One of the strangest men inside Hitler’s inner circle was Rudolf Hess, a man who’s
Second World War would be over after he took a plane to Scotland, flying solo in a bizarre
attempt to broker peace with the British.
However Hess was immediately arrested, and the Deputy Fuhrer of the Nazi Party would
be then imprisoned and he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
He was known as The Last Nazi inside of Spandau Prison but at the age of 93 he died under
circumstances which have been questioned.
After his death, the prison was demolished to prevent it becoming a shrine for Neo-Nazis,
but in the years following his remains and body were exhumed and dug up as the authorities
in Germany were concerned about activity near to the site of his burial.
Join us today as we look at the secret exhumation of Rudolf Hess, to support our channel please
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Rudolf Hess was the Deputy Fuhrer of the Nazi Party, and he was a man who was utterly devoted
to Hitler after hearing him speak for the first time in 1920.
He was member number 16 of the Nazi party, and he was involved in fundraising to begin
with and was even injured trying to protect Hitler following a bomb which exploded at
the Hofbrauhaus.
He was part of the Munich Putsch, and had taken a few people hostage and taken them
30 miles away from Munich, but when he left to make a phone call the hostages then managed
to escape.
He was then sentenced to 18 months in prison for his involvement in the attempted coup,
and it was Hess who was involved in writing and editing Hitler’s book Mein Kampf.
But he was a man who was a keen flyer, and he had a private pilots license, but inside
of the Nazi party he rose to the position of Deputy Fuhrer.
He was also a Reishsleiter, and he was involved in organising the Nuremberg Rally and giving
the opening speech, and he would the introduce Hitler to the rapturous crowds.
But his office was involved in drafting the Nuremberg Laws, in which imposed strict laws
and restrictions on the Jews.
These rules later resulted in mass deportations to concentration camps, but Hess was a man
motivated by his loyalty to Hitler, he did not want power for himself, but further idolisation
for Hitler and the Nazi Party.
As the war went on, he became more antisemitic and he believed the Second World War had been
caused by Jews, and he would continue to give speeches during the conflict blaming them.
But he was a man who was a hypochondriac, and he believed he had many different problems
with his health and when he had meetings with Hitler at the Berghof he even brought his
own food, but Hitler disapproved with this.
But as the war progressed, Hess believed that he was falling from the affections of the
Fuhrer, and with this he was worried that a war on two fronts would break Germany and
he then decided to try and negotiate with the British to end hostilities with them.
He trained in a Messerschmitt BF 110 and would then take this aircraft on a remarkable flight
where he managed to get to Scotland and he managed to make it to within 20 miles of his
destination where he planned to meet with the Duke of Hamilton, believing he would be
able to be part of the peace talks.
But Hess was captured by members of the home guard, and Churchill could not believe that
they had captured the Deputy Fuhrer of the Nazi Party.
In Germany he was portrayed as a madman who had lost all sense of normality, and Goebbels
said in propaganda that he was mentally ill, and should not have been in a position of
power.
Following his capture Hitler stripped him of all his ranks, and ordered him to be execute
on sight if he ever set foot in Germany again.
Hess told the Duke of Hamilton that he was on a mission of humanity, and that Hitler
wanted to end hostilities with Britain, but Hess’ flight was announced across the radio
and it caused a huge degree of confusion.
But after this, he was considered a prisoner of war and he was sent to the Tower of London,
the very site where 2 of Henry VIII’s wives lost their heads, and he was then sent to
a mansion in Surrey for 13 months.
Hess was to be treated well, but was not allowed to learn about the war, and he was guarded
by a huge number of soldiers.
He underwent a number of psychological investigations that claimed he was mentally unstable, and
his behaviour at times would be irrational.
On the 16th June 1942, he tried to take his own life by rushing the guards and jumping
over the railing of a staircase which resulted in him fracturing his leg.
Because of this, he was kept under closer guard and was then transferred to a different
hospital facility where he was held for 3 years.
He was allowed walks on the grounds but he tried to take his own life again this time
stabbing himself in February 1945 with a bread knife.
But after the end of the war and the German surrender, Hess was accused of being a war
criminal and was sent to Nuremberg to be part of the nuremberg trials.
He was charged with four crimes, conspiracy to commit crimes, crimes against peace, war
crimes, crimes against humanity and also violating international laws.
He was a difficult man in captivity, and he was clearly not right.
He began to exhibit amnesia and he hoped that possibly being insane could have resulted
in him avoiding the death penalty.
He did have a good defence in the courtroom, and despite the court deliberating for two
months he was found guilty on two of the four counts.
Because he was not found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity he was saved from
the hangman noose, and was instead given a life sentence.
Whilst at Spandau Prison, he was under the watchful eyes of rotating guards from the
UK, US, France and the Soviet Union.
Hess was prisoner number 7, and he would recieve only a small amount of paper to write letters
with, and he was also not allowed to speak to the other Nazis without permission.
He was expected to help with chores, and was permitted to have an hours walk in the gardens.
As time went on the rules got more relaxed, but Hess was hesitant to allow his family
to come and visit.
He would cry and wait throughout the night and would claim his food was poisoned, but
more attempts on his own life came, and he spent the rest of his life at Spandau Prison.
The rest of the Nazis were released, but Hess remained inside of Spandau, and despite being
the last Nazi and being allowed to do almost was he wanted, he would die within the prison
walls.
In September 1979, he was suffering from prostate cancer which could have killed him, but he
remained a Nazi and refused to apologise for anything he had done.
But on the 17th August 1987, at the age of 93 Hess was found dead in a summer room inside
the prison garden.
It was said he had died using an extension cord over a window latch and a note was found
in his pocket to his family, thanking them.
However, there was much debate about his death, and there was even speculation that it was
a body double who died.
But this would be disproved using DNA on his remains in 2019.
However Hess after his death was initially buried in what was thought to have been a
secret location.
However this was then found, and Neo-Nazis would hold rallies and gatherings around Hess’
grave, and because of this, he was exhumed for a first time.
The former deputy furrier’s remains were dug up in the middle of the night by the authorities,
and were the moved to Wunsiedel in Bavaria on the 17th March 1988, just less than a year
since he had died.
When his wife died 7 years later, she was also buried with him in this family plot.
But the problem still remained about Hess, and his grave yet again became a site of pilgrimage
for Neo-Nazis despite his remains being moved once more.
Every august on the anniversary of his death, the groups would take a pilgrimage to the
grave site, and demonstrations would take place.
Because of the chaos this was causing, the council had agreed not to permit the lease
on the grave to be extended when it expired in 2011.
Hess had requested in his will to be buried in Wunsiedel as it was where his family had
a holiday home, and also where his parents were already buried.
The local Lutheran church was who supervised the ceremony, and they initially gave the
reburial of Hess as they said it would have been wrong to ignore the last wishes of a
dead man.
But as mentioned, the grave became a site of pilgrimage, and Nazi wreaths were laid
on the site, and the Hitler salute was performed around the grave.
A member of the church council stated that, ‘The whole town was shut down and in turmoil,
and there was a huge prolice presence.
We here at the graveyard were not always able to cope.’
Becuase of this, the authorities then decided yet again to exhume and disinter the remains
of Rudolf Hess for one final time.
A grand-daughter of Hess objected that it was wrong to exhume his remains and go against
his final wishes, however the Parish council ignored this and went ahead with the exhumation.
One resident stated, ‘Perhaps we will now have some peace when he is gone, perhaps they
won’t come any more, which is what Wunsiedel wants.’
Under the cover of darkness Hess’ remains were dug up from the grave in secret, and
his grave was opened on the 20th July 2011.
After this, the remains were then transported to a nearby crematorium, where the decaying
remains of Rudolf Hess were then cremated, and were reduced to ashes.
These were then given to his family members, who cremated them at sea.
The gravestone which contained his name and the German inscription which read, ‘I have
dared,’ was then broken up and destroyed, removing any reference to Hess in the graveyard.
It was confirmed that the grave had been emptied and that his body had been removed from the
cemetery to deter Nazis coming back.
The deputy Mayor later said, ‘hopefully we can put it all behind us, we hope the phantom
has left.’
Rudolf Hess is a captivating and interesting figure who is considered to have been the
Last Nazi.
Spandau Prison where he spent the last 40 years of his life was later demolished to
prevent it being a shrine, but it was the place where Hess’ life came to an end.
He was the man who was the Deputy Fuhrer, and a man who was loyal to Hitler and was
trusted, until his failed flight to Scotland occurred and he was shunned and portrayed
as a man who had lost his faculties.
His exhumation is one which was caused by the threats posed by Nazi groups in Germany
decades after the war and the end of the Nazi Party,
and Hess’ remains were not laid to rest as each year thousands of people would head
to the graveyard to venerate him.
But he was a dangerous man, and was someone who was considered a man who could have easily
been executed following the Nuremberg Trials alongside other prominent Nazis.
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