Title page of RGB I No. 100 proclaiming the laws. Issued 16.09.1935.

German Wikisource has original text related to this article: Nuremberg Laws

The Nuremberg Laws (German: Nürnberger Gesetze) of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating antisemitism as a form of scientific racism. There was a rapid growth in German legislation directed at Jews, such as the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service which banned "non-Aryans" from the civil-service.

The lack of a clear legal method of defining who was Jewish had, however, allowed some Jews to escape some forms of discrimination aimed at them. The enactment of laws identifying who was Jewish made it easier for the Nazis to enforce legislation restricting the basic rights of German Jews.

The Nuremberg Laws classified people with four German grandparents as "German or kindred blood", while people were classified as Jews if they descended from three or four Jewish grandparents. A person with one or two Jewish grandparents was a Mischling, a crossbreed, of "mixed blood".^[1] These laws deprived Jews of German citizenship and prohibited marriage between Jews and other Germans.^[2]

The Nuremberg Laws also included a ban on sexual intercourse between people defined as "Jews" and non-Jewish Germans and prevented "Jews" from participating in German civic life. These laws were both an attempt to return the Jews of 20th-century Germany to the position that Jews had held before their emancipation in the 19th century; although in the 19th century Jews could have evaded restrictions by converting, this was no longer possible.

The laws were a legal embodiment of an already existing Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses.

Background history[link]

1935 chart from Nazi Germany used to explain the Nuremberg Laws

Before 1806, when general citizenship was largely non-existent in the Holy Roman Empire, its inhabitants were subject to different estate regulations. Varying from one territory of the Empire to another, these regulations classified inhabitants into different groups, such as dynasts, members of the court entourage, other aristocrats, city dwellers (burghers), Jews, Huguenots (in Prussia a special estate until 1810), free peasants, serfs, peddlers and Gypsies, with different privileges and burdens attached to each classification. Legal inequality was the principle.

The concept of citizenship was mostly restricted to cities, especially free imperial cities. There was no general franchise, which remained a privilege for the few, who inherited the status or acquired it when they reached a certain level of taxed income or could afford the expensive citizen's fee (Bürgergeld). Citizenship was often further restricted to city dwellers affiliated with the locally dominant Christian denomination (Calvinist, Catholic or Lutheran). City dwellers of other denominations or religions and those who lacked the necessary wealth to qualify as citizens were considered as mere inhabitants who lacked political rights and were sometimes subject to revocable staying permits.

Most Jews then living in German locales that allowed their settlement were automatically defined as mere indigenous inhabitants, depending on permits that were typically less generous than those granted to Gentile indigenous inhabitants. In the 18th c. some Jews and their families (such as Daniel Itzig in Berlin) gained equal status with their fellow Christian city dwellers, but had a different status than noblemen, Huguenots, or serfs. They often did not enjoy the freedom of movement across territorial or even municipal boundaries, let alone enjoy the same status in the new place as in the old.

With the abolition of legal status differences in the Napoleonic era and its aftermath citizenship was established as a new franchise generally applying to all former subjects of the monarchs. While Jewish emancipation did not eliminate all forms of discrimination against Jews, who often remained barred from holding official positions with the State, such forms of discrimination were no longer the guiding principle for ordering society, but a violation of it. These restrictions were mostly abolished in the 1840s, in few smaller states as late as 1869.

In the mid-19th century, the fiercely anti-Semitic völkisch movement appeared in Germany. One of the major demands of the various völkisch groups had been the disemancipation of German Jews and banning sexual relations between those considered to be of the “Semitic race” and those considered to be of the “Aryan race”. In 1881, a petition presented to the German government by the völkisch groups demanding Jewish disemancipation and the banning of marriage and sexual intercourse between “Aryans” and “Jews” had collected over a million signatures. Reflecting the strength of the völkisch movement, from 1892 when the so-called Tivoli Program was adopted, the Conservative Party formally advocated disemancipation of German Jews.^[3] In his best-selling 1912 book Wenn ich der Kaiser wär (If I were the Kaiser), Heinrich Class, the leader of one of the more powerful völkisch groups, the Alldeutscher Verband, urged that all German Jews be stripped of their German citizenship and be reduced to Fremdenrecht (alien status).^[4] Class went on to urge in Wenn ich der Kaiser wär that Jews be totally excluded from all aspects of German life with Class recommending that Jews be forbidden to own land, hold public office, and to participate in journalism, banking, and the liberal professions.^[4]

Toward the Nuremberg Laws[link]

After the First World War, the Jews of Germany were among the most assimilated in Western Europe, speaking German, as opposed to Yiddish, as their first language. Many were secular or atheistic^{[citation needed]} and many had fought for Germany in the First World War.

The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), which had been founded in 1919 as an offshoot of the völkisch movement, adopted the movement's demands to disemancipate the Jews as its own.^[5] Attacks on Jews started shortly after the Nazi assumption of power on 30 January 1933, when Adolf Hitler assumed the Chancellorship. The Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses, the first nationwide stage of the anti-Semitic campaign, began on 1 April 1933.

However, the völkisch demand for laws disemancipating Jews and banning sex or marriage between "non-Aryans" and "Aryans" were not immediately met. A dispute between the Interior Ministry and the NSDAP over the precise "racial" definition of a Jew, namely how many Jewish grandparents did one have to have to be considered Jewish, led to the entire process being hopelessly bogged down by 1935.^[6]

The lack of a clear definition of who was a Jew confused efforts to enforce anti-Semitic laws and measures. The first Nuremberg law, nominally designed for the "prevention of the propagation of hereditary illness", did not attack Jews explicitly. Other laws claimed to preserve German blood and honour, but again were not specifically anti-Semitic.^[7]

During the spring and summer of 1935, many Alte Kämpfer (Old Fighters; i.e. those who joined the Nazi Party before 1930, and who tended to be the most ardent anti-Semites in the Party) and SA members, disenchanted with unfulfilled promises by the Nazi party, were eager to lash out against Germany's Jewish minority as a way of expressing their frustrations against a group that the authorities would not generally protect.^[8] The German historian Hans Mommsen wrote about the Alte Kämpfer that:

"After the Nazi seizure of power, those groups in the NSDAP that originated in the extreme völkisch movement—including the vast majority of the Alte Kämpfer—did not become socially integrated. Many of them remained unemployed, while others failed to obtain posts commensurate with the services they believed they had rendered the movement. The social advancement that they had hoped for usually failed to materialize. This potential for protest was increasingly diverted into the sphere of Jewish policy. Many extremists in the NSDAP, influenced by envy and greed as well as by a feeling that they had been excluded from attractive positions within the higher civil service, grew even more determined to act decisively and independently in the "Jewish Question". The pressures exerted by the militant wing of the party on the state apparatus were most effective when they were in harmony with the official ideology".^[9]

A Gestapo report from the spring of 1935 stated that the rank and file of the Nazi Party would set in motion a solution to the "Jewish problem" "by us from below that the government would then have to follow".^[8] The ensuing wave of assaults, vandalism and boycotts by the Alte Kämpfer and SA members against German Jews in the spring and summer of 1935 was far more violent than the anti-Semitic campaigns in the two previous years.^[10] As a result of this anti-Semitic agitation, these matters were raised to the forefront of the state agenda.^[11] The Israeli historian Otto Dov Kulka, a leading expert on public opinion in Nazi Germany argued that there was a vast disparity of views between those of the Alte Kämpfer and the general German public, but that even those Germans who were not politically active favored bringing in tougher new anti-Semitic laws in 1935.^[12]

Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, the Economics Minister and Reichsbank president, criticized arbitrary behavior by Party members as this inhibited his policy of developing the German economy.^[13] From Dr. Schacht's viewpoint, the violent anti-Semitic campaign waged by the Alte Kämpfer and SA made no economic sense, since Jews were believed to have certain entrepreneurial skills that could be usefully employed to further his policies. Schacht made no moral condemnation of anti-Jewish policy and advocated the passing of legislation to clarify the situation. Following complaints from Dr. Schacht plus reports on the public disagreement with the wave of anti-Semitic violence, Hitler ordered a stop to "individual actions" against German Jews on 8 August 1935.^[13] A conference of ministers was held on 20 August 1935 to discuss the negative economic effects of Party actions against Jews. Hitler argued that such effects would cease once the government decided on a firm policy against the Jews. At the same time, the Interior Minister Dr. Wilhelm Frick threatened to impose harsh penalties on those Party members who ignored the order of 8 August and continued to assault Jews.^[13] From Hitler's perspective, it was imperative to bring in harsh new anti-Semitic laws as a consolation for those Party members who were disappointed with Hitler's order of 8 August, especially because Hitler had only reluctantly given the order for pragmatic reasons, and his sympathies were with the Party radicals.^[13]

The seventh Nazi Party Rally was held in Nuremberg from 10–16 September 1935. It was meant to celebrate the Nazi regime's renunciation of Part V of the Treaty of Versailles in March 1935, which had disarmed Germany, hence its motto Party Rally of Freedom. The rally saw the Reichstag pass the Reich Flag Law, which was Hitler’s response to the "Bremen incident" of 26 July 1935 in New York, in which a group of anti-Nazi demonstrators boarded the Bremen, tore the Nazi party flag which the Bremen had been provocatively flying from its jackstaff and tossed it into the Hudson River. When the German Consul protested, U.S. officials responded that the German national flag had not been harmed, only a political party symbol.^[14] On 15 September 1935 Hitler declared the Nazi Swastika flag the national flag of Germany.^[15][16][17]

The Party Rally of September 1935 had featured the first session of the Reichstag held at that city since 1543.^[18] Hitler had planned to have the Reichstag pass a law making the Nazi Swastika flag the flag of the German Reich, and a major speech in support of the impending Italian aggression against Ethiopia.^[18] However, at the last minute, the German Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath persuaded Hitler to cancel his speech as being too provocative to public opinion abroad as it blatantly contradicted the message of Hitler's "peace speeches", thus leaving Hitler with the sudden need to have something else to address the historic first meeting of the Reichstag in Nuremberg since 1543, other than the Reich Flag Law.^[18] Hitler's need for something to present to the Reichstag was especially acute as he had invited all of the senior foreign diplomats in Berlin to the Party Rally of 1935 to hear what was billed as an especially important speech on foreign policy.^[9]

On 12 September 1935, two days after the beginning of the party rally, leading Nazi physician Gerhard Wagner surprisingly announced in a speech that the Nazi government would soon introduce a "law for the protection of German blood" to prevent mixed marriages between Jews and "Aryans" in the future. Hitler immediately decided to extend the legal scope. On 13 September, Dr. Bernhard Lösener, the Interior Ministry official in charge of drafting anti-Semitic laws together with another Interior Ministry official, Ministerialrat (Ministerial Counsellor) Franz Albrecht Medicus, was hastily summoned to the Nuremberg Party Rally by plane by Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart, the State Secretary of the Interior Ministry, and directed to start drafting at once a law for Hitler to present to the Reichstag for 15 September.^[19] Lösener and Medicus arrived in Nuremberg on the morning of 14 September.

Because of the short time available for the drafting of the laws, both measures were hastily improvised—there was even a shortage of drafting paper so that menu cards had to be used instead.^[20] Such was the degree of improvisation that Franz Gürtner, the Justice Minister, first learned of the adoption of the laws from listening to the radio.^[9] Most of the debates about the drafting of the laws concerned a precise definition of what constituted a Jew in Nazi "racial" terms, i.e. how many Jewish grandparents one had to have in order to qualify as Jewish under Nazi racial theories.^[20]

Hitler himself spent the night of 14–15 September hesitant and indecisive over just which of the various definitions of a Jew to adopt, and finally excused himself from the debate.^[9] On 15 September, Hitler presented the laws drafted by Stuckart, Lösener and Medicus to the Reichstag.

Introduction[link]

On the evening of 15 September 1935, two measures were announced to the Reichstag at the annual Party Rally in Nuremberg, becoming known as the Nuremberg Laws.^[18]

The first law, The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour,^[21] prohibited marriages and extramarital intercourse between "Jews" (the name was now officially used in place of "non-Aryans") and "Germans" and also the employment of "German" females under forty-five in Jewish households. The second law, The Reich Citizenship Law,^[22] declared those not of German blood to be Staatsangehörige (state subjects) while those classified as "Aryans" were Reichsbürger (citizens of the Reich).^[23] Between November 1935 to July 1943, 13 implementation ordinances were issued dealing with the enforcement of Reich Citizenship Law that progressively marginalized the Jewish community in Germany.^[23]

Hitler appeared before the Reichstag in Nuremberg, introducing the laws and their alleged motivation, before the laws were formally read and proposed for adoption by Hermann Göring, the President of the Reichstag. In his speech he laid out his case for the new laws:

...Bitter complaints have come in from countless places citing the provocative behavior of Jews....a certain amount of [conspiratorial] planning was involved....[To prevent] vigorous defensive action by the [Aryan] people,^[24] we have no choice but to contain the problem through legislative measures....it may be possible, through a definitive secular solution, to create a basis on which the German people can have a tolerable relationship with the Jews.^[25] ... This law is an attempt to find a legislative solution....if this attempts fails, it will be necessary to transfer [the Jewish problem] ... to the National Socialist Party for a final solution by law (German: endgültige Lösung).^[26]

The measures were unanimously adopted by the Reichstag. In 12 years of Nazi rule, the Reichstag only passed four laws: the Nuremberg laws were two of them.^[27]

The Nuremberg Laws formalized the unofficial and particular measures taken against Jews up to 1935. The Nazi leaders made a point of stressing the consistency of this legislation with the Party programme, which demanded that Jews should be deprived of their citizenship rights.

Laws[link]

The Laws for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour

(September 15, 1935) Moved by the understanding that the purity of German blood is essential to the further existence of the German people, and inspired by the uncompromising determination to safeguard the future of the German nation, the Reichstag has unanimously resolved upon the following law, which is promulgated herewith:

Section 1

1. Marriages between Jews and citizens (German: Staatsangehörige) of German or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they were concluded abroad.
2. Proceedings for annulment may be initiated only by the Public Prosecutor.

Section 2

Extramarital sexual intercourse between Jews and subjects of the state of Germany or related blood is forbidden.

• (Supplementary decrees set Nazi definitions of racial Germans, Jews, and half-breeds or Mischlinge --- see the latter entry for details and citations and Mischling Test for how such decrees were applied. Jews could not vote or hold public office under the parallel "citizenship" law.)

Section 3

Jews will not be permitted to employ female citizens under the age of 45, of German or kindred blood, as domestic workers.

Section 4

1. Jews are forbidden to display the Reich and national flag or the national colours.
2. On the other hand they are permitted to display the Jewish colours. The exercise of this right is protected by the State.

Section 5

1. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 1 will be punished with hard labour.
2. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 2 will be punished with imprisonment or with hard labour.
3. A person who acts contrary to the provisions of Sections 3 or 4 will be punished with imprisonment up to a year and with a fine, or with one of these penalties.

Section 6

The Reich Minister of the Interior in agreement with the Deputy Führer and the Reich Minister of Justice will issue the legal and administrative regulations required for the enforcement and supplementing of this law.

Section 7

The law will become effective on the day after its promulgation; Section 3, however, not until 1 January 1936.

Effect[link]

Legal discrimination against Jews had come into being before the Nuremberg Laws and steadily grew as time went on; however, for discrimination to be effective, it was essential to have a clear definition of who was or was not a Jew. This was one important function of the Nuremberg laws and the numerous supplementary decrees that were proclaimed to further them.

The Reich Citizenship Law had little practical effect as it deprived German Jews only of the right to vote and hold office.^[28] Much to the fury of the Alte Kämpfer and the other radicals in the NSDAP, the recommendation from the Interior Ministry that the Reich Citizenship Law applied only to those classified as "full Jews" and those "half-Jews" who practiced Judaism or were not in a mixed marriage was taken up; those Mischling who were Christians or were in a mixed marriage retained their German citizenship.^[28] The NSDAP had wanted the Reich Citizenship Law to apply to "Grade 1 and Grade 2 persons of mixed descent".^[28] The suggestion of Dr. Frick for creation of a tribunal before which every German would have to prove that they were Aryans in order to keep their German citizenship was not followed.^[28] Because of this, the Nuremberg Laws were highly unpopular with the Party radicals.^[28] Joseph Goebbels had the radio broadcast recording the passing of the laws by the Reichstag cut short, and ordered the German media not to mention the laws until a way of implementing them had been found.^[29] At a secret conference held in Munich on 24 September to finally resolve the dispute over who was a "racial" Jew or who was a "half-Jew", Hitler accepted Lösener's less sweeping definitions of three or four Jewish grandparents, and ruled that the laws were not to apply to those Mischling who were Christians and to "Grade 2 persons of mixed descent".^[29] However immediately afterwards in a meeting with Martin Bormann, Hitler declared that paragraph six of the First Ordinance of the Reich Citizenship was not to be applied in practice, and instead accepted Bormann's suggestion of excluding Mischling from a whole host of German institutions such as the DAF.^[29]

People defined as Jews could then be barred from employment as lawyers, doctors or journalists. Jews were prohibited from using state hospitals and could not be educated by the state past the age of 14. Public parks, libraries and beaches were closed to Jews. War memorials were to have Jewish names expunged. Even the lottery could not award winnings to Jews.^[30] With the so-called Namensänderungsverordnung ("Regulation of Name Changes") of 17 August 1938, Jews with first names of non-Jewish origin were required to adopt a middle name: "Sara" for women and "Israel" for men. At the instigation of Swiss immigration official Heinrich Rothmund, passports of German Jews were required to have a large "J" stamped on them and could be used to leave Germany—but not to return.^[31]

The obligation to wear the yellow badge, introduced in German-occupied Poland in September 1939, was extended to all Jewish people living within the Nazi empire in September 1941.

Later death penalty was applied under Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour. For example, in a Nuremberg a Jewish businessman Leo Kazenberger was accused of having a sexual relationship with a younger German woman. He was denounced and arrested but he and his alleged girlfriend denied the charges. The case was heard by Oswald Rothaug who, according to many observers, used the case as an opportunity for getting noticed by Hitler. Under wartime law when a crime had been committed during blackout hours death penalty could be applied. Kazenberger was sentenced to death and guillotined on 2 June 1942.^[32]

Application of the Laws to other non Jewish groups[link]

A supplemental decree issued in November 1935 expanded the Blood Protection Law to include additional groups, specifically Romani and Negroes, that were considered to be a threat to German blood. The interpretation of "racially alien blood" was further expanded in subsequent decrees, which included special categories for Germans with mental and genetic deformities.^[33]

The legal and administrative machinery necessary to enforce the Reich Citizenship Law fell under the jurisdiction of Reich Minister of the Interior William Frick, who expanded the law's reach to "members of other races whose blood is not related to German blood, as, for example, Gypsies and Negroes."^[34]

Criteria defining who was a Gypsy were exactly twice as strict as those defining any other group.^[35]

Nazi Eugenics and Racial belief[link]

The Nuremberg laws were based on a belief in Scientific racism and derived from a primitive understanding of genetics. Although the Nazis took these ideas to violent extremes, they were based on thinking that already existed across Europe and America. Nazi laws banning "inter-marriage" assumed that nations were "races" and that the Germans were a Master race and in accordance with ideas expressed in Eugenics and Social Darwinism^[36]; they therefore sought to preserve their supposed racial superiority by banning inter-marriage with people they regarded as inferior or as a threat, in particular Jews and Gypsies.^[37]

Impact outside Germany[link]

Allies of the Nazis passed their own versions of the Nuremberg laws including The Law for Protection of the Nation in Bulgaria, in 1940 the ruling Iron Guard in Romania passed the Law defining the Legal Status of Romanian Jews^[38], in 1941 the Codex Judaicus was enacted in Slovakia^[39] and in 1941 the Ustasha in Croatia also passed legislation defining who was a Jew and restricting contact with them.^[40] Hungary passed its first "Jewish Law" in May 1938 banning Jews from various professions, further laws emulating the Nuremberg regulations were added in 1941.^[41]

Existing copies[link]

An original typescript of the laws signed by Hitler was found by the 203rd Detachment of the U.S. Army's Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC), commanded by Martin Dannenberg, in Eichstätt, Bavaria, on 27 April 1945. It was appropriated by General George S. Patton, in violation of JCS 1067. During a visit to Los Angeles, he secretly handed it over to the Huntington Library. The document was stored until 26 June 1999, when its existence was revealed. Although legal ownership of the document has not been established, it was given on permanent loan to the Skirball Cultural Center, which placed it on public display three days later, until the document's transfer to the National Archives in Washington D.C. on 25 August 2010.^[42]

See also[link]

• Law for Protection of the Nation
• Hans Globke
• Nazism and race
• Aryan paragraph
• Manifesto of Race in Italy
• Jim Crow Laws
• Apartheid
• Reichstag Fire Decree
• Visigothic Code

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

• Rise of the Nazis and Beginning of Persecution on the Yad Vashem website
• The Citizenship Law, together with Supplementary Decree of 14 November 1935
• The Citizenship Law, English translation at the University of the West of England
• The Blood Law, English translation at the University of the West of England
• Race Laws (Nazi and other)
• Info from Holocaust Museum
• Nazi Race Laws to 1939
• Images of a 1938 German "J" Jewish passport from www.passportland.com

Rudolf Hess
Stellvertreter des Führers Rudolf Heß (Hess)
Deputy Führer Stellvertreter des Führers
In office 21 April 1933 – 12 May 1941
Deputy	Martin Bormann, Personal Secretary
Preceded by	Post created
Succeeded by	Martin Bormann (As Chief of the Parteikanzlei)
Reichsleiter
In office 1933–1941
Leader	Adolf Hitler
Personal details
Born	(1894-04-26)26 April 1894 Alexandria, Khedivate of Egypt
Died	17 August 1987(1987-08-17) (aged 93) Spandau, West Berlin West Germany
Nationality	German
Political party	National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) (Since 1920)
Spouse(s)	Ilse Pröhl (22 June 1900 – 7 September 1995) married 20 December 1927
Children	Wolf Rüdiger Hess (18 November 1937 – 14 October 2001)
Alma mater	University of Munich
Occupation	Deputy Nazi Party Leader
Profession	Reichsminister
Signature
German spelling is Heß

Rudolf Walter Richard Hess, also spelled Heß (26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987), was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s. On the eve of war with the Soviet Union, he flew solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the United Kingdom, where he was arrested and became a prisoner of war. Hess was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to life imprisonment, which he served at Spandau Prison, Berlin, where he died in 1987. After World War II Winston Churchill wrote of Hess, "He was a medical and not a criminal case, and should be so regarded."^[1]

On 27–28 September 2007, British news services published descriptions of disagreement between his Western and Soviet captors over his treatment and how the Soviet captors were steadfast in denying his release.^[2][3] In July 2011, the remains of Hess were exhumed from a grave in Bavaria after it became a focus of a pilgrimage for neo-Nazis.

Early life[link]

Hess, the eldest of four children, was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to Fritz H. Hess, a prosperous German Lutheran importer/exporter from Bavaria, and Clara Hess (née Münch). The family lived in luxury on the Egyptian coast near Alexandria, and visited Germany often during the summers, allowing the Hess children to learn the German language and to absorb German culture. The family moved back to Germany in 1908, where Hess enrolled as a boarder at the Protestant School in Bad Godesberg. Hess showed aptitude in science and mathematics, and expressed interest in becoming an astronomer. However, his father wished him to continue the family business, Hess & Co., and in 1911 convinced Hess to study business for a year in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce.^[4]

World War I[link]

Hess joined the Hamburg trading company Feldt, Stein & Co. as an apprentice in 1912. At the outbreak of World War I he enlisted in the 7th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment, becoming an infantryman, and was awarded the Iron Cross, second class. He saw heavy action both on the Western Front (at Ypres and Verdun) and in the Carpathian Mountains. After being wounded on several occasions —including a chest wound severe enough to prevent his return to the front as an infantryman – he transferred to the Imperial Air Corps (after being rejected once). He underwent aeronautical training and was a pilot in an operational squadron, Jasta 35b (Bavarian), with the rank of lieutenant from 16 October 1918. He won no victories; the war ended on 11 November 1918.^[5]

In autumn of 1919, Hess left his job and enrolled in the University of Munich where he studied political science, history, geography, and geopolitics under Professor Karl Haushofer, whom he had first met in the summer of 1919 in a social setting. From their first meeting, Hess became a disciple of Haushofer: the two became close friends, and their families also become close, with Hess and Haushofer's son Albrecht developing a strong friendship.^[6]

After World War I, the successful Hess family business collapsed. Hess went to Munich, and took a job at a textile importing firm.^[7] He joined the Freikorps. He also joined the Thule Society, a right-wing völkisch occult-mystical organization.^[8] After the end of the war, Bavaria witnessed frequent and often bloody conflict between right-wing groups and left-wing forces, some of which were Soviet-backed.^[9]

On 20 December 1927, Hess married 27-year-old Ilse Pröhl (22 June 1900 – 7 September 1995) from Hannover. They had one son, Wolf Rüdiger Hess (18 November 1937 – 24 October 2001).

Hitler[link]

After hearing Adolf Hitler, a powerful orator, speak for the first time in May 1920 at a Munich rally, Hess became completely devoted to him, and spent much of his time and effort for the next several years organizing for Hitler at the local level in Bavaria. Hess joined the fledgling Nazi Party in 1920 as one of its first members. Hess introduced Haushofer to Hitler in the spring of 1921, following a rally at a beerhall. This was a critical and vital development in the Nazi rise to power. Haushofer and Hitler connected immediately on a personal level. Haushofer's geopolitical theories found a strong convert in Hitler, who used this material to form the basis of his plans for the rebuilding of Germany; Hitler soon began using Haushofer's material in his speeches, which drew ever-larger audiences and attention. Haushofer became a close adviser to Hitler, and assumed prominence in Germany with Hitler's rise.^[10]

Hess commanded an SA battalion during the Hitler-led Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, which failed. Hess served seven and a half months in Landsberg Prison; Hitler was sentenced to five years in the same prison, but served just nine months. Acting as Hitler's private secretary in prison, Hess transcribed and partially edited Hitler's book Mein Kampf. While in prison, Hitler and Hess were frequently visited and tutored by Haushofer.^[11] Hess also introduced Hitler at early Nazi Party rallies.

Hess retained his interest in flying after the end of his active military career, and competed successfully in several races during the 1920s and 1930s^[12] latterly in a BFW M35b monoplane. He also flew the Messerschmitt Bf 108 and Messerschmitt Bf 110, which he learned to fly under the tutelage of the company chief test pilot Willi Stör.^[13]

Writing in Mein Kampf, Hitler said, 'under the old regime there was Prince Eulenburg, under the new, there is Rudolf Hess'.^[14] Anton Drexler (known for being Hitler's mentor during his early days in politics) and his group resented Hess, considering him 'too intellectual'.^[15]

Deputy Führer[link]

Hess became the third-most-powerful man in Germany, behind Hitler and Hermann Göring. Soon after Hitler assumed dictatorial powers, beginning in early 1933, Hess was named "Deputy to the Führer". Hess had a privileged position as Hitler's deputy in the early years of the Nazi movement and in the early years of the Third Reich. For instance, he had the power to take "merciless action" against any defendant that he thought got off too lightly, especially for those found guilty of attacking the party, Hitler or the state. Hess also played a prominent part in the creation of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935. Hitler's biographer John Toland described Hess's political insight and abilities as somewhat limited.

Hess had extensive dealings with senior leaders of major European nations during the 1930s. His education, family man image, high office, and calm, forthright manner all served to make him a more respectful and respectable representative on behalf of the Nazis. Compared with other Nazi leaders, Hess had a good reputation among foreign leaders.^[16]

Within Germany, Hess was somewhat marginalised as the 1930s progressed, as foreign policy took greater prominence. His alienation increased during the early years of the war, as attention and glory were focused on military leaders and Hermann Göring, Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler. Those three Nazi leaders in particular had much higher profiles than Hess. Though Hess worshipped Hitler more than the others, he was not nakedly ambitious and did not crave power in the same manner that they did. However, as the Deputy Führer, he was definitely not a figurehead. Hess held as much power as the other Nazi leaders, if not more, under Hitler. He controlled who could get an audience with the Führer, as well as passing and vetoing proposed bills, and managing party activities.^[17] Hitler appointed Hess as "Minister Without Portfolio".^[16]

On 1 September 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland and launched World War II, Hitler announced that should anything happen to both him and Göring, Hess would be next in the line of succession.^[18]

Flight to Scotland[link]

The wreckage of Hess's Bf 110

Like Goebbels, Hess was privately distressed by the war with the United Kingdom because he, influenced by his academic advisor and in line with earlier statements by Hitler, hoped that Britain would accept Germany as an ally. Hess may have hoped to score a diplomatic victory by sealing a peace between the Third Reich and Britain,^[19] using the contact his adviser Albrecht Haushofer had made in Nazi Germany, just before the war, with Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton.^[20]

On 10 May 1941 at about 18:00, Hess took off from Augsburg in a Messerschmitt Bf 110D (radio code VJ+OQ) that he had equipped with drop tanks to increase its range. Goering ordered the General of the Fighter Arm to stop him but squadron leaders were ordered to scramble only one or two fighters, since Hess's particular aircraft could not be distinguished from others^[21] and he was soon out of their range over the North Sea.

Arrival over Scotland[link]

Hess flew from Augsburg via Darmstadt and Bonn towards the IJsselmeer and then towards the Shetland Islands.^[22] At 22:08 Hess's aircraft was first detected by radar from RAF Station Ouston, north of Newcastle upon Tyne, when he was 70 mi (110 km) off the coast of Scotland, headed in a north-westerly direction towards the island of Lindisfarne. His flight was designated "Hostile Raid 42J".^[23]

The Bf 110 dived to lose altitude after crossing the coast and was sighted by a Royal Observer Corps post near Chatton in Northumberland (12.5 mi (20.1 km) inland) at 22:25, flying at only 50 ft (15 m).^[24]

At 22:35 two 602 Squadron Spitfires were scrambled from Heathfield (Ayr). Within 90 seconds Flight Lieutenant Al Deere DFC was vectored towards the track of Raid 42.^[25] An RAF Defiant nightfighter was scrambled from RAF Prestwick at 22:35 on an unsuccessful interception course towards Kilmarnock.^[26] The Bf 110 flew well below radar sweeps and after 45 minutes in the air Flt Lt Deere was ordered back to Ayr. The Bf 110 flew low over Kilmarnock, climbed over the Firth of Clyde, then headed inland over the Fenwick Moor. Turnhouse Ops Room reported at 23:09 that the intruder had crashed south of Glasgow.^[25] Hess parachuted from his aeroplane, and landed near the village of Eaglesham, injuring his ankle on landing.

Capture[link]

Hess landed near Floors Farm, Eaglesham, where he was discovered removing his parachute harness by local ploughman David McLean. Hess identified himself as "Hauptmann Alfred Horn", and said that he had an important message for the Duke of Hamilton. McLean helped Hess to his home nearby then contacted the local Home Guard unit. Hess was then escorted under guard to the local Home Guard headquarters in Busby, East Renfrewshire, and from there to the Battalion HQ in Giffnock, where he arrived shortly after midnight. At Giffnock he was briefly questioned by Major Donald, the Assistant Group Officer of the Glasgow Royal Observer Corps. Hess gave a short description of his flight and repeated that he had "a secret and vital message" for the Duke of Hamilton and that he must see him immediately. The message was described as being "in the highest interest of the British Air Force", but Hess declined to go into any detail.^[27]

Hess was handed over to the Army and taken to Maryhill Barracks, Glasgow,^[28] where he again requested that the Duke should speak to him alone. Hamilton was informed of the prisoner and visited him, whereupon he revealed his true identity. Shortly afterwards, Hamilton summarised their conversation in a report to Winston Churchill, dictated at RAF Turnhouse. Hamilton stated that, based on press photographs and a description of Hess given by Albrecht Haushofer, that "this prisoner was indeed Hess himself".^[29] Hamilton then flew to RAF Northolt, and on to Kidlington near Oxford, from where he was taken by car to meet Churchill at Ditchley Park.

The flight of Hess, but not his destination or fate, was first announced by Munich Radio in Germany on the evening of Monday 12 May.^[30] Hess's capture was reported at the time in the British and international media and McLean claimed to have arrested Hess with his pitchfork.^[21][31][32]

The wreckage of the aircraft was salvaged by 63 Maintenance Unit (MU) between 11 and 16 May 1941.^[33] The aeroplane was found to be armed with machine guns in the nose but there was no ammunition on board.^[13] Part of the aeroplane is now in London's Imperial War Museum.^[34]

Motives for trip[link]

Records released by the UK's National Archives confirm that Hess was on a peace mission. In early 1941 Germany tried to negotiate peace with Britain through diplomatic communications via Sweden.^[35] The Duke of Hamilton commenced libel action in 1941/42 and wanted Hess in court as a witness.^[36] However, some writers have speculated that the Duke of Hamilton may in fact have been implicated.^[37] Some National Archives files relating to Hess and concerning the nature and range of German peace feelers in early 1941 (C1687G, C1954, C2785G) were formerly closed until 2017, but were released in 2007,^[38] although these contain information largely in the public domain. Some files are still to be released, both from the arrest of Hess in 1941 and his death in Spandau.^{[citation needed]}

Hess was quoted by his wife as saying:

"My coming to England in this way is, as I realise, so unusual that nobody will easily understand it. I was confronted by a very hard decision. I do not think I could have arrived at my final choice unless I had continually kept before my eyes the vision of an endless line of children's coffins with weeping mothers behind them, both English and German, and another line of coffins of mothers with mourning children."^[39]

Hitler granted Hess's wife a pension but stripped Hess of all of his party and state offices, and privately ordered him shot on sight if he ever returned to Germany. Martin Bormann succeeded Hess as deputy under a newly created title.^{[citation needed]}

Soviet suspicion[link]

Hess's flight raised suspicions with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that secret discussions were under way between Britain and Germany to attack the Soviet Union. Later, in a meeting with Stalin, Churchill addressed the topic and found Stalin still believed secret agreements were discussed with Hess. "When I make a statement of facts within my knowledge I expect it to be accepted," Churchill responded to Stalin, again denying that the incident resulted in any communications with Nazi Germany.^[1] Files at The National Archives dated 1942 include Moscow Embassy correspondence concerning Hess; some pages are subject to non-disclosure under statute.^[40]

According to data published in a book about Wilhelm Canaris, a number of contacts between Britain and Germany were kept during the war.^[41]

Trial and imprisonment[link]

Prisoner of war[link]

Churchill sent Hess initially to the Tower of London, making Hess the last in the long line of prominent people to be held in the 900-year-old fortress.^[42] Churchill gave orders that Hess was to be strictly isolated, but treated with dignity.^[43] He remained in the Tower until 20 May 1941. After being held in the Maryhill army barracks, he was transferred to Mytchett Place near Aldershot. He was kept under close guard. Frank Foley and two other MI6 officers were given the job of debriefing him – or "Jonathan", as he was now known. Churchill's instructions were that Hess should be strictly isolated, and that every effort should be taken to get any information out of him that might be useful.^[44][45]

During his time as a prisoner of war Hess was confined at Maindiff Court Military Hospital, Abergavenny, Wales for treatment for insanity. He was treated well and enjoyed painting.^[46]

Hess's mental state[link]

At the time of his capture, official London sources had claimed Hess was "sane and healthy" and had not brought any peace message.^[31] However, the Nazis claimed he had left behind a letter which "showed clearly traces of mental disorder which led to fears that Party Comrade Hess was a victim of hallucinations."^[31] In an official report to President Franklin Roosevelt "A Former Naval Person" wrote: "Hess seems in good health and not excited, and no ordinary signs of insanity can be detected."^[47]

On 15 October 1941, Hess made his first suicide attempt by throwing himself over the rail of the first floor balcony, but he only broke his leg.

Hess was interviewed by psychiatrist John Rawlings Rees, who had worked at the Tavistock Clinic prior to becoming a brigadier in the British Army. Rees concluded that he was not insane, but certainly mentally ill and suffering from depression—probably due to the failure of his mission.^[45] Hess's diaries from his imprisonment in Britain after 1941 make many references to visits from Rees, whom he did not like and accused of poisoning him and "mesmerizing" him. Rees took part in the Nuremberg Trials of 1945.

Hess was in captivity for almost four years of the war and thus he was absent from most of it, in contrast to the others who stood accused at Nuremberg. British government files released by The National Archives include a note concerning Hess's war crimes trial in which Judge Jackson considered whether Hess should be certified as insane. His case was considered by the Attorney-General.^[48]

Hess (first row, second from left) in the defendants' box at the Nuremberg Trials

17 October 1946 newsreel of Nuremberg Trials sentencing

Hess in his cell at Nuremberg prison while on trial

Nuremberg Trials[link]

Hess became a defendant at the Nuremberg Trials of the International Military Tribunal, on the insistence of the Soviet Union, despite his being in a state of almost complete forgetfulness. He was flown to Nuremberg in October 1945. Hess regained his memory for a short period and was declared fit to stand trial. Partial memory loss returned and he went back into amnesia. He spent his time in court reading, occasionally laughing. In the British view, Hess was of unsound mind.^[49] Some of his last words before the tribunal were "I regret nothing".

In 1946, Hess was found guilty on two of four counts: crimes against peace (planning and preparation of aggressive war), and conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes. He was found not guilty of war crimes or crimes against humanity. He was given a life sentence.

Spandau Prison[link]

Following the release in 1966 of Baldur von Schirach and Albert Speer, Hess was the sole remaining inmate of Spandau Prison, partly at the insistence of the Soviets. Guards reportedly said he degenerated mentally and lost most of his memory. For the next eight years, his main companion was warden Eugene K. Bird, with whom he formed a close friendship. Bird wrote a 1974 book titled The Loneliest Man in the World: The Inside Story of the 30-Year Imprisonment of Rudolf Hess about his relationship with Hess. Frank Keller, a former guard at Spandau, said that "Hess would march by himself in the jail courtyard every day".

In the third volume of his book The Second World War Winston Churchill wrote:

Reflecting upon the whole of the story, I am glad not to be responsible for the way in which Hess has been and is being treated. Whatever may be the moral guilt of a German who stood near to Hitler, Hess had, in my view, atoned for this by his completely devoted and frantic deed of lunatic benevolence. He came to us of his own free will, and, though without authority, had something of the quality of an envoy. He was a medical and not a criminal case, and should be so regarded.^[1]

In the early 1970s, the U.S., British and French governments approached the Soviet government to propose that Hess be released on humanitarian grounds due to his age. The Soviet official response was apparently to reject these attempts and it reportedly "refused to consider any reduction in Hess's life sentence."^[50] U.S. President Richard Nixon was in favour of releasing Hess and stated that the U.S., Britain and France should continue to entreat the Soviet Union for his release.

In 1977, Britain's chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, Sir Hartley Shawcross, characterised Hess's continued imprisonment as a "scandal".^[51] In 1987, the new Soviet leadership agreed that Hess should be set free on humanitarian grounds, though his death meant this decision was never put into effect.

Restrictions and isolation[link]

The restrictions of communication in prison for Hess were strict. Family visits were restricted to a half-hour visit once a month; he considered this degrading and refused such short visits until 1968. In the 1970s he was visited by members of his family once a month, and later in the 1970s on "humanitarian grounds" visitation rights were extended to one hour per month. Hess was never allowed to discuss anything related to the period of World War II or to the Nazi regime.^{[citation needed]}

Hess's letters and all communication were subject to censorship. British government files released by the National Archives detail a disagreement between the western powers and the Soviet Union regarding rights, especially censorship. The Soviet governor argued that uncensored letters to Hess's wife could be used to construct a propagandist essay.^[52]

British government files opened on 28 September 2007 by the National Archives from the period 6 May to 6 August 1974 contain a report of an altercation between Hess and a Soviet warder. The western governors raise issues of Soviet policy towards Hess, for example taking away Hess’s glasses before lights out, destroying his notebooks, increasing the strictness of censorship and blocking visits by his lawyer.^[53]

Death and legacy[link]

On 17 August 1987, Hess died while under Four-Power imprisonment at Spandau Prison in West Berlin, at the age of 93. He was found in a summer house in a garden in a secure area of the prison with an electrical cord wrapped around his neck. His death was ruled a suicide by asphyxiation. He was buried at Wunsiedel in a family plot sold to his family by the Vetters of the Sechsämtertropfen bitter liquor company of Wunsiedel. Spandau Prison was demolished to prevent it from becoming a shrine.^[54][55]

Hess was the last surviving member of Hitler's cabinet.

Neo-Nazi pilgrimages and disinterment[link]

Neo-Nazis from Germany and Europe held gatherings in Wunsiedel for a memorial march and similar demonstrations took place every year around the anniversary of Hess's death. These gatherings were banned from 1991 to 2000 and neo-Nazis tried to assemble in other cities, and countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark. Demonstrations in Wunsiedel were legalized in 2001. After stricter German legislation regarding demonstrations by neo-Nazis was enacted in March 2005, the demonstrations were banned again.

With the grave's lease due to expire in October 2011, the Hess family applied for a 20-year extension, which was denied. "We decided not to extend the lease because of all the unrest and disturbances," said parish council chairman Peter Seisser. After negotiations between the church's chaplin and Hess's granddaughter, the family agreed to remove his remains from the town.^[56] Hess's grave was re-opened on the morning of 20 July 2011 and his remains exhumed, then cremated. Soon afterward his ashes were scattered at sea; the gravestone, which bore the epitaph "Ich hab's gewagt" ("I dared"), was destroyed.^{[56][57][58][59]}

Speculation[link]

Occult[link]

Hess ordered a mapping of all the ley lines in the Third Reich.^[60] There is speculation^{[citation needed]} that Hess was questioned by the British about Nazi interest in the occult.

Conspiracy theories[link]

There have been conspiracy theories concerning his death, mainly from Wolf Rüdiger Hess.^[61]

Wolfgang Spann,^[62] who was in charge of the second autopsy, stated that "we can't prove a third hand participated in the death of Rudolf Hess".^[63] Conspiracy theorists have argued that by the time of his death, the 93-year old Hess was so frail that he could not lift his arms above his head, making it impossible for him to be able to hang himself.

The autopsy of Hess did not find any pre-existing medical conditions aside from age-related deterioration (most notable severe arthritis) and his major organs were relatively healthy.^[64]

In 2008 Abdallah Melaouhi, a Tunisian who acted as Hess's medical caretaker in Spandau prison from 1984 to 1987, was dismissed from his position in his local German district parliament's advisory board for integration after he wrote a book, I Looked into the Murderer's Eyes. He had claimed in the book that his patient was murdered by MI6 (the British Secret Intelligence Service).^[65]

According to Hugh Thomas's book The Murder of Rudolf Hess (1979),^[66] the prisoner tried at Nuremberg and incarcerated in Spandau as Hess was an imposter. Dutch author At Voorhorst contradicts Thomas's allegations with his study in which he compares biometric features of the prisoner in Spandau prison and deputy of Hitler in the Second World War.^[67]

In popular culture[link]

Film and television[link]

Hess has been portrayed by the following actors in film, television and theatre productions:^[68]

• George Lynn in the 1943 United States short documentary film Plan for Destruction
• Victor Varconi in the 1944 American film The Hitler Gang
• Carroll O'Connor in "Engineer of Death: The Eichmann Story", a 1960 episode of the American TV series Armstrong Circle Theatre
• Predrag Lakovic in the 1971 Yugoslavian television production Nirnberski epilog
• Wolfgang Lukschy played "Reinhard Holtz", a former Nazi and the sole prisoner of a Spandau-like prison in the 1975 United States film Inside Out
• Maurice Roëves in the 1982 American television production Inside the Third Reich
• Laurence Olivier in the 1985 American action film Wild Geese II
• Richard Edson in the 1997 American drama Snide and Prejudice
• Roc LaFortune in the 2000 Canadian/U.S. TV production Nuremberg
• James Babson in the 2003 Canadian/U.S. TV production Hitler: The Rise of Evil
• Conor Timmis in the 2004 American documentary Hitler's Lost Plan.
• André Hennicke in the 2005 German TV miniseries Speer und Er
• Victor Wagner in "Caso Mengele", a 2005 episode of the Brazillian TV series Linha Direta
• Ben Cross in the 2006 British/U.S. television production Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial
• Attila Harsányi in the 2008 Romanian theatre production The Ten Commandements of Rudolf Hess
• Rob Paulsen (voice only) in Rob Zombie's 2009 animated feature The Haunted World of El Superbeasto

Literature[link]

Hess has been portrayed in literary works by the following authors:

• W. Durie "The British Garrison in Berlin 1945–1994, No where to go" Verlag: Vergangenheits, Berlin May 2012 ISBN 978-3-86408-068-5
• James Leasor in Rudolf Hess: The Uninvited Envoy, Allen & Unwin, London, 1962, 2011. ISBN 978-1-908291-16-5
• Desmond Zwar in Talking To Rudolf Hess, The History Press UK, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7524-5522-8
• Eugene K. Bird in The Loneliest Man In The World: the inside story of the 30-year imprisonment of Rudolf Hess, Secker & Warburg, London, 1974. ISBN 978-0-436-04290-4. The book was also published in the United States by Viking, and in 10 other countries.
• Upton Sinclair in his Lanny Budd Series
• Eric Knight in 1942 novel Sam Small Flies Again
• James Barwick in the 1978 novel Shadow of the Wolf
• Timothy Findley in 1981 novel Famous Last Words
• Daniel Carney in 1982 novel The Square Circle
• Katherine Kurtz in 1992 novel The Lodge of the Lynx
• Peter Lovesey in 1992 novel The Secret of Spandau
• Greg Iles in 1993 thriller novel Spandau Phoenix
• Christopher Priest in the 2002 novel The Separation
• David Edgar in 2000 play Albert Speer
• Michael Moorcock in 2001 novel The Dreamthief's Daughter
• Peter Ho Davies in 2007 novel The Welsh Girl
• Ethan Mordden in 2008 novel The Jewcatcher
• Bruce Weiss in his novel The Ghost of Rudolph Hess
• In the 2006 alternate-history novel Farthing, by Jo Walton, Hess is not portrayed, but his flight is the story's divergence point with real history: his entreaties have been accepted, and have led to a peace between United Kingdom and Nazi Germany, and to the former withdrawing from World War II.
• John Douglas-Gray in his thriller 'The Novak Legacy' ISBN 978-0-7552-1321-4

Music[link]

• In Joy Division's song "Warsaw", lyrics include reference to Hess's prison number, 31G-350125
• British punk rock band Angelic Upstarts released the song "Lonely Man of Spandau", which called for Hess's release
• Chumbawamba's song "The Day the Nazi Died" reflects on Hess' role as a symbol for neo-Nazis.
• Skrewdriver wrote two songs about Hess's incarceration, "Prisoner of Peace" and "46 Years".
• Landser released the song, "Rudolf Hess" as part of their 1997 album, "Rock gegen oben."
• Final War (band) from California wrote a tribute song about Hess called "Tales of Honour"

References[link]