Book Review

If Hitler Was Evil, How Does One Explain Hess and his Self-Sacrifice for Peace?

Hess: The Missing Years 1941-1945
By David Irving
Grafton Books, 603 pages
Copyright © 1987

Review by Buut Shikan

Was the Second World War, a war between angels and devils, good versus evil? Most of the history of the war is written is written by the victors. The Jewish claim to a Holocaust in which six million Jews were allegedly incinerated by Hitler has cast the hero of Germany during the years 1933-1945 into the role of EVIL INCARNATE, thus effectively squelching any rational investigation of the war.  Ron Rosenbaum, for instance published a book titled Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil. Such books begin with the premise that Hitler was EVIL; hence all that follows is merely an effort to build on the premise.

Owing to the monumental research carried out by David Irving, one can no longer see the World War in such simplistic terms of a medieval morality play. The Jewish thesis most people are used to reading begins to crumble as soon as the acid test of documented reality is applied to it by Mr. Irving. Take for instance the fact that one of the most evil men in all of human history, Stalin, was a staunch ally of  Churchill and Roosevelt. It took time to prove that Hitler's propaganda minister, Dr. Goebbels, was right about the fate of the entire officers' corp of the Polish army who were executed en masse by the Soviets and buried in shallow graves in Katyn forest.

In his CHURCHILL'S WAR, Vol. I and II, Mr. Irving has come up with impeccable documentation of the fact that HITLER DID NOT PLAN TO INVADE BRITAIN and that CHURCHILL KNEW this, having broken German codes, and yet kept up his provocative hate speeches and demonization of Germany. [We'll come back in another issue of New Trend about Irving's research on Churchill.]

One of the most bizarre anecdotes of the War is the self-sacrifice of  Rudolf Hess for the sake of  peace. Hess was none other than the Deputy Führer of Germany, second only to Hitler. He knew of Hitler's desire for peace with Britain. Also, he knew that Churchill would never opt for peace. Hence he carried out the most daring effort made in the the entire history of the war. He flew an advanced model German plane to Britain, without Hitler's permission,  and parachuted into enemy territory. He demanded that he be allowed to see British leaders who may be interested in peace.

The tragedy of Hess gives one a glimpse of the possibilities for peace even in the most tragic human conflicts. Unfortunately, Churchill not only made sure that Hess' peace effort would not work, he silenced and isolated Hess for the rest of the Deputy Führer's life. As usual, Irving is meticulous is putting together whatever documentation is available about the struggle of Hess in British custody, all the way from 1941 to 1987. [The subtitle of the book is misleading: It should have been: The Missing Years 1941-1987.]

Imagine a man surrounded by his enemies who thinks that at any moment he might be poisoned or murdered in some other way. Hess fought for his survival every step of the way and yet never betrayed Germany, nor did he forget his peace mission.

The treatment of Hess by the British is a blot on the notorious history of "Great" Britain. Hitler had behaved much better when he allowed peace negotiators from the allied side to come to Germany and return with honor. [P.104]

The warmongers did not want Hess to succeed. When the news of Hess' peace initiative hit the front pages of world newspapers, Irving writes, "Wall Street shivered. US industrialists were tooling up factories to produce the munitions of war - but by the time the production lines were complete Hess, they feared, might singlehandedly have brought about peace in Europe. Telegrams warning of these "staggering implications' reached the Foreign Office from British officials in New York." [P.143]

Hess wanted peace, but did Hitler want peace with Britain? This might come as a shock to readers used to Jewish reporting on the War but there can be little doubt that Hess was expressing Hitler's mind when he said to a British officer: " A few days before my flight, I went to him (Hitler) and asked him whether he still wanted to make it up with England, and the Führer answered that he did." [p.253]

Imagine the loss of values by the victors of the War when they tried Hess as a WAR CRIMINAL! Hess withdrew into his own mind and successfully convinced his captors that he had lost his memory, only to reveal that he had fooled them, right in the middle of the trial. As a human being, Hess fought with his soul, unarmed and alone, against the beast of British imperial power, and went down undefeated. Try to imagine a man who wanted peace LIVING ISOLATED IN A PRISON FOR 42 years.