HESS AFFAIR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 October 1941, Page 7

HESS AFFAIR

OBJECT OF THE FLIGHT TO BRITAIN BID FOR SEPARATE PEACE. ACCORDING TO AMERICAN JOURNALIST. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) NEW YORK, October 23. A claim that Rudolf Hess came to England to conclude a separate peace so that Germany could concentrate all her forces in the attack on Russia was made by Louis Fischer (author and journalist who since 1922 has specialised in Soviet and European affairs), writing in the New York “Nation.” Mr Fischer, who returned recently from a visit to England, said: “When Hess landed in Scotland he demanded to see Mr Churchill or Mr Eden. For a fortnight he declined to talk to anyone else, but finally he became convinced that it was useless demanding an interview with Mr Churchill or Mr Eden, and he broke down and talked. “In the third week of his confinement Hess revealed that he came to conclude a separate peace between England and Germany, but steadfastly refused to say whether with Hitler’s consent or knowledge. Hess said that Germany was about to attack the Soviet Union, and Moscow was immediately informed, three weeks before Hitler declared war on the Soviet. “Hess proposed that Britain and Germany should cease fighting, because Germany wished to concentrate all her forces against Russia, which was the real enemy of Europe. Germany would guarantee the British Isles and the British Empire. Germany had no designs on British territory, Hess assured the British Foreign Office official, Mr Kirkpatrick. “Hess also said that if Germany had to fight Russia and England a total conquest of Russia would take a year, but if England made peace or, still better, helped Germany, Russia could be smashed in three months. That is where Hess revealed the weakness of his entire position, and that is why Mr Churchill did not for a moment think of accepting the offer. “What would Hitler do if England withdrew from the war and allowed Russia to be crushed? He would defeat Russia and then turn on England in accordance with his celebrated strategy of knocking out his enemies one by one. , “Everything Hess said in prison showed that Hitler is still his demi-god hero and Nazi Germany his supreme love.” Mr Fischer concludes his article: “I have brought back the clearest .impression from England that the British people will not flinch. No matter what happens in Russia, no matter what America does or does not do, the British are determined to go on to the end.” A British journalist’s recent report on Hess—“still an unrepentant Nazi” — claimed that he was “in a rural retreat many miles from the ducal mansion where he recuperated from the injuries received in his’ historic parachute jump,” and added: “During his stay in the Scottish castle. Hess disturbed the ducal calm somewhat by insisting that he was on a special mission and demanding to see important personages. “There was one person he expresseda strong desire to avoid, however — Winston Churchill. He fumed at the fact that he was being kept prisoner. He acted as one who had blind faith in his mission, whatever it was.” Hess was said to have fully recovered from his injuries and to be doing a lot of reading in his new home. He “never omits the Nazi salute and still clicks his heels in the Prussian manner and growls ‘Heil Hitler.’ ”