The Loneliest Man in the World

by Eugene K. Bird, Sam Sloan (Introduction)

Without doubt, the most bizarre and controversial event in the History of World War II was the parachute jump by Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess into Scotland on May 10, 1941. Hess was supposedly on a peace mission to negotiate a peace between England and Germany. Hess was supposedly on his way to see the Duke of Hamilton in Scotland, with whom he believed he could negotiate a peace. As to why Hess thought that he could negotiate a peace in this way or why he thought that the Duke of Hamilton was the right person with whom to negotiate peace, this remains a mystery, but it is only the first of a long string of mysteries involving Rudolf Hess. Instead, Hess was put in jail, where he stayed for 46 years until he died in 1987. For 46 years he served a life sentence in West Berlin's Spandau prison. For the last 17 years he was the only inmate in a fortress built to hold 600. Long ago he was the second most powerful man in Germany, Deputy Fuhrer to Adolf Hitler. His name is Rudolf Hess. Now the almost incredible story of the Loneliest Man in the World is told by a man who, as part of the American garrison at Spandau, and later as Commandant, watched over Hess's every move and action, won his confidence, talked daily with him, and kept a day-to-day record. Was Hess mad? Colonel Bird's answer is an emphatic no. Is he the totally evil man that many think. Again, the author demurs. Above all, was he, when he flew to Scotland in the Spring of 1941, trying to make peace with Britain, and did Hitler know what Hess was doing. Readers will find the answers to this and many other crucial questions about the most enigmatic leader of the Third Reich in the pages of this book.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Biography, Biography Memoir, War

308 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 1974

Reviews

[Martin Sidgreaves]

I never believed when I embarked on reading this that I would have ended up feeling the way I did about such a high ranking member of The Nazi Party.

Although I knew a little about Hess, his infamous flight to Scotland, capture and imprisonment and it wasn’t until quite recently that I became interested in the ‘Spandau Seven’, particularly in Hess & Speer. Having bought several books by Speer I was intrigued to understand more about Hess who, unlike the others, was destined never to leave Spandau alive.

The book is extremely well written and we, the reader, get a very privileged insight into the day to day running and activity of Spandau though Bird’s eyes. It’s very apparent from the beginning that the prisoners were treated very differently by the allied guards in their constant monthly rotations.

Bird sets out from the beginning to document and capture Hess’ memories and experiences (maybe realising himself that tragically Hess would never get the chance to write his own memoirs). Through the whole book he seeks to ascertain as to how much knowledge Hess had of Hitler’s grand plans before he made his flight in 1941 and without spoiling it for anyone, he gets the answers to most by the end of the book.

For forty years Hess maintained his flight to Scotland was a peace flight aimed at coming to an agreement between Nazi Germany and the British Empire and he stuck to this to the very end despite Hitler publically rebuking that claim and in the book there is plenty of discussion and evidence presented to corroborate Hess’ version of events.

By the end of this book, one cannot feel anything other than pity for Hess. He was clearly a highly intelligent, highly motivated and highly complex man who tried to play the system at times and at others was in complete despair. Clearly he was left to rot in Spandau by the Russians long after his compatriots had been released and although not covered in the book, when they did finally consider releasing him after forty years he committed suicide / was murdered by British Agents depending on which version of events you choose to believe.

For me, the question whether Hess should ever have been imprisoned in the first place was something that kept my mind occupied for most of the book… it seems though he was an easy target to scapegoat, not for any crime he committed, but for those crimes perpetrated by the Nazi’s while he was imprisoned in Britain.

[Erin Wanek]

Hess was spicy- ‘I was never jealous of him [Goring]’. Then he laughed, almost to himself. 'He was, you know, about as round as he was tall!'

Hess was stubborn, shirking work even in the prison garden- when asked by a British general why he did not just take a hose and water the flowers and vegetables: “That is a job for the water department in this prison. You have two admirals in here - Doenitz and Raeder - that is their job?”

Hess was ironic- 'At this point in history I want to tell you one thing, Colonel. I did not realize when I flew, that thirty years later I would be sitting in this prison garden, under a tree planted by Grand-Admiral Doenitz, listening to a BBC documentary about my flight’

Hess was a lot of things- and while he was suicidal for a good chunk of his time during his 30+ years in custody, I find it hard to understand how, even physically, a 93 year old man had the wherewithal to hang himself from a window. I also find it difficult to understand- comparatively, to the rest of the Spandau seven- how he was the only one to serve a life sentence and die in Spandau. It feels like we are missing a part of this story and we will probably never know the hows or whys behind either of these questions.

There are certainly a number of books written about Hess, but this is the only one I have come across with content from Hess. I don’t think there is another book out there like this. Def an interesting read.

[Catherine]

What an amazing story - the most powerful nations in the world agrees to jointly guard one man, alone in a in prison for the rest if his life. Why was it that Hess was treated like other Nazis when he was out of the war so early? You get the impression that the different nations wanted him to live forever just so that they would have an excuse to be in Spandau.

Part of me felt for the man that was so isolated and dehumanised and part of me understood that he was a willing member in Hitlers plans. I wondered why he wasn't released and his skills reused by the Allies like others of his kind. Could the western governments and the Russians really not come to a better agreement?

In the end this book says as much about the superpowers petty politics as it does Hess.

[Cynthiajsnyder]

Saw this booked mentioned on a trivia game I was playing. Looked interesting...finally found it for $29 on Amazon. A little slow going through the Nuremberg War Crime Trial...but picked up once he was in Spandau Prison. What an odd and bizarre book - but actually a very interesting book, eye-opening on a topic I knew nothing about.

[David Alonso vargas]

Un curioso relato no solo de la vida de Rudolf Hess en cautiverio, sino de todo el proceso de Nuremberg y de los demás prisioneros que estaban en Spandau narrado por el coronel americano de la prisión.

[Hyperbolus]

Truly a unique book. Bird was the American commandant at Spandau where Hess spent virtually half of his life in. Noone else was ever as close to Hess as Bird was and he was able to befriend Hess and convince him to give over all his private papers. Hess seems like a strange character. He was not insane as many believed but he had a strange way of looking at the world and was very capricious throughout his life. It was interesting to hear his outlook on the 1960 and 70s world that lay outside the bars of Spandau and I found his later obsession with the moon to be quite charming. The book can get rather dull at points especially as Bird was not a writer causing the prose to be lacking but it still proved interesting enough for what it was.

6/10

[Sebastian Sandino]

Excelente libro, no solo describe la solitaria vida de Rudolf Heß en Spandau sino también describe detalles históricos de los siete prisioneros que estuvieron como criminales de guerra en esta carcel. Para las personas que nos apasiona la historia, este es un maravilloso documento. Además me ha hecho cambiar mi percepción acerca de RH, hombre brillante y muy inteligente que intento La Paz.

[Andrii]

Awesome book. Discovers hidden parts of history. I believe, no one in (ex)USSR (and modern Russia) was/is even aware of this part of the history.

[Scott Baker]

The author, Eugen Bird, served as the commandant of Spandau from 1964 until 1972 and spent considerable time with the seven prisoners detained there. After 1966, Hess remained as the only prisoner in Spandau, and Bird spent considerable time talking with Hess in preparation for this book. The result is a fascinating piece of history that sheds light on the pettiness of these seven men who once ruled Europe and now are confined to jail cells, the political machinations of the former WWII allies as the Cold War rages, and some fascinating insights from the number two man in the Third Reich about the inner workings of he Nazi Party from 1923 until 1941.

[Melanie]

One caveat here is that I read the 1974 version of this book. Absolutely fascinating - I learned a lot about all 7 men. An interesting read to see these men, especially Hess, as people rather than merely war criminals.

[Rae]

I read this while staying in Berlin during high school. I was fascinated by his case and read just about anything I could find on the man.