CLOSE CONFIDANT OF HITLER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 111, 14 May 1941, Page 5

CLOSE CONFIDANT OF HITLER

DEPUTY LEADER HESS HIS LIBERAL VIEWS MADE PEOPLE LIKE HIM PRESTIGE WAS ALWAYS EXPLOITED Next to Hitler, no one in Nazi Germany wields more power than Rudolf Hess, the strange and silent man with the piercing green eyes, whose twin hobbies are writing flowery verse and driving high-powered ears. He is Hitler's devoted slave and deputy. And while Hitler watches the Nazi Party, Hess watches Hitler. Hess rose to power in sensational fashion. Like Hitler, he was born outside Germany. He spent his boyhood in Alexandria, where his father was a wealthy German merchant. He went to an English school in Alexandria and continued his education in Germany. His father planned to send him to an English university, probably Oxford. The outbreak of war changed all that. He volunteered and Fate directed him to the same regiment as Adolf Hitler. They did not meet. Hitler, the despatch-runner, was gassed. Hess was shot in the lung and later became an officer. After a spell with the Imperial Flying Corps the war ended. Hess went back to business, but not for long. In 1921 he heard Hitler speak and came under his spell. Hitler took a liking to the lean, well-groomed young man, so much more of a gentleman than the others. Soon afterwards Hess had a great stroke of luck. He seems to have a j charmed life. During the Soviet Revolution in Munich he became a member of Hitler's anti-Bolshevik brigade. One night he was returning to headquarters after distributing pamphlets. As he turned the corner he s.-.w a Red Guard motor-lorry driving off with his friends. He stepped back into the shadows. All his friends were shot next day. Let me introduce you to the Nuremberg Conference in September, 1934. Crushing the Nazi Movement. In the first Hitler riot at the Hofbrau brewery in Munich, Hess, the S.A. man, was knocked out by a stone beer jug. The long jagged scar is still there. No hair will grow upon it. Sometimes Hess runs his long fingers over that scar and his eyes become hard and narrow. Munich, November 8, 1923. A crowd of eager young Nazis sit in a beer hall. The air is heavy with smoke and suspense.

I At 8.30, Hitler jumps on a table, ! fires two shots into the ceiling, leads ' his men to join Ludendorff. Hess is 1 there as the twenty-seven-year-old 1 leader of the Munich students. The soldiers open fire. Ludendorff gives himself up. Hitler falls and dislocates his shoulder. Roehm, a blunt ! corpulent man, surrenders. Rudolf Hess, anonymous and unnoticed, is bundled into a prison van with a few ; others. ! The Nazi revolution is crushed and j Fate again draws the two men to- - gether. In prison. i To the ancient fortress of Landsberg ' came Hitler and the man who was to (share all his secrets. Hitler was in I despair. Hess, inflamed with patriot- | ism and hero-worship, acted like a ■ tonic.

Prison life was light and easy. They met frequently. When Hess first heard the ex-corporal speak, his comment was short and final. “This man will restore Germany to a great place among the nations.” He never veered from that point of faith. They talked of a new policy, but in their minds was the memory of the sixteen "martyrs” who had died in Munich. Thoughts of revenge floated between the fortress walls. Secretary anti Deputy-leader. Out of prison, Hess becomes the Fuehrer's private secretary. While Hitler watches the party, Hess watches Hitler. They visit the Rhineland together and return with sad hearts. The swastika soars like a meteor across Germany. When Hitler comes to power his secretary prepares his speeches, supplies all the social cues, listens to hysteria and gloom with equal calm. He soothes and exalts his master, who is depressed one moment, widely optimistic the next. Suddenly Hitler named his deputy, none other than the lean athletic young man who had been lightly regarded as his watchdog and yes-man. Whenever Hess mentions the Soviet his scorn is vitriolic. He once wrote a poem beginning with the word: “Ho! Russians!” Writing verses and driving fast cars are his twin hobbies. His verse is flowery and typical of a more spacious and dignified'age: his cars are the last word in high-powered speed and luxury. Tired of swashbuckling Storm Troopers who swagger arrogantly through the streets, the average German respects and admires a man like Hess. Private Character Beyond Reproach. He has achieved a name for honesty and sobriety. In spite of a muzzled existence, the normal sober middleclass still cling to principles of ityAgainst Hess there has never been a word of personal reproach. One could attack his rabid anti-Semitism, but his sincerity and hatred of graft are indisputable. With typical opportunism Hitler has always exploited his lieutenant's prestige with the German man-in-the-street. When a thankless and difficult task comes up Hitler passes it to Hess. The latter is the whipping boy, blindly devoted and indifferent to prestige. (Written on the outbreak of war).