Hess Buried Secretly; Kin Won’t Say Where or When : Hitler Aide Hanged Self; Son Stricken

Former Nazi deputy Fuehrer Rudolf Hess was buried secretly, his family said today shortly after British officials confirmed that the 93-year-old prisoner hanged himself.

Also today, the Hess family lawyer said that Hess’ 50-year-old son had suffered a stroke and was hospitalized.

Andrea Hess, the former Nazi leader’s daughter-in-law, told the Associated Press today from her home in Munich, “I can confirm that the burial of Rudolf Hess has taken place.” She declined to say where or when.

She was reached for comment after Karl Walter, mayor of Wunsiedel, the Bavarian town where Hess was to have been buried, said Hess had been buried in a secret location.

Not Buried in Wunsiedel

Walter said he could not say when or where the burial took place but that it definitely was not in Wunsiedel.

“I am very surprised and I am not unhappy,” Walter said.

In Munich, Hess family lawyer Alfred Seidl said Hess’ son, Wolf Ruediger Hess, had suffered a stroke. He was taken to a hospital after his wife found him “motionless” in their Munich home Sunday night, Seidl said. He said he did not know Hess’ condition.

Previously, British authorities said Rudolf Hess was found Aug. 17 with “an electrical cord around his neck” in West Berlin’s Spandau Prison. The earlier statements did not refer to a hanging.

Evidence Indicates Hanging

“All available evidence--including results of a full autopsy and investigations by the special investigation branch of the Royal Military Police--indicates that Hess used an electrical extension cord to hang himself and that the cause of death was asphyxiation,” today’s British statement said.

The statement, issued by diplomatic spokesman Anderson W. Purdon in West Berlin, also emphasized that Hess had left a suicide note.

The Hess family has said it doubts the British assertions, issued on behalf of the four World War II Allies who kept him prisoner, that Hess had killed himself. The family also said that a second autopsy performed at the relatives’ request failed to remove their doubts.

Neo-Nazis Flock to Town

Before Hess was secretly buried, scores of neo-Nazis had converged on the town of Wunsiedel, located 70 miles north of Nuremberg. (Story, Page 5.)

Radical Hess admirers, many sporting Nazi-style uniforms, staged small demonstrations in and around Wunsiedel over the weekend, and police rounded up a small number of them on Sunday.

In one instance, police restricted access to the town cemetery Saturday when a formation of flag-bearing neo-Nazis marched in two columns to what had been expected to be the Hess grave site, chanting “Revenge for Hess.”

Hess was arrested after parachuting into Scotland in 1941 in what he said was a bid to arrange a separate World War II peace treaty between Germany and Britain. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life in prison.