I. The Hess Mess
II. Hess the Hermetic
III. Putschin' on the Ritz
IV. A Scottish Excursion
V. A Plea for Peace
VI. The Lore of the Lure
VII. Cooperating Coops
VIII. Capturing a Captain
IX. Conspiracies and Contingencies
X. Prisoner 007
XI. The Forgotten Flight
XII. Deputy Dopplegänger
XIII. To Make a Man
XIV: An Astonishing Assassination
XV: A Secret So Sinister
XVI: An Antarctic Epilogue
The Hess Mess
The choice of the word "mess" to describe this opera is much more than just a clever rhyme. What the Hess Mess represents is undoubtedly akin to the proverbial Rabbit Hole; the Chapel Perilous of Robert Anton Wilson.
The mess is riddled with so many twists, turns and contradictions that what ultimately emerges is the grandest conspiracy at not only the highest levels of the British government, but one that includes multiple superpowers and their various intelligence agencies.
In addition, something about the secret at the heart of the Hess Mess is so significant that it still warrants concealing from the public after more than three quarters of a century.
What could be so unacceptable to Britain, or the Allies, in the early 21st century? What does the Rudolf Hess story conceal that would in some way shock even today's cynical world?
The best place to start the Hess Mess is at the end, and a messy end for Hess it was.
On August 17, 1987, Rudolf Walter Richard Hess, once Adolf Hitler's Deputy Führer, was pronounced dead at a British Military Hospital in Berlin.
Having spent the last 41 years of his life in prison, the 93-year-old inmate had reportedly chosen to end his own life, hanging himself from a window latch with an electrical cord.
Only Hess among all the Nazis incarcerated after World War II was made to serve out his entire life sentence, and this includes other individuals of comparable rank, such as the Reich's Armaments Minister Albert Speer, the two chiefs of the German Kriegsmarine, Grand Admirals Erich Raeder and Karl Dönitz, Reichsbank President Walther Funk, diplomat Konstantin von Neurath, and Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach.
These were some of the men that kept the gigantic war machine of the Third Reich smoothly running and functioning as a military power right up to the end of the war, and in Dönitz's case, had nearly brought Britain to its knees in the unrelenting U-boat warfare.
Indeed, of all the "designated successors" to Hitler, it was Dönitz that finally succeeded Hitler as the legal head of state and government after the latter's problematical "suicide" in the Berlin Führerbunker.
All of these men were released, including Raeder and Funk, even though both had received life sentences. Although their premature release was for "health and humanitarian" reasons, no explanation was ever offered for why Hess remained for another 21 years, despite suffering considerable health problems, which began in earnest after a perforated ulcer in 1969.
To make matters even more strange, an entire prison facility, known as Spandau Prison, was maintained just to house Hess! Built in 1876, Spandau Prison had a single occupant from the years 1966-1987: Rudolf Hess.
It's an absurd picture: the Allied powers--France, Great Britain, the USA, and the Soviet Union--all contributed to the maintenance and upkeep of the entire Spandau Prison, changing their military guards at regular monthly intervals, just to guard this one man.
The guard rotation shifted on a monthly basis, with the French guards during the months of February, June, and October; British guards in January, May, and September; American guards in April, August, and December; and Soviet guards in March, July, and November.
Why did Hess have to be guarded at all costs and have his access to the outside world strictly, and even cruelly, controlled?
Why was it necessary to maintain an entire prison, and the military guards and medical staffs of four world powers, just to keep watch over one individual who, by the end of his life, was a frail old man, and a threat to no one?
What secrets did he know that the Four Powers wanted to prevent others from knowing? Did they themselves even know what those secrets were, or did they only suspect? Or were they trying to break him and learn those secrets?
Or did Hess not know anything at all?
Was the man they were guarding even really Rudolf Hess?
Was "Spandau Hess" someone else, a double, substituted at some point in the drama? Was that the real reason for the Spandau Ballet of elaborate changings of the guard and maintaining an entire prison for just one man, and refusing to let him out, lest the substitution--the real secret--be discovered?
Prisoner 007
Hess eventually spent some time in the Tower of London, where a curious incident occurred that has fueled much speculation. Charles Fraser-Smith, the inspiration for the gadget wizard "Q" from James Bond lore, was called in by MI5 to measure Hess's Luftwaffe captain's uniform.
While it has been speculated that the copy was for the potential use of a double to send back to Germany, others have claimed that both MI5 and MI6 had begun considering substituting a double for Hess shortly after his arrival.
At this point, the Hess mess truly starts to accelerate its descent into the surreal as "Hess" himself begins to lose his senses. While being held at Mytchett Place under very tight security, "Hess's mental and emotional behavior appeared to deteriorate dramatically" and he attempted suicide more than once.
And here we reach what is perhaps a pivotal juncture in this saga. On June 25, 1942, Hess was moved to Maindiff Court in Wales, a move that occurred with no military escort. The reason given for this secrecy was to foil an alleged plot to kidnap Hess, however that was rendered irrelevant after details of the move were leaked to the Daily Mail, a national tabloid.
As for actual plots to kidnap Hess, there was reason for concern, as illustrated by an important incident revealed in 1979 by a British major from the 11th Fighter Group:
What this story highlights is just how much internecine intrigue there was even among the intelligence apparatuses of countries like Great Britain and Germany.
In any case, intelligence was circulating in Germany that placed Hess in Scotland during the time when he was supposed to be at Mytchett Place. According to this information, which may or may not have been spread as part of an intelligence deception campaign: "Hess had been housed in a villa in Scotland, had his personal servants and wanted for nothing. Churchill had expressly decreed that Hess, on account of his rank, should be accommodated as a general."
In this report, it should be noted that Hess is specifically mentioned as being in complete possession of his mental faculties, and even was witnessed driving around London under escort!
Was a double substituted for Hess? If so, when?
The Hess "double" theory not only explains the need to duplicate his uniform, but it also explains the two reports of Hess in two different places at once. In this scenario, the "Hess" at Maindiff was a double, and the multiple drugging sessions "Hess" underwent after his arrival at Maindiff were in fact mind-control sessions. Similarly, this would explain the decision of the British to build an entire "suite" at their military hospital in Berlin for Hess.
In addition, RAF military police did confirm that meetings took place between Hess and Churchill, and a Scots Guards member asserted that Hess was "in the Tower of London and had been taken to secret meetings with Churchill in late June 1941." However, at the time of these alleged meetings, by official accounts "Hess" was at Mytchett Place.
After all, it was well known that shortly after his capture Hess claimed that he was under "the King's personal protection" and that he insisted that messages be taken directly to George VI.
While often dismissed as fanciful, support for this claim was uncovered by Hess Mess researchers who were anonymously contacted by someone at the Foreign Office. With regards to Hess's claim, the contact replied that a British colonel name "Pilcher" has been ordered to be held incommunicado at Balmoral Palace from 1941 until his death in 1970 for "signing a letter of safe conduct in the King's name."
A letter would explain the apparent confusion on the night of Hess's capture, for it would certainly cause all manners of confusion. Was the letter fake? Was it real?
The Forgotten Flight
This begs the question: was the Crown itself involved? Enter Prince George, the Duke of Kent.
The fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, Prince George became the Duke of Kent in 1934 and held the title until his untimely death in 1942.
In addition, according to researchers of the Hess Mess, the Duke of Kent was a member of a "reception committee" that had congregated to receive Hess. Allegedly, this "committee" consisted of members of the British "peace" faction, as well as representatives of the Polish government in exile and the international Red Cross.
In this scenario, "the head of the Polish government in exile had offered the throne of Poland--long vacant--to the Duke of Kent."
The Hess peace plan may explain a curiously timed decline in intensity of the bombing campaigns of both Britain and Germany:
Curiously, one of the places the "bi-locating" Hess was sighted in 1942 was at the home of an "equerry to the Duke of Kent, a point that indicates that the "peace party" had regained control of the real Hess."
And at long last we arrive at the tragedy that not only took the life of the Duke of Kent, but may offer a vital clue in solving the mystery of what happened to the real Rudolf Hess.
However, the "flight to Iceland" may have been a cover story. The Duke's flying boat was painted white, the color for aircraft flying to and from neutral Sweden, suggesting that Sweden, not Iceland, was the destination. And that's not all:
Göring had already conducted peace discussions with Sweden, so it's entirely possible that the Duke of Kent was attempting to return Hess to Germany to remove him from danger and/or complete final arrangements in the "deal."
In addition, a cable from the German Ambassador in Portugal to the German Foreign Ministry was uncovered that states:
To make matters even more suspicious, General Sikorski, the head of the Polish government in exile that had allegedly offered the Polish crown to the Duke of Kent, perished less than a year later in an air crash off Gibraltar.
Deputy Dopplegänger
After the war, suspicions as to the identity of "Hess" would soon start to spread, including among members of the US intelligence community.
Many of those who encountered "Hess" at the Nuremberg Trials noticed that something was "off" or wrong with the prisoner, including his former colleagues and even Göring himself.
In what has been described as "the most telling episode at Nuremberg," none other than Allen Dulles had doubts about the prisoner's identity.
If Dulles's presence in this opera seems almost comically predictable, the entrance of Dr. Ewen Cameron is equally as sinister, as well as profoundly suggestive.
According to Gordon Thomas, in his study of the military and intelligence uses of psychiatry and psychology, Journey into Madness:
Although the infamous mind control expert was unable to examine "Hess" during the Nuremberg Trials, many years later a British physician did. His name was W. Hugh Thomas, and in 1979 he published a controversial book called The Murder of Rudolf Hess that was inspired after he personally had the opportunity to extensively examine the prisoner at a British Military Hospital.
According to the shocked physician, Hess showed no scars of the war wounds he had suffered in WW1.
After seeing "Hess" again on a follow up visit, Dr. Thomas politely asked the prisoner what had happened to his war wounds.
After sharing his suspicions with the Hess family, Frau Hess maintained that although she believed "Hess" was indeed her husband, she also confirmed that he had suffered severe wounds during WWI that left significant scarring.
In hopes of putting the various conspiracy theories to rest, "Hess's" body was exhumed after his suspicious death, and the Foreign Office announced that they did indeed discover a "fibrous, irregular roughly circular old scar typical of an exit wound in a posterior position on the left side of the chest." But this "proof" raises even more questions:
To make matters even more confusing, "Hess" managed to read a newspaper article about Thomas' book in spite of strict regulations at Spandau. When a visiting French pastor asked the prisoner about his "wounds" or lack thereof, he was informed that "a bullet had passed right through his chest, brushing the heart and exiting under the left shoulder blade."
However, the exact details of his war wounds weren't actually known at the time, and only when the Bavarian archives were released in 1989 did the public finally get access to Hess's military record.
Another potentially significant anomaly worth mentioning is the curious case of his British dental charts, the first taken in September 1941 during his stay at Mytchett place and then again from 1943 and Maindiff Court. According to the Doppelgänger Hess theory, the 1941 "Hess" was genuine and the 1943 "Hess" was a substitute.
A few more "discrepancies" are worth mentioning, despite potentially being mere insignificant details. Specifically, the "real" Hess was a committed anti-smoker, a vegetarian, and had impeccable table manners, yet prisoner "Hess" craved cigarettes, ate meat, and displayed markedly poor table manners while in captivity.
In addition, according to Frau Hess, her husband "played tennis well and with enthusiasm," and yet the British captive allegedly knew nothing about the sport. His wife also noted that upon finally seeing him in 1969, he "had a deeper voice." This last point is potentially more significant than it might seem, as "a normal man's voice rises with age, rather than deepens.*
Inspired by these disturbing discoveries, Dr. Thomas began to notice something "off" about the admittedly detailed letters "Hess" had written to his family while in captivity:
Thomas's account would seem to vindicate the suspicions of Allen Dulles, and as a result, the presence of Dr. Cameron becomes pregnant with implications.
To Make a Man
Dr. Cameron was by no means the first in this field, as "British psychiatrists L.G.M. Page and R.J. Russell first published a paper about similar techniques in 1948, a paper summarizing many years of intensive experimentation."
And here we reach what perhaps is the deepest philosophical question in the "Hess" double scenario: could they actually convince a double that he was Rudolf Hess?
To reinforce this theory, the "Hess" at the Nuremberg trials was often confused and expressed difficulty at remembering details of key events. In addition, he also claimed that the British were drugging him:
Even before the end of the war, "Hess" began to report that he was having difficulty with his memory, describing "looming amnesia" to his doctors:
In his own statement for the Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, "Hess" elaborated:
At one point, "Hess" admitted that he was feigning insanity "because he was hoping to be sent home." However, one of Hess's physicians dissented, writing "I cannot accept his own statement that the memory loss never existed. There was at that time a true partial dissociation of the personality, which permitted the patient to 'take in' what was going on around him but caused difficult of recall." At Nuremberg, "Hess" elaborated:
At one point, Hess replied to an officer who called his name: "There is no Rudolf Hess here. But if you are looking for Convict Number 125, then I'm your man!"
In addition, Göring reported pressed "Hess" to divulge some "great secret" on numerous occasions. Even more notably, Hess reportedly failed to recognize Göring and Haushofer at Nuremberg.
In his final statement to the Tribunal, "Hess" made his last public statement ever, talking of the "predictions" he said he had made before the start of the trial:
While most dismiss these ramblings as an attempt to deflect responsibility away from Hitler and the Nazis, researchers of the Hess Mess have suggested that "his real goal is not justification of Nazi atrocities, but rather, simply to persuade the Tribunal that such things are possible because he was building up to some revelation concerning himself."
In fact, during Hess's closing remarks, this revelation was perhaps to be forthcoming, as right when he stated "In the spring of 1942..." he was interrupted by the president of the tribunal and informed that he was at the end of his allotted speaking time.
The Tribunal would understandably not want Hess to make too many statements about "mind control" on the record and in such a public venue, at the very least to prevent it from being used as an "insanity" defense.
One physician in particular tried to prevent "Hess" from even standing trial:
Indeed, if "Hess" had not stood trial, he would not have gone free. "Instead, he would have been incarcerated in a top-security mental institution somewhere in Britain."
It may never have been the intention for "Hess" to stand trial, but "Hess" thwarted this by giving a speech insisting that he was indeed mentally fit.
Here's an image of "Hess" at Nuremberg, with Göring at his side. Here is another: note that Göring appears to be covering his mouth while laughing while on the front right Joachim von Ribbentrop seems almost perplexed. In the back row, former Grand Admiral Dönitz appears to be glaring at "Hess."
While the mention of Antarctica in this context may seem straight out of left field, the Hess Mess has still more surprises in store...
An Astonishing Assassination
Does all of this honestly explain the massive amount of secrecy surrounding Hess that has lasted for the better part of a century?
With all of this in mind, "Rudolf Hess" becomes the most extraordinary figures of World War II and the Cold War.
What did these four powers know? Researchers into the Hess Mess have suggested that one of these "secrets" might have to do with the curious nature of Germany's "surrender" at the end of WWII, which notably did not include an official surrender of the Nazi Party.
In order to address the criticism for the seemingly absurd maintenance of an entire facility for one frail inmate, the Allies claimed they were continually pressing for the release of "Hess" on humanitarian grounds, and that it "was the Soviets who continually played the bad guy and vetoed any such notion, conveniently enabling the western Allies to blame Russia."
Perhaps very significantly, there were no Soviet officers on duty at the time of "Hess's" death.
Hess's male nurse, Abdallah Melaouhi, shared the good news of this potential release with his patient:
Melaouhi, who eventually would have firsthand experience with the extremely suspicious circumstances surrounding the eventual death of "Hess," would become convinced that his patient was murdered, and would later write a book on the event called Rudolf Hess: His Murder and Betrayal. Dr. Hugh Thomas, one of the most vocal proponents of the "double" hypothesis, shared Melaouhi's suspicions.
Taken in the context of the extremely turbulent political climate at the time, the incarceration and alleged murder of Prisoner Number Seven becomes astonishingly significant.
If the connection to the fall of Thatcher seems a stretch, it has been alleged that the personal secretary of Prime Minister, Ian Gow, "had told Hugh Thomas that in return for the latter's dropping of his allegations that Hess was murdered, the government would be prepared to admit that there was doubt about the identity of the prisoner."
Dr. Thomas refused to drop his allegations, and Mr. Gow was murdered himself by a car bomb soon after, supposedly from an attack by the IRA, though his murder remains unsolved to this day.
While here is not the place for an exhaustive overview of the death of Prisoner Number Seven, his nurse Melaouhi sums it up nicely: "The question was no longer whether or not Hess had been murdered, but rather who had committed the crime and why."
Melaouhi's account is essential, as his firsthand experience is extremely important in getting a clearer picture of "Hess's" final days:
After visiting his patient's body at the British Military Hospital, he observed British officials "cheerfully drinking champagne and apparently celebrating something." Upon his return to the scene later that day, "almost everything had been moved including all the traces of what had happened." Melaouhi also noticed "several strange men" milling about the area.
Within 48 hours of the death of Prisoner Number Seven, the facility began to be demolished to make room for a new shopping center. While this was ostensibly done to prevent Spandau from becoming a "Neo-Nazi" shrine (shades of the "death" of Osama bin Laden), one can't help but recall other incidents where the "evidence" was disposed of under curious circumstances, namely in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing and the attack on the World Trade Center complex on 9/11.
Prisoner Number Seven was not to leave Spandau alive.