Rudolf Hess

He did not seek power or wealth and only desired to remain dutiful to Hitler. He lived in a simple house in Munich and was popular with the masses. Alike Hitler, he was a vegetarian, teetotaller and non-smoker.

Under British imprisonment, he suffered from hypochondria and believed he had multiple organ ailments.

Rudolf Hess, the eldest of three children, was born on April 26, 1894 in Alexandria, Egypt. His father Fritz H. Hess was of German origin and his mother Clara Hess was of Greek descent.

Fritz Hess was a successful merchant and owner of Hess & Co. The family was well to do and lived in a beautiful house on the Mediterranean coast. They also had a home in Reicholdsgrün, Bavaria to enjoy their summer holidays.

Growing up in Alexandria, Rudolf studied in a German language Protestant school from 1900–1908. Soon after, the family relocated to Germany and he enrolled in a Protestant boarding school in Bad Godesberg.

In 1911, he was sent to study business for a year at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, Switzerland, to fulfil his father’s dream of join the family business. He also undertook an apprenticeship at a trading company in Hamburg.

However, he was unwilling to join the family enterprise and to escape the situation he volunteered to join the German army at the outbreak of World War One in 1914. Soon after, he was enlisted in the 1st Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment.

Rudolf Hess joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) in July 1920 after hearing the powerful orator, Adolf Hitler, in Munich. He was deeply influenced by him and became the party’s sixteenth member.

He was completely devoted to Hitler and focused his attention on fundraising and organisational activities of the party. He even got injured protecting Hitler from a bomb blast in 1921. The following year, he joined the Sturmabteilung (SA) and helped in recruitment activities of members.

In 1923, he was imprisoned along with Hitler at Landsberg prison for attempting a revolution to seize control of Germany (later named as ‘Beer Hall Putsch’). The NSDAP and SA were both banned during this period. While in prison, he took dictation along with Emil Maurice for Hitler's best-seller book, ‘Mein Kampf’, and also suggested editorial changes.

After they were released in 1925 and the ban on NSDAP and SA nullified, the party strength multiplied manifold. From April 1925 onwards, he worked as Hitler's private secretary at a monthly remuneration of 500 Reichsmarks. He was later appointed personal adjutant in July 1929.

In 1932, Hitler rewarded him for his loyal service by appointing him the Central Political Commissioner and SS General. By 1933, the Nazi party had seized power; Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor and Hess, Deputy Führer—a figurehead position with mostly ceremonial duties.

In 1923, while imprisoned in Landsberg along with Hitler, he took dictation for Hitler's best-seller book ‘Mein Kampf’. He also suggested editorial changes.

His unwavering dedication won him Hitler’s private secretary position in April 1925, a post he held on with pride till 1933, when he was appointed Deputy Führer.

In 1941, during World War II, he flew solo to Scotland on a German fighter plane to negotiate peace with the British in an attempt to prevent Germany from facing war from the Soviet Union and Britain at the same time.