Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess was a prominent figure in the early Nazi Party, known primarily for his close association with Adolf Hitler and his role as the party's deputy führer. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1894 to German parents, Hess had a privileged upbringing but sought to escape his family's expectations by joining the German Army at the outbreak of World War I. He served with distinction and later pursued higher education in Munich, where he became involved with nationalist organizations and met Hitler. Hess's allegiance to Hitler intensified after he joined the Nazi Party in 1920, and he played a significant role in shaping Nazi ideology, notably through his assistance in writing "Mein Kampf."
His unexpected flight to Scotland in 1941 during World War II aimed to negotiate peace with Britain but resulted in his imprisonment for the remainder of the war. After the conflict, Hess was tried at the Nuremberg Trials, where he was convicted of conspiracy and crimes against peace, receiving a life sentence instead of the death penalty. He spent decades in Spandau Prison, ultimately taking his own life in 1987. Hess's legacy remains controversial, as he is often viewed as a symbol of the complexities and internal conflicts within the Nazi regime, and his actions are inextricably linked to the broader atrocities committed by the party.
Subject Terms
Rudolf Hess
German Nazi deputy to Adolf Hitler
- Born: April 26, 1894
- Birthplace: Alexandria, Egypt
- Died: August 17, 1987
- Place of death: West Berlin, West Germany (now Berlin, Germany)
Major offense: Conspiracy and crimes against peace as defined by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg
Active: April 21, 1933-May 10, 1940
Locale: Berlin, Germany
Sentence: Life imprisonment
Early Life
Rudolf Hess (REW-dawlf hehs) was the son of a wealthy wholesaler and exporter living in Alexandria, Egypt. His parents were from the German middle class and had their home in Württemberg. However, Hess did not live in Germany until the age of fourteen. His father refused his request to go to a university and pressured him to join the family business. In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, Hess joined the German Army in order to escape his undesired vocation. He served with distinction, was twice wounded in combat, rose to the rank of lieutenant, and became a pilot in the German Army Air Service.
Hess left the army at the end of the war and entered the university in Munich, where he studied history, political science, and economics. He joined the Thule Society, an organization based on a belief in Nordic supremacy and strongly anti-Semitic in its focus. He studied under geographer and professor Karl Haushofer, who was the formulator of the notion of lebensraum (increased living space for Germans at the expense of other nations). While in Munich, Hess met Ilse Prohl, his future wife.
Nazi Career
On July 1, 1920, Hess met Adolf Hitler at a meeting of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, better known as the Nazi Party. The meeting was held in a Munich beer hall. After hearing Hitler speak, Hess joined the party as its sixteenth member and began his lifelong adoration of Hitler. In 1923, Hess joined Hitler and other Nazi Party members in the Beer Hall Putsch, an unsuccessful attempt to seize control of the German government, which was ruled as the Weimar Republic. Imprisoned with Hitler at Landsberg, Bavaria, Hess assumed the role of Hitler’s personal secretary. He took dictation of Mein Kampf (1925-1927; English translation, 1933), Hitler’s book detailing his plan for German expansion, and made editorial suggestions regarding lebensraum. Hess and Hitler were released from Landsberg in 1925.
After prison, Hess continued his role as Hitler’s secretary. In 1932, Hitler made him chairman of the Central Political Commission of the Nazi Party, which put him in control of party organization and operation. On April 21, 1933, after Hitler’s takeover of Germany, Hess was given the largely ceremonial title of deputy führer. Although many writers question the actual role of Hess with Nazi policy making, Hitler acknowledged Hess’s loyalty by making him second in succession at the beginning of World War II in 1939.
Hess shocked the world on May 10, 1941, at the apex of war between Germany and Great Britain, by flying a fighter plane over Scotland and bailing out. His full motive remains a mystery, but his public account was that he wanted to meet with the peace faction of Great Britain, a move that he hoped would lead to peace between the two nations. Hess spent the remainder of the war imprisoned in Great Britain; he was returned to Germany to face charges of war crimes charges at the end of the conflict.
Legal Action and Outcome
The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany, began on November 20, 1945, and ended on October 1, 1946. Hess was one of twenty-four Nazi leaders put on trial. He was indicted on all four counts: conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. He ultimately was convicted of the first two of these counts.
Hess’s flight over Scotland saved him from the death penalty. He could not be connected to the most serious crimes of other Nazi leaders. Instead, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He spent the next forty-one years at the Spandau Military Prison in West Berlin, the last twenty-one years as the sole occupant of Spandau Prison and as the most expensive prisoner in the world. He committed suicide by strangling himself with an electric cord on August 17, 1987.
Impact
Rudolf Hess’s impact on history is far less than he anticipated. Because he was a key leader of the Nazi Party, the crimes of the party were also Hess’s crimes. His legacy was tarnished within the Nazi ranks by his mysterious flight into Scotland; even his codefendants at Nuremberg, such as Hermann Göring, ridiculed Hess because of it. Hess died thinking he would be remembered as a martyr to the cause of German National Socialism. However, by irrevocably helping to connect that socialism to Hitler, Hess failed to comprehend that even modern Germans would reject Hitler as a madman and National Socialism as a fallacy.
Bibliography
Kater, Michael. The Nazi Party: A Social Profile of Members and Leaders, 1919-1945. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1983. Integrates the impact of Hess on the party with that of other Nazi leaders. Good coverage of the rise of Hess to leadership and his role in party organization.
Manvell, Roger, and Heinrich Fraenkel. Hess: A Biography. New York: Drake, 1973. A full-length biography of Hess, one of several books by this author on Nazi Germany. Good coverage of the Nuremberg trial and Hess’s years at Spandau Prison.
Reed, Anthony. The Devil’s Disciples: Hitler’s Inner Circle. New York: W. W. Norton, 2003. Details Hess’s role in the Beer Hall Putsch, his taking of Hitler’s dictation of Mein Kampf, and his personal relationship to Hitler.
Schmittroth, Linda, and Mary Kay Rosteck. People of the Holocaust. Detroit: UXL, 1998. Covers three groups of people: Nazi leaders, world leaders, and those who aided the Jews. The profiles of Nazi leaders include Hess.
Smelser, Ronald, and Rainer Zitelmann. The Nazi Elite. Translated by Mary Fischer. New York: New York University Press, 1993. Biographical sketches of top Nazi leaders. Questions the influence of Hess on Hitler but strongly supports the traditional view of Hess’s loyalty to his führer.