Burial at sea

The remains of Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi party during Germany's Third Reich have been exhumed and are to be buried at sea, it was revealed Thursday.

An official with the Protestant church in the town of Wunsiedel in the southern German state of Bavaria confirmed a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that Hess' body was exhumed - and the grave destroyed - early on Wednesday.

This coincided with the 67th anniversary of an attempt by a German officer to assassinate Hitler. Hess' remains are to be cremated and the ashes cast into the sea, but where and when this is to happen has not been announced.

Hess was laid to rest in Wunsiedel following his death in a Berlin prison in 1987. His burial there was delayed for seven months in an effort to avoid the event becoming a magnet for neo-Nazis. Since then, the grave site had been a site of pilgrimage for right-wing extremists, particularly around the anniversary of his death on August 17.

Expired lease

The lease on the grave site was coming up for renewal, but the local church council decided not to extend it. According to the newspaper report, Hess' family had initially objected but eventually agreed to the move.

Rudolf Hess is remembered for having flown and parachuted into Scotland in an apparent bid to bring an early end to World War II by negotiating a peace agreement.

He was found guilty of crimes against peace and conspiracy to plan an aggressive war at the Nuremberg trials in 1946, and sentenced to life in prison. Hess committed suicide in his prison cell at the age of 93.

Author: Chuck Penfold (dpa, dapd, AFP)
Editor: Ben Knight