Rudolf Heß

Rudolf Heß was a prominent figure in Nazi Germany, acting as Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party. Rudolf Hess was born in 1894 in Alexandria, Egypt. His family moved to Germany in 1908. At the onset of World War I he enlisted in the 7th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment, became an infantryman and was awarded the Iron Cross, second class. After the war Hess went to Munich, he enrolled in the University of Munich where he studied political science, history, economics, and geopolitics under Professor Karl Haushofer. After hearing Hitler speak in May 1920, he became completely devoted to his leadership. On the eve of war with the Soviet Union, he flew solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the United Kingdom, but instead was arrested. He was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to life internment at Spandau Prison, where he died in 1987, as widely believed, by suicide. His last words before the tribunal were, "I have no regrets." Following the 1966 releases of Baldur von Schirach and Albert Speer, Hess was the sole remaining inmate of Spandau Prison, partly at the insistence of the Soviets. Many historians and legal commentators have expressed opinions that his long imprisonment was an injustice. In 1977, Britain's chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, Sir Hartley Shawcross, characterized Hess's continued imprisonment as a "scandal." On 17 August 1987, Hess died while under Four Power imprisonment at Spandau Prison. He was buried in Wunsiedel, and Spandau Prison was subsequently demolished to prevent it from becoming a shrine. After Hess's death neo-Nazis from Germany and the rest of Europe gathered in Wunsiedel for a memorial march. These gatherings were banned from 1991 to 2000. Demonstrations in Wunsiedel were again legalised in 2001. Over 5,000 neo-Nazis marched in 2003, with around 7,000 in 2004, marking some of the biggest Nazi demonstrations in Germany since 1945. After stricter German legislation regarding demonstrations by neo-Nazis was enacted in March 2005 the demonstrations were banned again.