Local attorney, pilot and Rotarian Joe Roth is a World War II scholar and enthusiast. He recently provided a program called “Hitler’s Deputy Rudolf Hess Flies to Scotland: A Life (and Death) Shrouded in Mystery” for the Rotary Club of Livingston.
“As a student of history, particularly World War II history, as a pilot, and as an attorney, I am intrigued by the story of Rudolf Hess.
“I imagine a lot of you are thinking my talk today will involve something historical, perhaps from the World War II era. Well, today I’ll be talking about a currently popular topic – conspiracy theories.
“I have to admit this one is historical in nature and tied to World War II. And no surprise – it even involves airplanes. And legal issues.
“How many of you have heard of Rudolf Hess? Big Nazi, right. But did you know this? In 1941, eight years after he became deputy to Adolph Hitler, Hess decided to fly solo to Scotland and try to get the Brits to exit World War II.
“That’s when the conspiracy theories began to fly too. Did Hitler send Hess on an official mission? Or was Hess’ flight engineered by the British? Did British intelligence dupe him into flying? Was Hess just some wild and crazy guy? You decide. Here’s a little background.
“Hess served as an infantryman in the German Army in World War I. He also trained as an aviator, but never saw any action in that role. After he joined the Nazi Party in 1920, he was at Hitler’s side in 1923 for the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed Nazi attempt to seize control of the government of Bavaria. While serving a prison sentence for that attempted coup, he assisted Hitler in writing “Mein Kampf” which became the Nazi Party bible.
“After Hitler became Germany’s chancellor in 1933, Hess was appointed Deputy Fuhrer and signed much of the government’s legislation, including the 1935 Nuremburg Laws, which stripped German Jews of their rights. When the war began in 1939, Hitler appointed Herman Goring as his official successor, but Hess was next in line.
“Hess continued his interest in flying, even participating with success in air races.
“However, his success in leadership began to wane. Many in Hitler’s inner circle thought Hess might be deranged. He seemed to be a hypochondriac. He was beyond picky about what he ate. He developed an interest in the occult. He increasingly got pushed aside.
“So Hess decided just to make his own move. He would bring Britain to the negotiating table. How? By gong to a German airplane factory and ordering up a plane so he could fly to Scotland and meet with the Duke of Hamilton who Hess thought opposed Britain’s war strategy.
“Hess ordered up a twin-engine Messerschmitt BF 110, and please add a radio compass and long-range fuel tanks. Who’s going to deny the Deputy Fuhrer?
“On May 10, 1941, after a final check of the weather reports for Germany and the North Sea, Hess took off from Germany mid-afternoon. He flew a zig-zagged course at low altitude in order to avoid English radar. (And also avoid German radar!) He eventually appeared on English radar, and English Spitfires were dispatched to intercept him, but due to the gathering darkness and Hess’ constant course changes and altitude changes, they failed to find the intruder.
“Near midnight, Hess was having difficulty finding Dungavel House, the Duke of Hamilton’s home. He also was low on fuel. His solution? He climbed to 6,000 feet and parachuted out of his plane. The airplane crashed about 12 miles west of Hess’ destination. Think about that. It’s not like he had GPS or Google maps. Hess’ biographers considered the flight to have been ‘the proudest technical achievement of Hess’ life’ due to his navigational skills.
“Hess in his parachute landed on a farm south of Glasgow with only minor injuries. A local plowman discovered Hess still struggling with his parachute. Identifying himself as ‘Hauptmann Alfred Horn,’ Hess said that he had an important message for the Duke of Hamilton.
“Now what would you do if some guy parachuted into your field? Call the cops? Run? The plowman helped Hess to his nearby cottage and offered him tea. Then he contacted local authorities.
“After various interviews with various authorities, Hess’ true identity was determined. Upon meeting the Duke of Hamilton, Hess explained he was on a ‘mission of humanity’ and that Hitler ‘wished to stop the fighting’ with England.
“Before Hess left Germany, he gave his assistant a letter addressed to Hitler to be delivered the following day, detailing his plans to initiate peace negotiations with the U.K. After reading it, Hitler let loose a cry that could be heard throughout the building.
“Hitler was worried that Germany’s allies, Italy and Japan, would perceive Hess’ act as an attempt by Hitler to secretly open peace negotiations with the British. Hitler ordered that the German press should characterize Hess as a madman who made the decision to fly to Scotland entirely on his own, without Hitler’s knowledge or authority. Some Germans wondered how if Hess was truly mentally ill, how he could have held such an important government position. Hitler stripped Hess of all of his party and state offices.
“The British press and public were entranced by the entire affair, which they found to be extraordinarily amusing. Later Winston Churchill said in his memoirs that Hess came of his own free will, and his plan was one of ‘lunatic benevolence.’
“Not surprisingly, Hess became a prisoner of war. He was transferred around to various facilities, including for a brief period the Tower of London. Psychiatrists who treated Hess during this period reported that while he was not insane, he was mentally unstable, with tendencies toward hypochondria and paranoia.
“After Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 8, 1945, Hess was transferred to Nuremberg to stand trial as a war criminal.
“The chief psychiatrist at Nuremberg, Douglas Kelly of the U.S. Military, gave the opinion that Hess suffered from ‘a true psychoneurosis, primarily of the hysterical type, engrafted on a basic paranoid and schizoid personality with amnesia, partly genuine and partly feigned.’ However, he was found fit to stand trial.
“Hess was found guilty on two counts – crimes against peace (planning and preparing a war of aggression), and conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes. He was found not guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Hess was given a life sentence; one of seven Nazis who avoided the death penalty. The seven went to the allied military prison at Spandau in Berlin.
“Spandau Prison was controlled by the Allied Control Council which consisted of representatives of England, France, the U.S., and the Soviet Union. Each country provided prison guards for a month at a time on a rotating basis. Hess’ medical problems, both mental and physical, were ongoing. Other than occasional hospital stays, Hess spent the rest of his life in Spandau Prison. His fellow inmates were all either released due to poor health or were released after serving their time. The 600-cell prison continued to be maintained for its lone prisoner from 1966 until Hess’ death in 1987.
“In 1979 Hess was diagnosed with potentially fatal prostate cancer, but he refused treatment. He was found dead on Aug. 17, 1987. He had hanged himself using an extension cable strung over a window latch. He was 93.
“This is almost, but not quite, the end to his bizarre story. His grave in Berlin became a destination for neo-Nazi pilgrimages and demonstrations. Eventually, his family consented to have his grave re-opened, the remains cremated, and the ashes scattered at sea by family members.
“His gravestone bore the epitaph ‘I Have Dared.’ It was destroyed.
“Spandau Prison was demolished to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.
“My analysis? As a student of World War II history, I think that Hess acted alone. As a pilot, I am amazed by his navigational skills. As an attorney, I am somewhat sympathetic. Yes, he was a Nazi until the very end. But I think that his sentence was somewhat harsh for an act of, as Churchill put it, ‘lunatic benevolence.’”
