belief that the East should be conquered shaped Nazi ideology.