Rudolf Hess Dies: Hitler's Last Inner Circle Member
Rudolf Hess died on August 17, 1987, at age 93, found strangled by an electrical cord in a garden summerhouse at Spandau Prison in Berlin. British authorities ruled it suicide. He had been the sole prisoner in Spandau since Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach were released in 1966, guarded by rotating contingents from four nations at a cost of millions per year. Hess had parachuted into Scotland in 1941 on a bizarre solo peace mission, was imprisoned for the rest of the war, and sentenced to life at Nuremberg. He was the last surviving member of Hitler's original inner circle. The Soviets had consistently blocked his release. Spandau was demolished immediately after his death to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.
August 17, 1987
39 years ago
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