Rather sad that it had to come to this , the responsibility lies not with the Church or the German Government but with those who see themselves as the political descendants of the NSDAP. If they could have left the man alone this would not be happening. Hess's son has always believed his father was murdered and has addressed revisionist gatherings to agree with them in this conclusion , sad that he could not be left alone- the modern day neo nazis are baggage Germany does not need and the buck stops with them.
Between 1977-79, whilst stationed in Berlin, I was seconded to Spandau for 4 weeks as a'civilian British warder',awaiting the arrival of a new warder from UK. I worked closely with Hess whilst on internal duties, and found him to be an intelligent individual, who could never see himself being released,and subsequently being used as a 'figure head' for extremists.Sadly I must admite that I too believe that he became an 'expensive thorn ' in too many sides to be allowed to live.I also have my own beliefs in who the person interned, actually was.
Thats an interesting statement Redcap - having read Hugh Thomas's book on the Spandau prisoner I too wonder if a hoax was perpetuated
well if they were to take D.N.A samples from his remains .they could prove once and for all whether he was substituted by another person in SPANDAU
If Rudolf's son wishes to follow his father's footsteps, I suppose he'll be welcome to jump over Scotland
I arrived in West Berlin only days after his death and Spandau Prison was already flattened. They were worried about it becoming a shrine. A year or so later brand a new NAAFI shopping centre was built on the site of the prison and BFBS asked everyone to come up with a suitable name. They named it "The Britannia Centre". But it will always be remembered by its adopted name......HESSCOS.
I thought at the time of his burial that it might come this. The motivation of the Allies after the Nurnberg trials was to ensure that the war criminals executed, would have no memorials for nazism to be rekindled. Looking back at Hess,we should remember him as a fanatical follower of Nazism and of Adolf Hitler. It should be remembered that although SS reunions were banned by the West German Federal Government,former SS members still met and "glorified their good war".Their numbers continue to fall as time moves on but there should little relaxation to allow the germ of Nazism to grow by allowing homage to Hess.
Attached are a few few folios from HS8/306 Propaganda - giving high level opinion of the Hess Flight to UK
Question 1/ at the end is the one we normally deal with when his intentions are pondered - but the others, regarding OTHER possible trips by Hess, or indeed other Nazis, are very interesting.... Did SOE think that the UK/British Isles were in fact that porous???
good day jedburgh22.very senior member.yesterday.06:17am.re:SOEs opinion of hess flight.it caused a stir in the uk,i was a young fella and for a while thats all people talked about.he was said to have many friends in the uk.they kept that very quite,but for all that was said about him.he did a true life prison sentence.others were hung or shot or took a pill but he came out of prison a free man.and did not conpromise any of his friends,one can only wonder.is it a case of who you know not what you know.thank you for posting.most interesting.brings back memoreies.regards bernard85
First broadcast by BBC radio, I think, back in 2012, on what this British Psychiatrist thought of the motivations of Rudolf Hess: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00r80lf The Psychiatrist and Rudolf Hess Witness In 1941, the deputy fuhrer, Rudolf Hess, flew out of Nazi Germany and landed in Scotland. Keen to study the psychology of the Nazi leadership, the British government sent a psychiatrist called Henry Dicks to examine Hess at a safe house in Surrey. Professor Daniel Pick, author of "The Pursuit of the Nazi Mind", retraces the encounter using BBC archive recordings and Dr Dicks' personal papers. The programme is adapted from "The Psychiatrist and the Deputy Fuhrer", first broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
On 10 May 1941, Hess undertook a solo flight to Scotland, where he hoped to arrange peace talks with the Duke of Hamilton, whom he believed to be prominent in opposition to the British government. Hess was immediately arrested on his arrival and was held in British custody until the end of the war, when he was returned to Germany to stand trial in the Nuremberg Trials of major war criminals in 1946. During much of the trial, he claimed to be suffering from amnesia, but later admitted this was a ruse. Hess was convicted of crimes against peace and conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes and was transferred to Spandau Prison in 1947, where he served a life sentence. Repeated attempts by family members and prominent politicians to win his early release were blocked by the Soviet Union. While still in custody in Spandau, he died by suicide in 1987 at the age of 93. After his death, the prison was demolished to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine. Rudolf Hess - Wikipedia
I understand that it is also the case that his body was dug up twice and moved, before eventually being cremated, to stop his final resting place being used by Neo-Nazi demonstrators. His plane ran out of fuel and he jumped, coming down probably within 15-20miles of where my dad was stationed in Scotland at the time. Its not clear from my dads notes whether he took part in the search, but it looks like lads from 59th HAA probably formed search parties.
http://ww2talk.com/index.php?search/7386188/&q=Hess&o=relevance 219. Rudolph Hess 219. Rudolph Hess Why did Hess fly to Scotland and on whose authority? What was his role in the Reich and was his sentence fair? James Holland and Al Murray also discuss the role of the Gurkhas in the Second World War. Rudolf Hess - Wikipedia Rudolf Hess / Rudolf Heß ? ;-) Bit of a Welsh connection too - BBC - Wales History: Rudolph Hess in Wales