German Leaders Of The Nazi Era/Hess
"Rudolf Hess"
Rudolf Hess was born in Egypt, as his father was in the import business in the Mediterranean area, and Hess didn't actually live in Germany until he was a teenager, although his father's family was from Bavaria, which had given rise to many visits there prior to the move to Germany. He served in World War One in the infantry, and near the end, as a pilot. He joined the Nazi Party early in its existence, and he eventually rose to high position, generally considered to be the number three man, after Hitler and Hermann Göring,* and Hess was Hitler's deputy, and Martin Bormann worked as the major aide to Hess.
Hess is most noted for his devotion to Hitler, and for his words to the Nazi faithful at the Nuremberg rally of 1934, which showed how, even at that relatively early stage of Hitler's rule, Hitler's personality was merging with Germany. Hess said, "The party is Hitler, Hitler however is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler" ("Die Partei ist Hitler, Hitler aber ist Deutschland, wie Deutschland Hitler ist.") Unfortunately, this statement became ever more true as time passed.
Hess was not happy about the outbreak of war in 1939, and he gradually lost influence with Hitler, who was consumed by military matters. Seemingly distraught over the decline in his association with Hitler, Hess had a simultaneous decline in his mental health, although some dispute this. In May 1941, just about six weeks before the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Hess took a plane on a solo flight to Britain, parachuting into Scotland, and leaving the plane to crash. Except for releasing the fact they had Hess in custody, the British basically kept details secret, and speculation about the reason for his flight were numerous, including in the Soviet Union, where Stalin feared collaboration between Germany and Britain to launch an attack against the Soviets. While doctrinaire Nazis believed Britain, or more specifically, England, should have been fighting on their side due to Germanic blood ties, whether Hess believed or was motivated by all of this, I don't know, but he did seem to want to bring a peace settlement between Britain and Germany; thus regaining his stature with Hitler. Hitler vehemently denied that he had authorized Hess to negotiate any such agreement, and he formally stripped Hess of all ranks within the German government and the Nazi Party. He appointed Martin Bormann as the replacement for Hess (see previous article about Bormann).
Hess was kept as a prisoner-of-war and then sent to Germany to stand trial at Nuremberg, mainly at the insistence of the Soviet Union.** In Nuremberg, too, his mental state was much in question, but he was considered to be fit for the trial. He was acquitted of some charges, since he had not really had much influence during the early war years, and then had been locked up in England for much of the war. He was convicted of conspiring with Hitler and other German leaders to launch aggressive war, and some other charges, and he was given a life sentence, again, largely at the insistence of the Soviet Union.***
Hess was imprisoned in Berlin, along with some other Nazi leaders who were later released, making him the only prisoner in the large prison facility. Repeated calls for his release by American, British and French leaders on humanitarian grounds (his mental and physical condition), and even the costs of keeping one prisoner there, were rejected by the Soviets. With Gorbachev in control in the Soviet Union, and a relaxing of tensions between East and West, it seemed Hess might be released, but he was found dead in the summer of 1987, and suicide was the official cause, although others believed a conspiracy had been launched to kill him. Hess was in his 90s at the time of his death.
Next, a son-of-a-bitch if there ever was one....Heinrich Himmler
* Indeed, Hitler publicly made Hess the number three man in his speech to the Reichstag on September 1, 1939 (about the invasion of Poland and the beginning of the war), in which he named Göring as his successor, and placing Hess next in line.
** The Soviet Union lost somewhere between 20 and 30 million DEAD as a result of World War Two. This fact alone put them in no mood to give any grace to their fascist invaders. Their repressive system and philosophy certainly only added to this hard line.
*** With the "Cold War" developing at that time, the Soviet suspicions about Hess' flight to Britain was always a part of their calculations. To my knowledge, no evidence has ever been uncovered even remotely showing Hess and British authorities considering a joint attack against the Soviet Union. In fact, Churchill, the then British Prime Minister, when asked about British support for Stalin after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, said something to the effect that he would support the devil, if he was against Hitler.
WORD HISTORY:
Fly-This is the verb form meaning, "to travel through the air." This word, closely related to "flow," goes back to Indo European "pleu," which meant "to flow." The Old Germanic spinoff was "fleuganan," which meant "to fly;" with the initial Indo European "p" becoming "f" in Germanic, which was often the case. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "fleogan," which then later became "flien," before the modern version. It is common throughout the other Germanic languages: Dutch has "vliegen," German has "fliegen," Low German Saxon has "flegen," Frisian has "fleane," Luxembourgish has "fleien," Icelandic has "fljúga," Faroese has "flúgva," Norwegian has "flyve" and "fljuga" (depending upon dialect), Swedish has "flyga," and Danish has "flyve."
Rudolf Hess was born in Egypt, as his father was in the import business in the Mediterranean area, and Hess didn't actually live in Germany until he was a teenager, although his father's family was from Bavaria, which had given rise to many visits there prior to the move to Germany. He served in World War One in the infantry, and near the end, as a pilot. He joined the Nazi Party early in its existence, and he eventually rose to high position, generally considered to be the number three man, after Hitler and Hermann Göring,* and Hess was Hitler's deputy, and Martin Bormann worked as the major aide to Hess.
Hess is most noted for his devotion to Hitler, and for his words to the Nazi faithful at the Nuremberg rally of 1934, which showed how, even at that relatively early stage of Hitler's rule, Hitler's personality was merging with Germany. Hess said, "The party is Hitler, Hitler however is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler" ("Die Partei ist Hitler, Hitler aber ist Deutschland, wie Deutschland Hitler ist.") Unfortunately, this statement became ever more true as time passed.
Hess was not happy about the outbreak of war in 1939, and he gradually lost influence with Hitler, who was consumed by military matters. Seemingly distraught over the decline in his association with Hitler, Hess had a simultaneous decline in his mental health, although some dispute this. In May 1941, just about six weeks before the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Hess took a plane on a solo flight to Britain, parachuting into Scotland, and leaving the plane to crash. Except for releasing the fact they had Hess in custody, the British basically kept details secret, and speculation about the reason for his flight were numerous, including in the Soviet Union, where Stalin feared collaboration between Germany and Britain to launch an attack against the Soviets. While doctrinaire Nazis believed Britain, or more specifically, England, should have been fighting on their side due to Germanic blood ties, whether Hess believed or was motivated by all of this, I don't know, but he did seem to want to bring a peace settlement between Britain and Germany; thus regaining his stature with Hitler. Hitler vehemently denied that he had authorized Hess to negotiate any such agreement, and he formally stripped Hess of all ranks within the German government and the Nazi Party. He appointed Martin Bormann as the replacement for Hess (see previous article about Bormann).
Hess was kept as a prisoner-of-war and then sent to Germany to stand trial at Nuremberg, mainly at the insistence of the Soviet Union.** In Nuremberg, too, his mental state was much in question, but he was considered to be fit for the trial. He was acquitted of some charges, since he had not really had much influence during the early war years, and then had been locked up in England for much of the war. He was convicted of conspiring with Hitler and other German leaders to launch aggressive war, and some other charges, and he was given a life sentence, again, largely at the insistence of the Soviet Union.***
Hess was imprisoned in Berlin, along with some other Nazi leaders who were later released, making him the only prisoner in the large prison facility. Repeated calls for his release by American, British and French leaders on humanitarian grounds (his mental and physical condition), and even the costs of keeping one prisoner there, were rejected by the Soviets. With Gorbachev in control in the Soviet Union, and a relaxing of tensions between East and West, it seemed Hess might be released, but he was found dead in the summer of 1987, and suicide was the official cause, although others believed a conspiracy had been launched to kill him. Hess was in his 90s at the time of his death.
Next, a son-of-a-bitch if there ever was one....Heinrich Himmler
* Indeed, Hitler publicly made Hess the number three man in his speech to the Reichstag on September 1, 1939 (about the invasion of Poland and the beginning of the war), in which he named Göring as his successor, and placing Hess next in line.
** The Soviet Union lost somewhere between 20 and 30 million DEAD as a result of World War Two. This fact alone put them in no mood to give any grace to their fascist invaders. Their repressive system and philosophy certainly only added to this hard line.
*** With the "Cold War" developing at that time, the Soviet suspicions about Hess' flight to Britain was always a part of their calculations. To my knowledge, no evidence has ever been uncovered even remotely showing Hess and British authorities considering a joint attack against the Soviet Union. In fact, Churchill, the then British Prime Minister, when asked about British support for Stalin after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, said something to the effect that he would support the devil, if he was against Hitler.
WORD HISTORY:
Fly-This is the verb form meaning, "to travel through the air." This word, closely related to "flow," goes back to Indo European "pleu," which meant "to flow." The Old Germanic spinoff was "fleuganan," which meant "to fly;" with the initial Indo European "p" becoming "f" in Germanic, which was often the case. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "fleogan," which then later became "flien," before the modern version. It is common throughout the other Germanic languages: Dutch has "vliegen," German has "fliegen," Low German Saxon has "flegen," Frisian has "fleane," Luxembourgish has "fleien," Icelandic has "fljúga," Faroese has "flúgva," Norwegian has "flyve" and "fljuga" (depending upon dialect), Swedish has "flyga," and Danish has "flyve."
Labels: Britain, English, etymology, German History, Germanic languages, Nazi leaders, Rudolf Hess, Soviet Union, World War Two
posted by Randy at 12:57 AM
3 Comments:
I'm behind on reading your blog, but the "German Leaders" looks really interesting, especiially after your super German Question series.
I remember Hess. Had real bushy eyebrows, right? I remember some of the controversy when he died, but youve refreshed my memory. Glad youre back Johnnie.
Yes, Seth, Hess had bushy eyebrows.
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