Rudolf Hess

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Rudolf Hess

Rudolf Hess 1894-1987, German National Socialist leader, b. Alexandria, Egypt; son of a German merchant. In 1920 he became an ardent follower of Adolf Hitler and after the Munich "beer-hall putsch" (1923) shared Hitler's imprisonment. Hitler dictated Mein Kampf to him. In 1933 he became deputy Führer and minister without portfolio. In 1939, Hitler named him second in line of succession after Hermann Goering . Hess created a worldwide sensation when he stole an airplane and flew (May, 1941) from Augsburg to Scotland (where he was arrested), apparently in an attempt to negotiate a peace agreement with Great Britain. At the Nuremberg war-crimes trial he was sentenced (1946) to life imprisonment at Spandau prison. Hess's behavior both before and during his trial raised questions as to his sanity. At the time of his death, he was Spandau's last remaining prisoner.

Bibliography: See J. Douglas-Hamilton, Motive for a Mission (1971); W. Schwarzwaller, Rudolf Hess: The Last Nazi (1988).

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Hess, Rudolf

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Â© World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Hess, Rudolf (1894–1987) German Nazi leader. He joined the Nazi Party in 1921, and took part in the abortive Munich Putsch. Hess was nominal deputy leader under Adolf Hitler from 1933. In 1941, he flew to Scotland in a mysterious one-man effort to make peace with the British. In 1945, he was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Nuremberg Trials and died in Spandau Prison, Berlin, for many years its sole inmate.

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Rudolf Hess, RIP. (obituary) Magazine article from: National Review; 9/11/1987
	Hess's Flight to Scotland. (Reviews).(Flight From Reality: Rudolf Hess and His Mission to Scotland, 1941) Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 8/1/2002
	German neo-Nazis use Deutsche Post service to produce stamp of Hitler deputy Rudolf Hess News Wire article from: AP Worldstream; 5/21/2008

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	The mystery of Rudolf Hess In May 1941, Hitler's deputy set off on a secret mission. Later that night, a man claiming to be Rudolf Hess was arrested in Scotland. But only now, 60 years on, can the full story of the cover-up that followed finally be told Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 3/31/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...the day since Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, disappeared from Germany, and...Having read two biographies of Hess, both of which described how he...prepare his book, The Murder of Rudolf Hess, which came out in 1979. Publication...
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