REPORTED STATEMENTS BY HESS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 16 May 1941, Page 5

REPORTED STATEMENTS BY HESS

Fed up With Life in Germany BRITISH PROPAGANDA BROADCASTS [United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright] (Rec. 9.15 a.m.) London, May 15. Herr Rudolf Hess has declared that he is fed up with the war and with life in Germany. He is stated to be both talking and writing freely as he recuperates in the military hospital. The Foreign Office representative, Mr Ivone Kirkpatrick, has sent further reports of his conversations with Hess to London, where they are now being studied by the Ministers. So far there is no official indication that Hess has made any sensational statements to the British officials, though the “Daily Mail” says that, acting as he seems to have done without Hitler’s permission, Hess has undoubtedly revealed to the British Government the present state of affairs in Germany and inside the Nazi Party. Mr Churchill is expected to be in a position to make an early announcement in the House of Commons showing what importance is to be attached to any of Hess’s statements.

The United Press Association lobbyist says there is a great deal of objection in Westminster to a suggestion that Mr Churchill should interview Hess, and such a meeting seems unlikely. It is argued that it would be hardly £ ing to honour in such a manner this u 'conventional visitor who for so long has played a full part in supporting all the reprehensible institutions —the Gestapo, the concentration camps, and the persecutions of the Jews —of a country that i- now warring against Britain. The tide of interest in the motive of Hess received new impetus when it was reported that he told the farm people when he landed in Scotland of the hardships that are being experienced in Germany and also of the great distress and suffering prevailing among the German people as a result of the Royal Air Force raids against the towns. Hess, according to the report, added that he made the Duke of Hamilton’s estate his objective because he had valuable information to give the Duke, information which would be of great use to Britain in overthrowing the tyranny now prevailing in the Reich. Hess also said he had made most painstaking preparations for the flight from Germany. This statement is born out by his maps, oi which all the duke’s estates are ringed with a blue pencil. It is thought that he mistook a large house for the duke’s mansion. According to Mr McLean, the ploughman who found him, Hess seemed most anxious to meet the duke. “KNOWS NO WAR PLANS” Officials in Berlin declared that Hess, in his papers which are now being examined, said he expected to return to Germany in two days. “The papers reveal that he expected the British to supply him with enough petrol for a return flight after he had convinced them of the folly of their rulers.” the Berlin statement said. “Hess has had no knowledge of the war plans of Germany’s military leaders. He is, however, acquainted with German information that the war will end not only in the defeat but also in the destruction of England.” The officials added that Hess wrote saying that he did not want to speak to Mr Churchill in any circumstances.* The present German story is that Hess, who was actuated purely by humane considerations, is still a good German as well as a National Socialist. Sir Patrick Dollan, the Lord Provost of Glasgow, said to-day: “Too much sentiment should not be displayed over the arrival of the Deputy Fuhrer, and the British people should not forget that 14 countries have been overrun and crucified largely as a result oi Hess’s plotting. He has come to Britain not for love of us, but for love oi his own skin.” Speaking at the English-speaking Union to-day, Mr Eden the Foreign Secretary, said that a small group of men possessed of immense military power were trying to impose their rule b_ force upon all civilisation. In the circumstances, there was bound to be stress and strain among that small group, and in that might be found, in part at least, an explanation of the parachute descent which had electrified the world last week-end. Hess is now recovering from the strain and fatigue of his sensational journey, and is expected to be fit enough to leave the military hospital in the next few days. Under the general surveillance of Mr Ivone Kirkpatrick, of the Foreign Office, he is passint the time by reading, listening to the 8.8. C. news bulletins (an illegal practice in Germany), and writing. Officers of the special branch of Scotland Yard have to-day been checking all arrivals at the military hospital where Hess is. A military guard is on duty at the gates, and only authorised persons are allowed to go through. LATENT DISINTEGRATION According to a 8.0. W. message “The Times” in a leading article says that out of the group which has surrounded Herr Hitler, Herr Hess is perhaps the only one whose loyalty to Hitler was unalloyed by any suspicion of selfseeking and into whose relations with the Fuhrer an element of personal devotion appeared to enter. But the precedent of 30th June, 1934, showed that no friend, however intimate, would be spared once he had been frank enough to criticise or oppose the supreme will of the Fuhrer. “The assassination of Roehm and the gratuitous thoroughness with which his memory was besmirched has left a lasting scar even on the by no means delicate susceptibilities of the Nazi leaders, and such a blow to their personal confidence could hardly be retrievable,” the newspaper says. “They were taught a lesson from which Hess —one, no doubt, among many—appears to have profited. “The rift of the surface does not; imply that the rottenness has yet j spread through the whole structure;; bu‘ questionings will not be so easily silenced in the ranks of the party, and I still less easily in the country as a! whole. ... It would, however, be! wholly misguided to suppose that his j flight opens up the propsect of any easy break in cohesion of the German i political machine —still less of any j slackening of German military efficiency. When the history of the war i is written this event will be marked as j the first symptom of a cohesion that! was sapped and a confidence mortally shaken.” FACTS HAMMERED HOME TO GERMANY British propaganda broadcasts to Germany, which have been almost continuous since Hess’s arrival, took on a sharper tone yesterday. This is what the Germans are being told: “We always knew your gang was a pretty rotten crew, corrupt and without solidarity. What has happened has confirmed our view. We are very glad to have your number three in our hands, but we are not being fooled into relaxing our bombing or the war effort generally. The German war machine has got to be smashed. We are treating Hess merely as a Nazi who

saw the writing on the wall and got out while the going was good. Hess know’s what Germany’s capacity is. He knows Hitler’s plans. If you knew as much as Hess you would probably also get out if you A 8.8. C. official said that all this and much more is being hammered home to the Germans 10 times a day. ‘We are giving the Germans every fact we have, because we know they will be listening” he said. The Berlin correspondent of the British United Press says that the official spokesman to-day qualified earlier communiques with the admission that Hess could not be considered 100 per cent insane. He was an able man except when pain from wounds he had received in the last war induced illusions. "This reply,” says the correspondent, “was given to journalists who questioned the insanity theory.” The remains of Hess’s plane will be exhibited in London during the “War Weapons Week” beginning on 17th May Hess actually landed 15 miles from Dungavel, the duke’s mansion, (says the Press Association). Dungavel is used as a military convalescent hospital and the duke rarely visits there. Mr McLean, the Scottish ploughman who found Hess, resented being filmed by newsreel men and went on ploughing. Mr McLean’s mother has received a telegram from a New York woman signing herself Sarah Lynn and stating: “You did a magnificent job. Hurrah for the Scotch! I’m one." Mrs McLean’s terse comment was, “That woman has more siller than sense.” SEEN BY DUKEToF HAMILTON REPORT OF INTERVIEW SENT TO LONDON HESS REGARDED AS PRISONER OF WAR (Rec. 11.55 a.m.) London, May 15. It is understood that the Duke of Hamilton flew and saw Hess within 48 hours of his arrival. A report of the interview was forwarded to London. It is expected Mr Churchill will deal with its subject matter when he makes a statement in the House of Commons. The British United Press reports that Berlin officials angrily deny reports that the Nazis are undertaking a house to house canvass in order to reassure Germans about the Hess affair, but admit “that a few members of the party may have talked the matter over with their neighbours.” The Associated Press of Great Britain learned from a highplaced official that the Government regards Hess not only as a prisoner of war but in the same category as the Nazi criminals responsibel for the bloodshed, suffering and misery in Czechoslovakia, Poland and elsewhere. Hess is still kept in an isolated room at the hospital with an officer in attendance and guards nearby. His condition is reported to be improving rapidly. 8.8. C. COMMENTATOR QUESTIONS FOR THE GERMAN PEOPLE WHAT GOEBBELS WOULD HAVE THEM THINK r British Official Wireless] (Rec. 12.10 p.m.) Rugby, May 15. The 8.8. C. has been broadcasting at frequent intervals to Germany about Hess, in connection with whom Mr Churchill stated in the House of Commons: “I shall take the first opportunity of giving authentic news regarding Hess and the Duke of Hamilton, but in the selection of the opportunity I will he guided by public interest.” In one broadcast to-day the speaker said: “I want to discuss what Goebbels would like you to think about the Hess incident. Five days after Hess left Augsburg, Goebbels released his version. His experts had taken their time in dealing with the letters Hess left behind. I wonder if you find it as difficult as I do to believe he flew to England out of mad sympathy for the British people. We agree with the German propagandists that Hess wants peace for the German people. We agree ho possesses secret information, but is it not possible his concern is for the German and not for the English people? Is it not possible that his secret information is about such matters as the Balkan casualties, the state of Kiel and Hamburg, and the fate of Prjen, Kretschner and Schepke (lost U-boat aces), and their unarmed colleagues? May he not know more about America than some of his colleagues who have neve/ been abroad? I leave it to you to decide whether it was very sane concern for the German people or very mad sympathy for England that drove him to take this step? Perhaps after all we have found out why Goebbels is so anxious to prove his comrade mad. Hess must knew a lot about the doctor and his other colleagues. It was his job to do so. And now he is sitting talking fieely and writing. It will be very dangerous for Goebbels and his colleagues if Hess is sane after all.”

QUESTIONS IN THE COMMONS

PRIME MINISTER'S REPLIES (Rec. 10.50 a.m.) Rugby, May 15. Questions were addressed to Mr Churchill in the House of Commons regarding Herr Hess, and replying to a question why the Minister of Information did not take steps to anticipate the German broadcast alleging Herr Hess’s insanity. Mr Churchill said, “It may be as well that the Minister of Information did not do so, as the suggestion has since been refuted.” Replying to a further suggestion that it was unfirounte that forty-eight hours were allowed to elapse before th news was given and the Germans thus allowed time to publish their version. Mr Churchill said. “It was not unfortunate. but if it had been, it would have been unavoidable We had established that a man had landed, but >ve only had evidence which, while it most interesting could not be conidered conclusive. T immediately sent up an official who knew the DeputyFun re r and who spoke to him in good German, in fluent German. While that was proceeding a German announcement came out of the insanity of

Herr Hess and his flight By that time what had nitherto been surmised emerged into a definite certainty.”