Hess' letter to Hitler about his flight to England

[Lagami]

I just had a great read on the following article and got really curios upon the following part of it:

Pintsch, a businessman who joined the Nazi Party early on, had accompanied Hess to the airfield. The next day he had Hitler's aides wake up the Führer at his mountain retreat in Obersalzberg to give him a letter. According to eyewitnesses, the letter began with the words: "My Führer, when you receive this letter I shall be in England."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/ger ... 65607.html

Has this letter that Hess wrote for Karlheinz Pintsch to give to Hitler the day after his flight to England ever been found or released? This would be an insanely interesting document to read.

[Dutto1]

I just had a great read on the following article and got really curios upon the following part of it:

Pintsch, a businessman who joined the Nazi Party early on, had accompanied Hess to the airfield. The next day he had Hitler's aides wake up the Führer at his mountain retreat in Obersalzberg to give him a letter. According to eyewitnesses, the letter began with the words: "My Führer, when you receive this letter I shall be in England."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/ger ... 65607.html

Has this letter that Hess wrote for Karlheinz Pintsch to give to Hitler the day after his flight to England ever been found or released? This would be an insanely interesting document to read.

As mentioned in the article Karlheinz Pintsch wrote a 28 page document during his captivity in the Soviet Union and it was found almost 70 years later in the Moscow State Archives. Regards the actual letter I very much doubt it survives all documents that Hitler read the ones he had no further use for he ripped in half and his ADC's would destroy them. Is it possible that it still exists in the Russian Archives ? Highly unlikely the main reason being Stalin would have used it in some form against the Allies as it is alleged that Stalin was paranoid that the UK would make a seperate peace with Nazi Germany.

Regards,

Ron

[DavidFrankenberg]

The original 2 pages letters that Pintsch gave to Hitler the morning of the 11 may 41 is supposed to have been lost.

As well as the mysterious package Hitler has received the evening of the 10 may and that he opened only in the following morning. This package was containing a very much longer letter from Hess.

According to Manvell and Fränkel's book.

[Erwinn]

Great mystery of Hess. I always wondered if the British silenced him up to continue the war.

[DavidFrankenberg]

Great mystery of Hess. I always wondered if the British silenced him up to continue the war.

USA and USSR were not yet in the war. They would not have appreciated to see England and Hitler having "peace negociations". This may have caused trouble especially with the US gvt. Churhill has to silence Hess and let him appear like a crazy guy.

[Max Payload]

Great mystery of Hess. I always wondered if the British silenced him up to continue the war.

Hess entered the country illegally. Whatever his motives he was, in effect, trying to organise a coup. Consequently he was arrested. Prisoners are rarely allowed a public platform from which to espouse their views. The suggestion that had he been allowed such a platform the war could not have continued is absurd.

USA and USSR were not yet in the war. They would not have appreciated to see England and Hitler having "peace negociations". This may have caused trouble especially with the US gvt.

A peace deal between Britain and Germany was what Stalin half expected. It would have fit perfectly with his perfidious capitalist conspiracy assumptions. Such a peace deal would also have got Roosevelt off the hook with the isolationist lobby. The suggestion that Britain continued the war beyond May 1941 in order not to upset the US is also absurd.

. Churhill has to silence Hess and let him appear like a crazy guy.

Hess was sufficiently detached from reality to think that the British aristocracy wanted to end the war and could negotiate a peace deal over the heads of Churchill’s government of national unity. What was Churchill supposed to do - grant him the privilege of addressing both Houses of Parliament, allow him to broadcast on the BBC, facilitate an in-depth interview with one of the national newspapers?

[DavidFrankenberg]

Great mystery of Hess. I always wondered if the British silenced him up to continue the war.

Hess entered the country illegally. Whatever his motives he was, in effect, trying to organise a coup. Consequently he was arrested. Prisoners are rarely allowed a public platform from which to espouse their views. The suggestion that had he been allowed such a platform the war could not have continued is absurd.

If Hess had no uniform, he could have been shot as a spy.
But he was wearing a uniform which gave the right to be treated as a POW.

USA and USSR were not yet in the war. They would not have appreciated to see England and Hitler having "peace negociations". This may have caused trouble especially with the US gvt.

A peace deal between Britain and Germany was what Stalin half expected. It would have fit perfectly with his perfidious capitalist conspiracy assumptions.

Stalin could have suspected such a gangbang. But he could also have hoped UK and Germany to fight each other so hard that the internal situation of both counries would have led to a communist uprising.
Hard to know indeed what Stalin had in mind.

Such a peace deal would also have got Roosevelt off the hook with the isolationist lobby.

I agree.

The suggestion that Britain continued the war beyond May 1941 in order not to upset the US is also absurd.

For sure. If Churchill keeps on fighting, it's because he wants to. And he is just waiting the entry in the war of the USSR and the USA.

. Churhill has to silence Hess and let him appear like a crazy guy.

Hess was sufficiently detached from reality to think that the British aristocracy wanted to end the war and could negotiate a peace deal over the heads of Churchill’s government of national unity. What was Churchill supposed to do - grant him the privilege of addressing both Houses of Parliament, allow him to broadcast on the BBC, facilitate an in-depth interview with one of the national newspapers?

Naw.
Hess hoped that Hamilton and the King would overthrow Churchill and replace him by some Halifax or Hoare or any other appeaser. Then they would have signed the peace. Hess would have become a hero.

[WCM2020]

There is no way that Hess's flight was sanctioned by Hitler. If the two were serious about broaching the idea of peace with England surely they would not have risked it all on a dangerous flight requiring Hess to precisely navigate in the midst of a major air raid and then bail out in the darkness in hopes of rendezvousing at the duke's estate, finally under the assumption the duke was even home! Instead, Hess could have taken the train to Spain or Portugal or Switzerland to meet the duke who could have been flown to the meeting in a Swedish Red Cross or neutral country's aircraft and had Count Bernadotte moderate the conversation. It really doesn't matter that Hess was a "skilled pilot." He just as easily could (and perhaps should) have been killed in such a risky flight. He was incredibly lucky to have arrived alive on the ground just a few miles from his intended target. Case closed.

[wm]

14 May 1941 (four days after the flight)
To Ainring by plane. From there by car to the Obersalzberg. Work at full stretch during the journey.
The Führer is waiting for me. I read the letter that Hess left behind for the Führer: totally confused, schoolboy amateurism, saying that he intended to go to England, make the hopelessness of the position clear to them, bring down Churchill's government with the aid Lord Hamilton in Scotland, and then make a peace which would save London's face.
The Goebbels Diaries

[DavidFrankenberg]

There is no way that Hess's flight was sanctioned by Hitler. If the two were serious about broaching the idea of peace with England surely they would not have risked it all on a dangerous flight requiring Hess to precisely navigate in the midst of a major air raid and then bail out in the darkness in hopes of rendezvousing at the duke's estate, finally under the assumption the duke was even home!

Hess didn't train in bailing out. That means he was waiting to land in the property of Hamilton. He must have seen no lights the evening of 10th. That's why he decided to finally bail out.

Instead, Hess could have taken the train to Spain or Portugal or Switzerland to meet the duke who could have been flown to the meeting in a Swedish Red Cross or neutral country's aircraft and had Count Bernadotte moderate the conversation. It really doesn't matter that Hess was a "skilled pilot." He just as easily could (and perhaps should) have been killed in such a risky flight. He was incredibly lucky to have arrived alive on the ground just a few miles from his intended target. Case closed.

He was lucky. But he has trained for it also.

14 May 1941 (four days after the flight)
To Ainring by plane. From there by car to the Obersalzberg. Work at full stretch during the journey.
The Führer is waiting for me. I read the letter that Hess left behind for the Führer: totally confused, schoolboy amateurism, saying that he intended to go to England, make the hopelessness of the position clear to them, bring down Churchill's government with the aid Lord Hamilton in Scotland, and then make a peace which would save London's face.
The Goebbels Diaries

Göbbels was not aware of the flight.
Hitler didn't inform Göbbels of the news on the 10th. Not even on the 11th.
The communiqué of the 12th was written by Hitler and Otto Dietrich. Göbbels was not asked for it.

The whole case is a shame for Göbbels, even the communiqué of the 12th.

[wm]

Theh point is the letter wasn't destroyed by Hitler and survived at least for four days.