Rudolf Hess: Nazi Germany’s Greatest Lunatic?

The nutcase who dared to fly high

On August 17th, 1987, at 93 years old, the last prisoner of Spandau prison hung himself. The prison closed after his death. Rudolf Hess tried to commit suicide many times, all thwarted. This time, the senile Nazi succeeded in ending his life in Berlin, 43 years after the end of World War II.

Hess was the first high-ranking Nazi official to be captured, yet he was the last to die. He spent nearly half of his life behind bars, but his capture was not a blistering seizure…