Taylor, Blaine Rudolf Hess

Hitler's Winged Parsifal

This biography presents a comprehensive study of Rudolf Hess. After the First World War, Hess studied under Karl Haushofer, a proponent of the concept of "Lebensraum." He joined the NSDAP in 1920 and stood by Hitler's side on November 8, 1923, during the Hitler Putsch. After Hitler became Reich Chancellor, Hess was appointed "Deputy to the Führer" and elected to the Reichstag. In June 1933, he was appointed *Reichsleiter* of the NSDAP, and in December, he became a Minister without Portfolio in Hitler's cabinet. At the outbreak of the war on September 1, 1939, Hitler decreed that Göring would be his official successor, naming Hess as next in the line of succession. By 1940, Hess had been effectively sidelined from most major decisions, and his influence waned. On May 10, 1941, he undertook a solo flight to Scotland, where he hoped to broker peace talks with the Duke of Hamiltona figure he mistakenly believed to be a prominent opponent of British wartime policy. He remained in custody until the end of the war; subsequently, he was returned to Germany to stand trial in Nuremberg. The tribunal found him guilty of crimes against peace as well as of conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes. He served a life sentence at Spandau Prison for war criminals, as the Soviet Union blocked repeated attempts to secure his early release. In 1987by which time he was the sole inmate incarcerated therehe hanged himself.