Berlin Paper Says Hess Has Cancer; Military Denies It
A newspaper reported Friday that Rudolf Hess, the 92-year-old former deputy of Adolf Hitler, is hospitalized because of stomach cancer, but a British military spokesman termed the report “pure speculation.”
Anderson Purdon repeated the statement he made Tuesday when Hess was taken from the Spandau war crimes prison to the nearby British Military Hospital that Hess merely was under medical observation.
The West Berlin Morgenpost newspaper said Friday that Hess was moved from the prison in the British sector of Berlin, where he is serving a life term, because of stomach cancer.
“This is pure speculation on the part of the Morgenpost,” Purdon said. “Pure speculation. He is under observation and remains so. That is all.”
In a report Wednesday on Hess’ condition, Purdon said the British, American, French and Soviet prison wardens decided to put Hess in the hospital, where he has been several times in the past, after he complained of feeling ill. Hess had no specific complaint, Purdon said.
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