Synopsis
Without doubt, the most bizarre and controversial event in the History of World War II was the parachute jump by Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess into Scotland on May 10, 1941. Hess was supposedly on a peace mission to negotiate a peace between England and Germany. Hess was supposedly on his way to see the Duke of Hamilton in Scotland, with whom he believed he could negotiate a peace. As to why Hess thought that he could negotiate a peace in this way or why he thought that the Duke of Hamilton was the right person with whom to negotiate peace, this remains a mystery, but it is only the first of a long string of mysteries involving Rudolf Hess. Instead, Hess was put in jail, where he stayed for 46 years until he died in 1987. For 46 years he served a life sentence in West Berlin's Spandau prison. For the last 17 years he was the only inmate in a fortress built to hold 600. Long ago he was the second most powerful man in Germany, Deputy Fuhrer to Adolf Hitler. His name is Rudolf Hess. Now the almost incredible story of the Loneliest Man in the World is told by a man who, as part of the American garrison at Spandau, and later as Commandant, watched over Hess's every move and action, won his confidence, talked daily with him, and kept a day-to-day record. Was Hess mad? Colonel Bird's answer is an emphatic no. Is he the totally evil man that many think. Again, the author demurs. Above all, was he, when he flew to Scotland in the Spring of 1941, trying to make peace with Britain, and did Hitler know what Hess was doing. Readers will find the answers to this and many other crucial questions about the most enigmatic leader of the Third Reich in the pages of this book.
About the Author
Eugene K. Bird (11 March 1926 – October 28, 2005) was US Commandant of the Spandau Allied Prison from 1964 to 1972 where, together with six others, Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess was incarcerated. In March 1971, Bird’s superiors at the US Mission in Berlin became officially aware of the Bird/Hess manuscripts and other documents relating to the proposed book. Bird was interrogated in great detail, placed under house arrest, and eventually made to resign his position as Commandant of Spandau Prison. This episode, in effect, also ended his military career. Bird and his family relocated to Germany permanently. This book about Hess: The Loneliest Man in the World, was published in 1974 in London. In the Epilogue, Bird describes in detail his interrogation and, indirectly, accuses his superiors and brother officers of gross hypocrisy. Many of them knew of his labors, he wrote, and some had even read the manuscripts and encouraged him with the project. After the publication of the book, Bird campaigned to have Hess released from what had effectively become permanent solitary confinement after Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach were released on October 1, 1966.
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