Rudolf Hess (1 Viewer)

[redhugh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hess

Rudolf Hess's trip to scotland prior to the invasion of russia is one event during the war , that was unusual and not fully explained yet. The national archive is not slated to release the records till 2016. The two theories are that he was mad or that he was there to negotiate or plot with an antichurchill movement . Also significant was that he was the last prisoner in Spandau and was found to have committed suicide at the age of 93 in 1987! I read the wilkipedia page on it and it throws up a couple of theories. Has any other light been shed on this unusual episode

 

[Combat]

The Hess incident was interesting on a lot of levels. The conspiracy theorists make a lot out it, but most likely he shared a rather naive point of view that the Germans and English could co-exist in ruling the world and the real enemy was the USSR. He also was falling out of favor with Hitler as the war progressed and internal party matters were overtaken by military events - so this was a giant gamble to regain status. At most the British Intelligence service may have baited him into a trap. Maybe something along those lines will come to light. Ironically, the real impact was on Stalin who feared the English and Germans would come to terms and he would be left to fight Hitler alone. As a result, the Hess incident played upon those fears and were beneficial to the Germans when Stalin prohibited many measures to prepare for the German attack in 1941 fearing they might provoke the Germans.

The Hess suicide is a more fertile ground for conspiracy. The whole story is strange and we will probably never know exactly what happened. Perhaps there was some fear he might be released due to age or illness and steps were taken to bring it to an end. Maybe the guards just got tired of looking after one old man - he was the only prisoner for many years. I think his mental illness was feigned after it became clear that he would not make any progress with the English. One of the more bizarre incidents in WWII.

 

[theBaron]

Shirer in his book, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" describes Hess as a man who never matured beyond mental adolescence, and that in itself goes a long way towards explaining what he did. As to his memory lapses and mental health, he displayed that behavior during the Nuremburg trial, too (cf. Shirer). Whether he was faking it, or whether he suffered a mental collapse (a nervous breakdown), is cause for debate, as we've noted here in these posts. I don't think he was the sharpest tool in the shed to begin with, and eventually collapsed under the weight of the events he participated in.

As to his death, here's a link to his son's page about his father:

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n1p24_Hess.html

As with any source we read, everything needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and considered skeptically.

Great topic for discussion!

Prosit!
Bradley

 

[redhugh]

Shirer in his book, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" describes Hess as a man who never matured beyond mental adolescence, and that in itself goes a long way towards explaining what he did. As to his memory lapses and mental health, he displayed that behavior during the Nuremburg trial, too (cf. Shirer). Whether he was faking it, or whether he suffered a mental collapse (a nervous breakdown), is cause for debate, as we've noted here in these posts. I don't think he was the sharpest tool in the shed to begin with, and eventually collapsed under the weight of the events he participated in.

As to his death, here's a link to his son's page about his father:

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n1p24_Hess.html

As with any source we read, everything needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and considered skeptically.

Great topic for discussion!

Prosit!
Bradley

Thanks , that was certainly a fascinating link, with a lot of details of his actual imprisonment and a few theories thrown in as well.
The conditions of hess's imprisonment were very controlled by his son's account. While on the one hand you could justify him being locked up for the rest of his life on the other hand , considering they let the other prisoners out , you have to wonder why he in particular was kept in.

There have been rumblings over the years about the abdicated Edward VIII and possible nazi sympathies and a few documentaries. I suppose we'll have to wait till 2016 to get the full story ......

 

[Louis Badolato]

Thank you for the link, but I couldn't get through it. Hess' son's pro-nazi bias was to disgusting for me to stomach.

 

[tdubel]

Louis,
I agree with you. But I think his zealousness also comes out of pride for his father who he believes was given the worst of it after so many others were freed and allowed to die in peace. But I agree, he is overly praiseworthy of Hess who was still a Nazi, believed in the cause, etc. Who knows about Edward VIII's involvement, that has been rumored for years.

Doesn't it make you wonder how Speer and Dietrich, et al escaped with slaps on the wrist compared to Hess?

It is an interesting conspiracy no matter how you figure it.

TD

 

[damian]

I did not read the article but just thought that I would point out that The Institute of Hostoricla Review is a well known organization for holocaust denialists. They market David Irving's books quite blatantly so it should come as little suprose to find pro-Nazi sentiments being expressed there. As David Irving said "Hitler was German Jewry's best friend" and if you believe that then there is a gold mine at the bottom of my garden which you may be interested in buying.
Regards
Damian

 

[L Flowers]

I wouldn't put too much stock in the suicide theory. I was with the US Army 5/502nd Inf, Berlin Brigade, from 1985-1987 and we had Spandeau Guard at the time of his death and lets just say don't believe everything you read on Wikipedia.
For those who don't know, the Spandeau guard detail was rotated between the Russians, Brits, French and Americans. All four powers had access to both East and West but the Russians only came over when they had Spandeau guard. They were closely guarded by their superiors. Here are two pics of the changing of the guard. Not many pics because you could not have cameras or talk to Hess. After his death the prison was torn down and the bricks removed or destroyed to keep Neo-Nazis from having any of it or a place to rally.

The second one is mine I got from a military photographer. The first I got from a friend.

 

[redhugh]

great pictures, the american helmets look like they are glistening, the russian uniforms look great as well, thanks for the pics

 

[L Flowers]

Berlin was a place where you had to look your best before your potential enemy. Those are highly shined helmet liners for the pre-kevlar helmets.

 

[redhugh]

Berlin was a place where you had to look your best before your potential enemy. Those are highly shined helmet liners for the pre-kevlar helmets.

Looks very impressive and certainly (pardon the pun) outshines the russian uniform

 

[L Flowers]

Here is another of the changing of the guard between the Brits and US. I don't know where I got this from but whoever took the picture might have had a few already.