Was Hess really mad? What if he was indeed sent by Hitler, what's the odd that Brit would accept his offer? Personally I think it's good enough offer. War reparation, withdraw occupying army...etc, Italy would most likely quit fighting right after, UK has everything to gain from this deal. Among the Spandau 7, Hess is probably the least guilty one, how come he was imprisoned the longest? and I highly doubt that he kill himself at the age of 93, been semi senile and fragile... anyone with some in depth knowledge willing to share?
Just an opinion after reading on the man. I believe he thought he could make peace and get back to the highlight with Hitler. A pretty crazy idea, but I believe also that the British Intelligence made a trap, perhaps not believing Hess himself would show up, but that´s the way it happened. Later on he did develop into a crazy one but that´s another story.
"anyone with some in depth knowledge willing to share?" I once knew a man that was in the British Army after WW2. He ended up as a guard at Spandau prison. I asked him one day what he thought of Hess, he said, "I hated him, he gave me the creeps". OJ PS, amazingly, the man's surname was 'Churchill'.
Hess was indeed sent by Hitler with the usual condition that should he fail his mission would be denied. It was a well laid trap involving some very well known British, French and German characters, and the proof of it remains classified. I've been researching the Hess flight for years, I've turned up a few very interesting details but I'll hold those cards close to my chest.
Any deal that left Hitler in power and in control of mainland Europe was totally unacceptable to the British.
The results of physical/psychological examination at Nuremberg: The Avalon Project : Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 1
I also knew a guy who was one of his guards at Spandau, he told me the other prisoners shunned him and would not even eat at the same table.
In my opinion...I don't think any one is any less guilty than the other. Guilt is like pregnancy , either you're pregnant or your not. You can't be just a little bit pregnant! Anyone who was a Nazi is guilty, whether they wanted to do what they were doing or not. Just because you don't like what you do doesn't negate your guilt! Why do you think so many SS and other's committed suicide? In my opinion, those that did not have the capability to desensitize whacked themselves because they knew the alternative was a camp! What would you do? (sorry for the rant!) In anything i have read regarding Hess, I think there was some viable mental problems there, but it also appeared that these problems (eg, amnesia) were used by Hess depending on what he felt the occassion called for. it almost seems like during the trial, if he didn't want to face something, he would develop amnesia! Read the book by the Nuremberg psychologist Gilbert...he did state that there was evidence of problems, but even he almost seemed to question it at times. However, Gilbert was Jewish, wasn't he? Maybe there was a bit of bias there. Anyway, as for the long sentence (and this is just in my opinion), Hess was a character, i believe he had a die-hard loyalty to Hitler...he was closely tied to Hitler right from the start! I can't explain why he got such a long sentence...here is a copy of his judgment: Shofar FTP Archives: imt/tgmwc/judgment/j-defendants-hess Perhaps others got a lesser sentence (Speer comes to mind here) because he appeared to regret what had happened and showed remorse. Operative word here is appeared...only Speer himself can answer this question honestly...ooops, he's dead now. You get my point. Rudolph Höss attempted to write a memoir to show his "remorse"...didn't help him. However, in my opinion, I believe that Speer's is a little more genuine than Höss's...he was something else! Whereas Hess went a little crazy...which it appeared was questioned by people to begin with. Just my opinion. Lisa
