Rudolf Hess Dies After Half-Century in Prison

Rudolf Hess, the Hitler deputy who parachuted into Scotland in 1941 in a bid to end World War II, died today at age 93 after nearly half a century in jail, including 20 years as the only inmate at cavernous Spandau prison.

Hess, an early Nazi activist who never renounced Adolf Hitler and the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime, was rushed to a British military hospital from Spandau prison this afternoon.

The bushy-browed and gaunt Hess was the last top Nazi to die.

Family lawyer Alfred Seidl said he learned of the death from Hess’ son, Wolf-Ruediger Hess.

Seidl said Hess died this afternoon but that he did not know the cause of death. Hess suffered from lung, heart and stomach ailments and was nearly blind late in his life. He was hospitalized several times in recent years, and attempted suicide three times while in prison.

Hess had been in custody since 1941, when he parachuted into Scotland in what he said was an attempt to arrange a World War II peace treaty.

In recent years, the United States, Britain and France had called for the release of Hess on humanitarian grounds, but the Soviet Union--the fourth country administering Spandau--refused, saying it would constitute an amnesty for fascism.

Hess was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on April 26, 1894, the son of a German exporter. He was sent back to Germany for schooling at age 14.

Infantryman, Pilot

After serving as an infantryman and later a pilot during World War I, he resumed his studies in Munich, where he met and quickly joined Hitler in the growing Nazi movement. The two were jailed in Landsberg prison after the abortive “Beer Hall Putsch” in which the Nazis tried to seize power in Bavaria in 1923. In prison, Hitler dictated his political tract “Mein Kampf” to Hess.

After their release in 1925, Hess became Hitler’s personal secretary. In 1933, after Hitler was elected chancellor of Germany, Hess was named his deputy.

Hess’ 1941 flight to Britain shocked the world. With the Germans in control of most of Europe west of the Soviet Union, he parachuted at night into enemy territory on what he described as a peace mission. The Nazi attack on Russia took place six weeks later and some theories say he was trying to divert attention from the Russian front.

In 1946, Hess was sentenced in Nuremberg to life in prison.

Initially, six other Nazi leaders also served time at Spandau. By 1966, Hess was the only prisoner left there.

Until the end, Hess maintained his innocence but did not renounce his past as a Nazi leader.