Rudolf Hess

[Terryb12345]

I see the info surrounding his strange landing in Scotland will remain a government secret until 2016. Surely there can't be many events that happened over 50 years ago that are still deemed too sensitive for the public. I'm assuming it's something pretty major or otherwise the the govt would have released the files by now. Any ideas?

[reinganum]

Most of the stuff which has extraordinarily long release times is protected in order to avoid embarrassment to prominent people or their families.

There were many influential people who, though not actually pro-German, were keen to terminate the war honourably as early as they could (many of these were the appeasers who were reluctant to start the war in the first place, though that meant giving in to Hitler at almost every turn). Churchill and his cabinet, however, had made it clear from the early days of his premiership that "unconditional surrender" would be the only terms on which he would conclude the war.

Hess's landing was thought to have been some sort of deal-making initiative by the Germans (immediately prior to their invasion of Russia).

[Hippy]

Consider for a moment why he was kept in prison in virtual isolation until the end of his life, whist Albert Speer, Hitler's architect was rehabilitated after the war and became rich on re-telling his stories of life inside the Nazi cabal. Hess was effectively a traitor to Germany and you would have thought, a friend to the Allies, whist Speer continued almost to the end in his support of he ever increasingly mad Hitler, only parting during the last hours of the Berlin Bunker.

No, there was something nasty, closer to home, that Hess represented, and he could not be allowed to be free to tell. My guess is that the ever crazy House of Windsor is involved somewhere.

[jamesy boy]

If it actually was Hess...