International: Sentimental Rudolf

• Share

Rudolf Hess last week used his newly recovered memory to write for the press the story of his 1941 flight to Britain.

Early in the war, the Führer had confided that he really wanted peace with England but the British would never make peace if it meant losing prestige.

Rudolf Hess decided that here was just the job for him. If he, the Führer's friend and deputy, a Reichsminister, and an SA and SS Obergruppenführer, personally flew to England, certainly Churchill could negotiate without losing face.

Mused Hess in his Nürnberg cell: "The decision . . . was without doubt the hardest I ever made. It was rendered easier, however, when I visualized the endless rows of children's coffins in both Germany and England, with mothers in dire distress following behind, and similar rows of mothers killed by bombs, with crying children following. I assume many people will interpret this as misplaced sentimentalism."

But SS Obergruppenführer Hess could hardly assume that many people would consider him misplaced.