One factual point. Hess did not bale out near Edinburgh - he came down in a field near Eaglesham which is about 12 miles south of Glasgow.

My parents were living in Busby and heard the drone of his engines as he was in the area and later joined the crowds to see his wrecked plane. In fact for years we had a small piece of the plane in our collection of minor momentoes.

David
Edinburgh

David Land, Edinburgh, UK

What is more surprising?
Either:
The fact that Soviets used torture against Hess?
Or:
The fact that students in some parts of the UK might wonder what Hess was imprisoned for: The history of his crimes has been removed from the school teaching syllabus in the UK for fear of offending new Islamic immigrants.

J.B., London,

Philip Donnelly,it is not that I don't know any better - it is simply that I have a different opinion to you,and though you find it laughable,I would suggest you socialise more and learn to respect other views while disagreeing with them.Should you prefer a mud-slinging contest to a debate,I would urge you to contribute to the forums in the Sun newspaper.I am by no means a gullible believer of left-wing propaganda,so it seems here you have done some creative writing between the lines.I do not compare the Gulag system with Camp X-ray in terms of scale,but in terms of ethical principle.Detention without a fair trial is wrong,no matter who does it.It is just as much a threat to democracy as any bomb or hi-jacking.

Gavin Burke, Waterford, Ireland

Hess apparently "committed suicide" by strangling himself with a length of plastic coated washing line (a semi-rigid type of chord with no friction) whilst in his garden cabin.....a highly improbable feat for a man of 93 ! Hess was always shadowed by a warden who was never allowed to stray more than 10 feet from him at all times....so the "suicide" story is bunk, but it went unchallenged in all major press as I recall.

phogg, jakarta, indonesia

May I just apologise for Gavin Burke's posting? As a fellow Irishman I feel I should explain why he equates the Soviet monolith and it's vast Gulag into which so many millions disappeared forever with a nickel-and-dime detention camp where the Red Cross has full access and prisoners, when weighed, have actually come out heavier. Sadly, in recent years many well-meaning yet gullible Irish people have come to believe left-wing media propaganda that America is the Great Satan, Bush is a lunatic cowboy and Osama Bin Laden is a misunderstood freedom fighter. Hence the lauaghable comparison Gavin makes. He simply doesn't know any better.

Philip Donnelly, Naas, Kildare

From what I heard, the peace terms offered by Hess to Britain were never made public as Churchill ordered that Hess be imprisoned. Churchill also kept a peace offer from Hitler from the British public.

There will now be the 'Couldn't trust Hitler' brigade sounding off. They love telling us what we already know-conveniently forgetting Britain was desperately short of munitions-and any attempt to delay war, to allow Britain to build up munitions, would have been justified!

How many British lives could have been lost due to Churchill's rush to war when Britain was ill-prepared? I dare say his hero-worshippers will come up with any number of excuses.

Ed Hall, Strathpine, Australia

Not the first example of Russian treatment of POWs. I have it on good authority (Solzhenitzin?)that the Russians marched all their POWs back to a major city from the point of capture; only a third reached the destination.
Not surprising ,considering that the Soviets did not sign the Geneva Convention until 1955.

Stanley Austin, ANCHORAGE, Alaska, U.S.A.

Illegal CIA flights???? Camp X-Ray???? Don't try to equate enemy combatants with POW's. Those terrorist captured during the war on terror have no rights because they do not represent a country and do not follow any civilized code. In contrast, Hess was the deputy Fuhrer of Germany which was a member of the league of nations and had signed the Geneva Convention. The USSR had no right to treat him the way they did. I find it so hard to believe that so many Brits are trying to equate the US terrorist detention camps with Soviet Gulags. So if we let everyone go from Gitmo is it okay if we drop them off in London once their free?? I bet you believe that they will all just go about their merry way and become peaceful members of society and preach the virtues of non violence. Give me a break. Is it any wonder why there is such a divide between the way American's and Europeans think on how to wage the war on terror??

Travers, Dallas, USA

Was he the REAL Rudolph Hess or a stooge?

Arthur Brooke, Thurso,

Stanley

Camp X-Ray, illegal CIA flights, ring any bells?

Before you criticise another countries record on prisoner abuse, think of yours first.

A Thorn, London,

"Stanley Austin,have you heard about Camp X-ray?I bet Spandau under the Soviets would have been a holiday camp to the inmates of your own government's modern-day concentration camp..."

I think the conditions are about the same, if not better, for the inmates at Guantanamo than Hess in Spandau Prison, especially with the provisions being forced through to allow contested hearings whether a prisoner should be detained, and that high-level prisoners such as Khalid Mohammed must have legal representation. There is a much better chance for a detainee to leave Guantánamo than for a prisoner to leave the Gulag or a Nazi concentration camp.

Guantánamo, naturally, troubles the conscience, except when you reflect carefully on its purpose. It is not a place of punishment; it is a place of detention for enemies of the United States who aren't involved in a military organization or a levee en masse. Detention, in this case, lasts until the war is over. It's lawful if not Euro standards.

Gregory Baker, Odenton, Maryland, USA

Remember why the Russians hate Hess so much. Hess went on a clandestine journey to Britain to seek peace -- which in effect meant a joint effort against that other tyrant, Stalin. Now you see why the Russians were so upset with him?

mel, new york, ny

Stanley Austin, the US lost a couple of thousand on 9/11 and used it as an excuse to illegally imprison and torture anybody suspected of a connection with Bin Laden. The Soviets lost in the order of 20 million thanks to the Nazis. Get some perspective.

Anthony, London,

This article conveniently forgets to mention that it was on the British watch that Hess committed suicide and just at a time when the Soviet Union was finally ready to agree to his release on humanitarian grounds. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? In fact, a book was published in Germany in the early 1990s directly accusing the British of his murder. He may have had mental problems but he sure knew a lot about British intrigues during WWII.
I think the British "fought" for the improvement of his conditions specifically in order to be able to whack him the easier.

Me, Askenazi, moscow,

Stanley Austin,have you heard about Camp X-ray?I bet Spandau under the Soviets would have been a holiday camp to the inmates of your own government's modern-day concentration camp...

Gavin Burke, Waterford, Ireland

Not the first example of Russian treatment of POWs. I have it on good authority (Solzhenitzin?)that the Russians marched all their POWs back to a major city from the point of capture; only a third reached the destination.
Not surprising ,considering that the Soviets did not sign the Geneva Convention until 1955.

Stanley Austin, ANCHORAGE, Alaska, U.S.A.