After reading about Rudolph Hess' failed efforts to strike a war-ending deal by flying to Scotland to meet with the Duke of Hamilton, it got me thinking. We all know that his whole plan fell through but it was interesting to learn that apparently he had come up with this whole idea on his own. Supposedly, Hitler was furious after hearing about it and even declared Hess a traitor. Hess was stripped of all his titles, ranks, and Hitler even ordered him shot on sight if he ever returned to Germany.
Based on that decree, it got me thinking when i was recently watching a documentary on the Nuremberg Trials. There are several scenes in the trial footage that show Hess sitting right next to some of the other big name Nazis such as Herman Goering. There's moments where they seem to be laughing and joking with one another.
My question is how did the other defendants view/react to Hess? If Hitler declared Hess a traitor, it would be safe to assume that the other big name Nazis viewed him in the same light right? I can't imagine they would go back to being buddies with him after years of him being outcasted. Is it possible that some of these other Nazis agreed with his plan to broker peace? Since Hitler was dead at this point, maybe they just didn't feel the need to go along with Hitler's wishes? Does anyone know if there are stories or documents out there examining the interactions between these trial defendants? I just find it interesting that they seemed to look so jovial with a man who was declared a traitor to Germany by the Furher.
Ps. I've also read some stories that discussed the possibility that the Nazi hierarchy, including Hitler, knew about or even encouraged Hess' plan. If you know about that and would like to expand I would appreciate that too.
-Sorry for any typos, currently writing this on my phone on the go.
I read the memoirs of the army psychologist who held frequent sessions with the accused. And according to him, it seems that most of them, particularly Göring and Keitel, viewed Hess as borderline lunatic in the beginning for attempting what he did. In their opinion, the whole endeavor was doomed to fail from the start, and hence couls only be carried out by someone delusional.
Hess himself tried and partially succeeded in playing to this stereotype, claiming memory loss and erratic behavior on grounds of psychological problems during the whole trial. Later in the process, the other defendants became increasingly frustrated with Hess, as his strategy involved being unreliable throughout.
Edit: The book is called "Nuremberg Diaries" by Gustave Gilbert. It was quite informative, especially about the group dynamics within the group of defendants; however, as with all accounts of witnesses, it should be read with the fact in mind that a lot of what Gilbert talks about is hard to verify, as they were one on one sessions with the defendants