Rudolf Hess

Not to be confused with Rudolf Höss.

Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German) (26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a high ranking Nazi leader, and one of Adolf Hitler's closest men. He was the third man after Hermann Göring in the Third Reich from 1933 to 1941.

Rudolf Hess

Early Life Early Career and Nazi Career

Rudolf Hess was born in Alexandria, Egypt, but moved back to Germany in 1908. He joined the army in World War I and was a soldier from 1914 until 1918. In 1920 he joined the Nazi Party and in 1922 he also became a member of the SA. He flew to Scotland during World War II in 1941 with the intention of putting an end to the war but was arrested. After the war he was tried at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946 and sentenced to life imprisonment from 1946-1987. He died in the Allied Military Prison, Spandau, Berlin in 1987. Since 1966 he had been the only prisoner. His death was caused by a strangulation using an electrical cord; officials recorded it as a suicide.