Rudolf Hess deposition

Identifier
irn500176
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1994.A.0111
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Rudolf Hess was born as Walter Richard Rudolf Hess on April 26, 1894, in Alexandria, Egypt. His father was a merchant. Hess served in the German Army in World War I (1914-1918) He then studied at the University of Munich, where he became an advocate of extremist German nationalism. Hess joined the Nazi (National Socialist) Party in 1920. He quickly became a close friend and confidant of Adolf Hitler. He participated in the 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch where the Nazis attempted to overthrow the Weimar government. He fled to Austria but returned to join Hitler in Landsberg Prison, where he recorded and helped draft Mein Kampf. Hess became Hitler's personal secretary and worked to centralize the Nazi Party structure. On January 1, 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. In April, Hess was made deputy fuhrer of the Party and, in December, he became a cabinet member. In 1939, Hitler made Hess second to Goering in the line of succession. On May 10, 1941, Hess secretly flew to Scotland with the intent of making peace between Germany and Great Britain. He was arrested and jailed by the British as a prisoner of war. Hitler accused him of suffering from pacifist delusions. On May 7, 1945, the war ended with Germany's surrender. The United Nations soon convened an International Military Tribunal (IMT) to prosecute those responsible for violence to the civilian population, evidenced by the Holocaust. The IMT was convened by eighteen Allied Nations and conducted by the four major powers, the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Hess was one of 22 defendants charged with crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit these crimes, for the first trial, the Major German War Criminals Trial. It began in Nuremberg on November 20, 1945. Hess feigned amnesia and did not take the stand. The verdicts were delivered on October 1, 1946. Twelve defendants were sentenced to death. Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment and confined in Spandau prison in Berlin. From 1966 on, he was the only inmate. Hess, 93, committed suicide on August 17, 1987, in Spandau.

Archival History

Mr. Jim Sanders

Acquisition

For part of his work at the war crimes trials in Dachau, Germany, Robert Donihi had to interview and receive a deposition from Rudolf Hess. After the war crimes trials were over, Donihi kept a copy of the transcript of his interview with Hess. In Mar. 1994, he gave a copy of the transcript to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Oral History department. Shortly after, it was forwarded to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives.

Scope and Content

The deposition of Rudolf Hess, taken 30 August 1947, relating to the activities of war cimes. The interview was conducted by Robert Donihi.

System of Arrangement

Arrangment is chronological

People

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.