text: rudolf hess rudolf walter richard , also spelled hess ( 26 april 1894 – 17 august 1987 ) , was a prominent politician in nazi germany . appointed deputy führer to adolf hitler in 1933 , he served in this position until 1941 , when he flew solo to scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the united kingdom during world war ii . he was taken prisoner and eventually was convicted of crimes against peace , serving a life sentence . hess enlisted in the 7th bavarian field artillery regiment as an infantryman at the outbreak of world war i. he was wounded several times over the course of the war , and won the iron cross , 2nd class , in 1915 . shortly before the war ended , hess enrolled to train as an aviator , but he saw no action in this role . he left the armed forces in december 1918 with the rank of leutnant der reserve . in 1919 , hess enrolled in the university of munich , where he studied geopolitics under karl haushofer , a proponent of the concept of lebensraum ( " living space " ) , which later became one of the pillars of nazi party ( national socialist german workers party ; nsdap ) ideology . hess joined the nsdap on 1 july 1920 , and was at hitler 's side on 8 november 1923 for the beer hall putsch , a failed nazi attempt to seize control of the government of bavaria . whilst serving time in jail for this attempted coup , hess helped hitler write his opus , mein kampf , which became a foundation of the political platform of the nsdap . after the nazi seizure of power in 1933 , hess was appointed deputy führer of the nsdap and received a post in hitler 's cabinet . he was the third most powerful man in germany , behind only hitler and hermann göring . in addition to appearing on hitler 's behalf at speaking engagements and rallies , hess signed into law much of the legislation , including the nuremberg laws of 1935 , which stripped the jews of germany of their rights in the lead - up to the holocaust . hess continued to be interested in aviation , learning to fly the more advanced aircraft that were coming into development at the start of world war ii . on 10 may 1941 he undertook a solo flight to scotland , where he hoped to arrange peace talks with the duke of hamilton , whom he believed to be prominent in opposition to the british government . hess was immediately arrested on his arrival and was held in british custody until the end of the war , when he was returned to germany to stand trial in the nuremberg trials of major war criminals in 1946 . throughout much of the trial , he claimed to be suffering from amnesia , but later admitted this was a ruse . hess was convicted of crimes against peace and conspiracy with other german leaders to commit crimes and was transferred to spandau prison in 1947 , where he served a life sentence . repeated attempts by family members and prominent politicians to win him early release were blocked by the soviet union . still in custody in spandau , he died by suicide in 1987 at the age of 93 . after his death the prison was demolished to prevent it from becoming a neo - nazi shrine . early life hess , the oldest of three children , was born on 26 april 1894 in alexandria , egypt , into the ethnic german family of fritz hess , a prosperous merchant from bavaria , and clara hess ( née münch ) . his brother , alfred , was born in 1897 and his sister , margarete , was born in 1908 . the family lived in a villa on the egyptian coast near alexandria , and visited germany often from 1900 , staying at their summer home in ( now part of ) in the mountains . hess attended a german language protestant school in alexandria from 1900 to 1908 , when he was sent back to germany to study at a boarding school in bad godesberg . he demonstrated an aptitude for science and mathematics , but his father wished him to join the family business , hess & co . , so he sent him in 1911 to study at the école supérieure de commerce in neuchâtel , switzerland . after a year there , hess took an apprenticeship at a trading company in hamburg . world war i within weeks of the outbreak of world war i , hess enlisted in the 7th bavarian field artillery regiment . his initial posting was against the british on the somme ; he was present at the first battle of ypres . on 9 november 1914 hess transferred to the 1st infantry regiment , stationed near arras . he was awarded the iron cross , second class , and promoted to gefreiter ( corporal ) in april 1915 . after additional training at the munster training area , he was promoted to ( senior non - commissioned officer ) and received the bavarian military merit cross . returning to the front lines in november , he fought in artois , participating in the battle for the town of neuville - saint - vaast . after two months out of action with a throat infection , hess served in the battle of verdun in may , and was hit by shrapnel in the left hand and arm on 12 june 1916 in fighting near the village of . after a month off to recover , he was sent back to the verdun area , where he remained until december . hess was promoted to platoon leader of the 10th company of the 18th bavarian reserve infantry regiment , which was serving in romania . he was wounded on 23 july and again on 8 august 1917 ; the first injury was a shell splinter to the left arm , which was dressed in the field , but the second was a bullet wound that entered the upper chest near the armpit and exited near his spinal column , leaving a pea - sized entry wound and a cherry stone - sized exit wound on his back . by 20 august he was well enough to travel , so he was sent to hospital in hungary and eventually back to germany , where he recovered in hospital in meissen . in october he received promotion to leutnant der reserve and was recommended for , but did not receive , the iron cross , first class . at his father 's request , hess was transferred to a hospital closer to home , arriving at on 25 october . while still convalescing , hess had requested that he be allowed to enrol to train as a pilot , so after some christmas leave with his family he reported to munich , where he passed the required tests and underwent aeronautical training . by 14 october he had been assigned to jagdstaffel , a bavarian fighter squadron equipped with fokker d.vii biplanes . he saw no action with jagdstaffel , as the war ended on 11 november 1918 , before he had the opportunity . hess was discharged from the armed forces in december 1918 . the family fortunes had taken a serious downturn , as their business interests in egypt had been expropriated by the british . hess joined the thule society , an antisemitic right - wing völkisch group , and a freikorps , one of many such volunteer paramilitary organisations active in germany at the time . bavaria witnessed frequent and often bloody conflicts between right - wing groups such as the freikorps and left - wing forces as they fought for control of the state during this period . hess was a participant in street battles in the spring of 1919 and led a group which distributed thousands of antisemitic pamphlets in munich . in 1919 hess enrolled in the university of munich , where he studied history and economics . his geopolitics professor was karl haushofer , a proponent of the concept of lebensraum ( " living space " ) , which haushofer cited to justify the proposal that germany should forcefully conquer additional territory in eastern europe . hess later introduced this concept to adolf hitler , and it became one of the pillars of nazi party ideology . hess became friends with haushofer and his son albrecht , a social theorist and lecturer . ilse , a fellow student at the university , met hess in april 1920 when they by chance rented rooms in the same boarding house . they married on 20 december 1927 and their son wolf rüdiger hess was born ten years later , in 1937 . relationship with hitler after hearing nsdap leader hitler , a powerful orator , speak for the first time in 1920 at a munich rally , hess became completely devoted to him . they held a shared belief in the stab - in - the - back myth , the notion that germany 's loss in world war i was caused by a conspiracy of jews and bolsheviks rather than a military defeat . hess joined the nsdap on 1 july as member number 16 . as the party continued to grow , holding rallies and meetings in ever larger beer halls in munich , he focused his attention on fundraising and organisational activities . on 4 november 1921 he was injured while protecting hitler when a bomb planted by a marxist group exploded at the during a party event . hess joined the sturmabteilung ( sa ) by 1922 and helped organise and recruit its early membership . meanwhile , problems continued with the economy ; hyperinflation caused personal fortunes to be rendered worthless . when the german government failed to meet their reparations payments and french troops marched in to occupy the industrial areas along the ruhr in january 1923 , widespread civil unrest was the result . hitler decided the time was ripe to attempt to seize control of the government with a coup d 'état modelled on benito mussolini 's 1922 march on rome . hess was with hitler on the night of 8 november 1923 when he and the sa stormed a public meeting organised by bavaria 's de facto ruler , ( state commissioner ) gustav von kahr , in the , a large beer hall in munich . a pistol , hitler interrupted kahr 's speech and announced that the national revolution had begun , declaring the formation of a new government with world war i general erich ludendorff . the next day , hitler and several thousand supporters attempted to march to the ministry of war in the city centre . gunfire broke out between the nazis and the police ; fourteen marchers and four police officers were killed . hitler was arrested on 11 november . hess and some sa men had taken a few of the dignitaries hostage on the night of the 8th , driving them to a house about 50 kilometres ( 31 mi ) from munich . when hess left briefly to make a phone call the next day , the hostages convinced the driver to help them escape . hess , stranded , called ilse , who brought him a bicycle so he could return to munich . he went to stay with the and then fled to austria , but they convinced him to return . he was arrested and sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the attempted coup , which later became known as the beer hall putsch . hitler was sentenced to five years imprisonment , and the nsdap and sa were both outlawed . both men were incarcerated in landsberg prison , where hitler soon began work on his memoir , mein kampf ( " my struggle " ) , which he dictated to fellow prisoners hess and emil maurice . edited by publisher max amann , hess and others , the work was published in two parts in 1925 and 1926 . it was later released in a single volume , which became a best - seller after 1930 . this book , with its message of violent antisemitism , became the foundation of the political platform of the nsdap . hitler was released on parole on 20 december 1924 and hess ten days later . the ban on the nsdap and sa was lifted in february 1925 , and the party grew to 100 , 000 members in 1928 and 150 , 000 in 1929 . they received only 2 . 6 per cent of the vote in the 1928 election , but support increased steadily up until the seizure of power in 1933 . hitler named hess his private secretary in april 1925 at a salary of 500 reichsmarks per month , and named him as personal adjutant on 20 july 1929 . hess accompanied hitler to speaking engagements around the country and became his friend and confidante . in december 1932 hess was named party political central commissioner . retaining his interest in flying after the end of his active military career , hess obtained his private pilot 's licence on 4 april 1929 . his instructor was world war i flying ace theodor . in 1930 hess became the owner of a monoplane sponsored by the party newspaper , the völkischer beobachter . he acquired two more messerschmitt aircraft in the early 1930s , logging many flying hours and becoming proficient in the operation of light single - engine aircraft . deputy führer on 30 january 1933 hitler was appointed reich chancellor , his first step in gaining dictatorial control of germany . hess was named deputy führer of the nsdap on 21 april and was appointed to the cabinet , with the post of reich minister without portfolio , on 1 december . with offices in the brown house in munich and another in berlin , hess was responsible for several departments , including foreign affairs , finance , health , education and law . all legislation passed through his office for approval , except that concerning the army , the police and foreign policy , and he wrote and co - signed many of hitler 's decrees . an organiser of the annual nuremberg rallies , he usually gave the opening speech and introduced hitler . hess also spoke over the radio and at rallies around the country , so frequently that the speeches were collected into book form in 1938 . hess acted as hitler 's delegate in negotiations with industrialists and members of the wealthier classes . as hess had been born abroad , hitler had him oversee the nsdap groups such as the nsdap / ao that were in charge of party members living in other countries . hitler instructed hess to review all court decisions that related to persons deemed enemies of the party . he was authorised to increase the sentences of anyone he felt got off too lightly in these cases , and was also empowered to take " merciless action " if he saw fit to do so . this often entailed sending the person to a concentration camp or simply ordering the person killed . hess was given the rank of obergruppenführer in the schutzstaffel ( ss ) in 1934 , the second - highest ss rank . the nazi regime began to persecute jews soon after the seizure of power . hess 's office was partly responsible for drafting hitler 's nuremberg laws of 1935 , laws that had far - reaching implications for the jews of germany , banning marriage between non - jewish and jewish germans and depriving non - aryans of their german citizenship . hess 's friend karl haushofer and his family were subject to these laws , as haushofer had married a half - jewish woman , so hess issued documents exempting them from this legislation . hess did not build a power base or develop a coterie of followers . he was motivated by his loyalty to hitler and a desire to be useful to him ; he did not seek power or prestige or take advantage of his position to accumulate personal wealth . he lived in a modest house in munich . although hess had less influence than other top nsdap officials , he was popular with the masses . after the invasion of poland and the start of world war ii in september 1939 , hitler made hess second in line to succeed him , after hermann göring . around the same time , hitler appointed hess 's chief of staff , martin bormann , as his personal secretary , a post formerly held by hess . hess was obsessed with his health to the point of hypochondria , consulting many doctors and other practitioners for what he described to his captors in britain as a long list of ailments involving the kidneys , colon , gall bladder , bowels and heart . like hitler , hess was a vegetarian , and he did not smoke or drink . he brought his own food to the berghof , claiming it was biologically dynamic , but hitler did not approve of this practice , so he discontinued taking meals with the führer . hess was interested in music , enjoyed reading and loved to spend time hiking and climbing in the mountains with ilse . he and his friend albrecht haushofer shared an interest in astrology , and hess also was keen on clairvoyance and the occult . hess continued to be interested in aviation . he won an air race in 1934 , flying a in a circuit around zugspitze mountain and returning to the airfield at munich with a time of 29 minutes . he placed sixth of 29 participants in a similar race held the following year . with the outbreak of world war ii , hess asked hitler to be allowed to join the luftwaffe as a pilot , but hitler forbade it , and ordered him to stop flying for the duration of the war . hess convinced him to reduce the ban to one year . attempted peace mission as the war progressed , hitler 's attention became focused on foreign affairs and the conduct of the war , to the exclusion of all else . hess , not directly engaged in either of these endeavours , though he felt qualified to do so , became increasingly sidelined from the affairs of the nation and from hitler 's attention ; bormann had successfully supplanted hess in many of his duties and usurped his position at hitler 's side . also concerned that germany would face a war on two fronts as plans progressed for operation barbarossa , the invasion of the soviet union scheduled to take place in spring 1941 , hess decided to boldly attempt to bring britain to the negotiating table by travelling there himself to seek meetings with the british government . he asked the advice of albrecht haushofer , who suggested several potential contacts in britain . hess settled on fellow aviator douglas douglas - hamilton , the duke of hamilton , whom he had never met . on hess 's instructions , haushofer wrote to hamilton in september 1940 , but the letter was intercepted by mi5 and hamilton did not see it until march 1941 . hamilton was chosen in the mistaken belief that he was one of the leaders of an opposition party opposed to war with germany , and because he was a friend of haushofer . a letter hess wrote to his wife dated 4 november 1940 shows that in spite of not receiving a reply from hamilton , he intended to proceed with his plan . he began training on the messerschmitt bf 110 , a two - seater twin - engine aircraft , in october 1940 under instructor wilhelm , the chief test pilot at messerschmitt . he continued to practice , including logging many cross - country flights , and found a specific aircraft that handled well — a bf - 1 / n — which was from then on held in reserve for his personal use . he asked for a radio compass , modifications to the oxygen delivery system , and large long - range fuel tanks to be installed on this plane , and these requests were granted by march 1941 . after a final check of the weather reports for germany and the north sea , hess took off at 17 : 45 on 10 may 1941 from the airfield at augsburg - in his specially prepared aircraft . it was the last of several attempts to depart on his mission ; previous efforts had to be called off due to mechanical problems or poor weather . wearing a leather flying suit bearing the rank of captain , he brought along a supply of money and toiletries , a torch , a camera , maps and charts , and a collection of 28 different medicines , as well as dextrose tablets to help ward off fatigue and an assortment of homeopathic remedies . flight to scotland initially setting a course towards bonn , hess used landmarks on the ground to orient himself and make minor course corrections . when he reached the coast near the frisian islands , he turned and flew in an easterly direction for some twenty minutes to stay out of range of british radar . he then took a heading of 335 degrees for the trip across the north sea , initially at low altitude , but travelling for most of the journey at 5 , 000 feet ( 1 , 500 m ) . at 20 : 58 he changed his heading to 245 degrees , intending to approach the coast of north east england near the town of bamburgh , northumberland . as it was not yet sunset when he initially approached the coast , hess backtracked , zigzagging back and forth for some 40 minutes until it grew dark . around this time his auxiliary fuel tanks were exhausted , so he released them into the sea . also around this time , at 22 : 08 , the british chain home station at moss near newcastle upon tyne detected his presence and passed along this information to the filter room at bentley priory . soon he had been detected by several other stations , and the aircraft was designated as " raid 42 " . two spitfires of no. 72 squadron raf , no. 13 group raf that were already in the air were sent to attempt an interception , but failed to find the intruder . a third spitfire sent from acklington at 22 : 20 also failed to spot the aircraft ; by then it was dark and hess had dropped to an extremely low altitude , so low that the volunteer on duty at the royal observer corps ( roc ) station at was able to correctly identify it as a bf 110 , and reported its altitude as 50 feet ( 15 m ) . tracked by additional roc posts , hess continued his flight into scotland at high speed and low altitude , but was unable to spot his destination , house , so he headed for the west coast to orient himself and then turned back inland . at 22 : 35 a boulton paul defiant sent from no. 141 squadron raf based at ayr began pursuit . hess was nearly out of fuel , so he climbed to 6 , 000 feet ( 1 , 800 m ) and parachuted out of the plane at 23 : 06 . he injured his foot , either while exiting the aircraft or when he hit the ground . the aircraft crashed at 23 : 09 , about 12 miles ( 19 km ) west of house . he would have been closer to his destination had he not had trouble exiting the aircraft . hess considered this achievement to be the proudest moment of his life . before his departure from germany , hess had given his adjutant , karlheinz pintsch , a letter addressed to hitler that detailed his intentions to open peace negotiations with the british . pintsch delivered the letter to hitler at the berghof around noon on 11 may . albert speer later said hitler described hess 's departure as one of the worst personal blows of his life , as he considered it a personal betrayal . hitler worried that his allies , italy and japan , would perceive hess 's act as an attempt by hitler to secretly open peace negotiations with the british . for this reason , hitler ordered that the german press should characterise hess as a madman who made the decision to fly to scotland entirely on his own , without hitler 's knowledge or authority . some members of the government , including göring and propaganda minister joseph goebbels , believed this only made matters worse , because if hess truly were mentally ill , he should not have been holding an important government position . hitler stripped hess of all of his party and state offices , and secretly ordered him shot on sight if he ever returned to germany . he abolished the post of deputy führer , assigning hess 's former duties to bormann , with the title of head of the party chancellery . hitler initiated aktion hess , a flurry of hundreds of arrests of astrologers , faith healers and occultists that took place around 9 june . the campaign was part of a propaganda effort by goebbels and others to denigrate hess and to make scapegoats of occult practitioners . american journalist h. r. knickerbocker , who had met both hitler and hess , speculated that hitler had sent hess to deliver a message informing winston churchill of the forthcoming invasion of the soviet union , and offering a negotiated peace or even an anti - bolshevik partnership . soviet leader joseph stalin believed that hess 's flight had been engineered by the british . stalin persisted in this belief as late as 1944 , when he mentioned the matter to churchill , who insisted that they had no advance knowledge of the flight . peter padfield 's hess , hitler and churchill ( 2013 ) explores the mystery of hess 's flight to britain . padfield suggests that hess was carrying documents with detailed proposals from hitler which would have meant peace between germany and britain , which would stand neutral in a planned german war against the soviet union , in return for which germany was willing to withdraw from western europe . capture hess landed at floors farm , , south of glasgow , where he was discovered still struggling with his parachute by local ploughman david mclean . identifying himself as " hauptmann alfred horn " , hess said he had an important message for the duke of hamilton . mclean helped hess to his nearby cottage and contacted the local home guard unit , who escorted the captive to their headquarters in busby , east renfrewshire . he was next taken to the police station at giffnock , arriving sometime after midnight ; he was searched and his possessions confiscated . hess repeatedly requested to meet with the duke of hamilton during questioning undertaken with the aid of an interpreter by major graham donald , the area commandant of royal observer corps . after the interview hess was taken under guard to maryhill barracks in glasgow , where his injuries were treated . by this time some of his captors suspected hess 's true identity , though he continued to insist his name was horn . hamilton had been on duty as wing commander at raf turnhouse near edinburgh when hess had arrived , and his station had been one of those that had tracked the progress of the flight . he arrived at maryhill barracks the next morning , and after examining hess 's effects , he met alone with the prisoner . hess immediately admitted his true identity and outlined the reason for his flight . hamilton told hess that he hoped to continue the conversation with the aid of an interpreter ; hess could speak english well , but was having trouble understanding hamilton . after the meeting , hamilton examined the remains of the messerschmitt in the company of an intelligence officer , then returned to turnhouse , where he made arrangements through the foreign office to meet prime minister winston churchill , who was at ditchley for the weekend . they had some preliminary talks that night , and hamilton accompanied churchill back to london the next day , where they both met with members of the war cabinet . churchill sent hamilton with foreign affairs expert kirkpatrick , who had met hess previously , to positively identify the prisoner , who had been moved to buchanan castle overnight . hess , who had prepared extensive notes to use during this meeting , spoke to them at length about hitler 's expansionary plans and the need for britain to let the nazis have free rein in europe , in exchange for being allowed to keep its overseas possessions . kirkpatrick held two more meetings with hess over the course of the next few days , while hamilton returned to his duties . hess , in addition to being disappointed at the apparent failure of his mission , began claiming that his medical treatment was inadequate and that there was a plot afoot to poison him . hess 's flight , but not his destination or fate , was first announced by munich radio in germany on the evening of 12 may . on 13 may hitler sent foreign minister joachim von ribbentrop to give the news in person to mussolini , and the british press was permitted to release full information about events that same day . on 14 may ilse hess finally learned that her husband had survived the trip when news of his fate was broadcast on german radio . the wreckage of the aircraft was salvaged by 63 maintenance unit between 11 and 16 may 1941 and was taken to oxford to be stored . the aeroplane was armed with four machine guns in the nose but carried no ammunition . several pieces of the plane are still extant , including the two engines , one of which is at the royal air force museum london . the other engine and a piece of the fuselage are at the imperial war museum in london . trial and imprisonment prisoner of war from buchanan castle , hess was transferred briefly to the tower of london and then to mytchett place in surrey , a fortified mansion , designated " camp z " , where he stayed for the next thirteen months . churchill issued orders that hess was to be treated well , though he was not allowed to read newspapers or listen to the radio . three intelligence officers were stationed onsite and 150 soldiers were placed on guard . by early june , hess was allowed to write to his family . he also prepared a letter to the duke of hamilton , but it was never delivered , and his repeated requests for further meetings were turned down . major frank foley , the leading german expert in mi6 and former british passport control officer in berlin , took charge of a year - long abortive debriefing of hess , according to foreign office files released to the national archives . dr henry v. dicks and dr john rawlings rees , psychiatrists who treated hess during this period , note that while he was not insane , he was mentally unstable , with tendencies toward hypochondria and paranoia . hess repeated his peace proposal to john simon , 1st viscount simon , then serving as lord chancellor , in an interview on 9 june . lord simon noted that the prisoner 's mental state was not good ; hess claimed he was being poisoned and was being prevented from sleeping . he would insist on swapping his dinner with that of one of his guards , and attempted to get them to send samples of the food out for analysis . in the early morning hours of 16 june , hess rushed his guards and attempted suicide by jumping over the railing of the staircase at mytchett place . he fell onto the stone floor below , fracturing the femur of his left leg . the injury required that the leg be kept in traction for twelve weeks , with a further six weeks bed rest before he was permitted to walk with crutches . captain munro johnson of the royal army medical corps , who assessed hess , noted that another suicide attempt was likely to occur in the near future . hess began around this time to complain of amnesia . this symptom and some of his increasingly erratic behaviour may have in part been a ruse , because if he were declared mentally ill , he could be repatriated under the terms of the geneva conventions . hess was moved to court hospital on 26 june 1942 , where he would remain for the next three years . the facility was chosen for its added security and the need for fewer guards . hess was allowed walks on the grounds and car trips into the surrounding countryside . he had access to newspapers and other reading materials ; he wrote letters and journals . his mental health remained under the care of dr rees . hess continued to complain on and off of memory loss and made a second suicide attempt on 4 february 1945 , when he stabbed himself with a bread knife . the wound was not serious , requiring two stitches . despondent that germany was losing the war , he took no food for the next week , only resuming eating when he was threatened with being force - fed . germany surrendered unconditionally on 8 may 1945 . hess , facing charges as a war criminal , was ordered to appear before the international military tribunal and was transported to nuremberg on 10 october 1945 . nuremberg trials the allies of world war ii held a series of military tribunals and trials , beginning with a trial of the major war criminals from november 1945 to october 1946 . hess was tried with this first group of twenty - three defendants , all of whom were charged with four counts — conspiracy to commit crimes , crimes against peace , war crimes and crimes against humanity , in violation of international laws governing warfare . on his arrival in nuremberg , hess was reluctant to give up some of his possessions , including samples of food he claimed had been poisoned by the british ; he proposed to use these for his defence during the trial . the commandant of the facility , colonel burton c. andrus of the united states army , advised him that he would be allowed no special treatment ; the samples were sealed and confiscated . hess 's diaries indicate that he did not acknowledge the validity of the court and felt the outcome was a foregone conclusion . he was thin when he arrived , weighing 65 kilograms ( 143 lb ) , and had a poor appetite , but was deemed to be in good health . as one defendant , robert ley , had managed to hang himself in his cell on 24 october , the remaining prisoners were monitored around the clock . because of his previous suicide attempts , hess was handcuffed to a guard whenever he was out of his cell . almost immediately after his arrival , hess began exhibiting amnesia , which may have been feigned in the hope of avoiding the death sentence . medical personnel who examined hess reported he was not insane and was fit to stand trial . at least two examiners , the british doctor and the soviet one , noted their belief that hess 's amnesia might be fake . efforts were made to trigger his memory , including bringing in his former secretaries and showing old newsreels , but he persisted in showing no response to these stimuli . when hess was allowed to make a statement to the tribunal on 30 november , he admitted that he had faked memory loss as a tactic . he spoke to the tribunal again on 31 august 1946 , the last day of closing statements . the prosecution 's case against hess was presented by mervyn griffith - jones beginning on 7 february 1946 . by quoting from hess 's speeches , he attempted to demonstrate that hess had been aware of and agreed with hitler 's plans to conduct a war of aggression in violation of international law . he declared that as hess had signed important governmental decrees , including the decree requiring mandatory military service , the nuremberg racial laws , and a decree incorporating the conquered polish territories into the reich , he must share responsibility for the acts of the regime . he pointed out that the timing of hess 's trip to scotland , only six weeks before the german invasion of the soviet union , could only be viewed as an attempt by hess to keep the british out of the war . hess resumed showing symptoms of amnesia at the end of february , partway through the prosecution 's case . the case for hess 's defence was presented from 22 – 26 march by his lawyer , dr alfred seidl . he noted that while hess accepted responsibility for the many decrees he had signed , he said these matters were part of the internal workings of a sovereign state and thus outside the purview of a war crimes trial . he called to the stand ernst wilhelm bohle , the man who had been head of the nsdap / ao , to testify on hess 's behalf . when presented by griffith - jones with questions about the organisation 's spying in several countries , bohle testified that any warlike activities such as espionage had been done without his permission or knowledge . seidl called two other witnesses , former mayor of stuttgart karl and hess 's brother alfred , both of whom refuted the allegations that the nsdap / ao had been spying and fomenting war . seidl presented a summation of the defence 's case on 25 july , in which he attempted to refute the charge of conspiracy by pointing out that hitler alone had made all the important decisions . he noted that hess could not be held responsible for any events that took place after he left germany in may 1941 . meanwhile , hess mentally detached himself from what was happening , declining visits from his family and refusing to read the newspapers . the court deliberated for nearly two months before passing judgement on 30 september , with the defendants being individually sentenced on 1 october . hess was found guilty on two counts : crimes against peace ( planning and preparing a war of aggression ) , and conspiracy with other german leaders to commit crimes . he was found not guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity . he was given a life sentence , one of seven nazis to receive prison sentences at the trial . these seven were transported by aircraft to the allied military prison at spandau in berlin on 18 july 1947 . the soviet member of the tribunal , major - general iona , filed a document recording his dissent of hess 's sentence ; he felt the death sentence was warranted . spandau prison spandau was placed under the control of the allied control council , the governing body in charge of the military occupation of germany . it consisted of representatives from four member states : britain , france , the united states and the soviet union . each country supplied guards for the prison for a month at a time on a rotating basis . after the inmates were given medical examinations — hess refused his body search , and had to be held down — they were provided with prison garb and assigned the numbers by which they would be addressed throughout their stay . hess was number 7 . the prison had a small library , and inmates were allowed to file special requests for additional reading material . writing materials were limited ; each inmate would be allowed four pieces of paper per month for letters . the prisoners were not allowed to speak to one another without permission and were expected to work in the facility , helping with cleaning and gardening chores . the inmates were taken for outdoor walks around the prison grounds for an hour each day , separated about 10 yards ( 9 m ) apart . some of the rules became more relaxed as time went on . visits to spandau of half an hour per month were allowed , but hess forbade his family to visit until december 1969 , when he was a patient at the british military hospital in west berlin for a perforated ulcer . by this time wolf rüdiger hess was 32 years old and ilse 69 ; they had not seen hess since his departure from germany in 1941 . after this illness , he allowed his family to visit regularly . his daughter - in - law andrea , who often brought photos and films of his grandchildren , became a particularly welcome visitor . hess 's health problems , both mental and physical , were ongoing during his captivity . he cried out in the night , claiming he had stomach pains . he continued to suspect that his food was being poisoned and complained of amnesia . a psychiatrist who examined him in 1957 deemed he was not ill enough to be transferred to a mental hospital . another unsuccessful suicide attempt took place in 1977 . other than his stays in hospital , hess spent the rest of his life in spandau prison . his fellow inmates konstantin von neurath , walther funk and erich raeder were released because of poor health in the 1950s ; karl dönitz , baldur von schirach and albert speer served their time and were released , dönitz in 1956 , schirach and speer in 1966 . the 600 - cell prison continued to be maintained for its lone prisoner from speer and schirach 's release until hess 's death in 1987 , at an estimated cost of dm 800 , 000 . conditions were far more pleasant in the 1980s than in the early years ; hess was allowed to move more freely around the cell block , setting his own routine and choosing his own activities , which included television , films , reading and gardening . a lift was installed so he could more readily access the garden , and he was provided with a medical orderly from 1982 onward . numerous appeals for hess 's release were launched by his lawyer , dr seidl , beginning as early as 1947 . these were denied , mainly because the soviets repeatedly vetoed the proposal . spandau was located in west berlin , and its existence gave the soviets a foothold in that sector of the city . additionally , soviet officials believed hess must have known in 1941 that an attack on their country was imminent . in 1967 wolf rüdiger hess began a campaign to win his father 's release , garnering support from notable politicians such as geoffrey lawrence , 1st baron oaksey in britain and willy brandt in germany , but to no avail , in spite of the prisoner 's advanced age and deteriorating health . death and aftermath hess died on 17 august 1987 at the age of 93 in a summer house that had been set up in the prison garden as a reading room . he took an extension cord from one of the lamps , strung it over a window latch , and hanged himself . death occurred by asphyxiation . a short note to his family , thanking them for all they had done , was found in his pocket . the four powers released a statement on 17 september ruling the death a suicide . initially buried at a secret location to avoid media attention or demonstrations by nazi sympathisers , hess was re - interred in a family plot at on 17 march 1988 , and his wife was buried beside him when she died in 1995 . spandau prison was demolished to prevent it from becoming a neo - nazi shrine . his lawyer , dr seidl , felt hess was too old and frail to have managed to kill himself . wolf rüdiger hess repeatedly claimed that his father had been murdered by the british secret intelligence service to prevent him from revealing information about british misconduct during the war . abdallah , who served as hess 's medical orderly from 1982 to 1987 , was dismissed from his position at his local district parliament 's immigration and integration advisory council after he wrote a self - published book on a similar theme . according to an investigation by the british government in 1989 , the available evidence did not back up the claim that hess was murdered , and solicitor general sir nicholas lyell saw no grounds for further investigation . moreover , the autopsy results support the conclusion that hess had killed himself . a report released in 2012 again raised the question of whether hess was murdered . historian peter padfield claims the suicide note found on the body appears to have been written when hess was hospitalised in 1969 . after the town of became the scene of pilgrimages and neo - nazi demonstrations every august on the date of hess 's death , the parish council decided not to allow an extension on the grave site 's lease when it expired in 2011 . with the consent of his family , hess 's grave was re - opened on 20 july 2011 and his remains were exhumed , and then cremated . his ashes were scattered at sea by family members ; the gravestone , which bore the epitaph " ich hab 's " ( " i have dared " ) , was destroyed .