According to the information obtained on 16 November 1945, during the
interrogation of Rosenberg who had seen Hess immediately before the
latter’s flight to England, Hess gave no evidence of any abnormality
either in appearance or conversation. He was, as usual, quiet and
composed. Nor was it apparent that he might have been nervous. Prior to
this, he was a calm person, habitually suffering pains in the region of
the stomach.
As can be judged on the basis of the report of the English psychiatrist,
Doctor Rees, who had Hess under observation from the first days of his
flight to England, Hess, after the airplane crash, disclosed no evidence
of a brain injury, but, upon arrest and incarceration, he began to give
expression to ideas of persecution, he feared that he would be poisoned,
or killed, and his death represented as a suicide, and that all this
would be done by the English under the hypnotic influence of the Jews.
Furthermore, these delusions of persecution were maintained up to the
news of the catastrophe suffered by the German Army at Stalingrad when
the manifestations were replaced by amnesia. According to Doctor Rees,
the delusions of persecution and the amnesia were observed not to take
place simultaneously. Furthermore, there were two attempts at suicide. A
knife wound, inflicted during the second attempt, in the skin near the
heart gave evidence of a clearly hysterico-demonstrative character.
After this there was again observed a change from amnesia to delusions
of persecution, and during this period he wrote that he was simulating
his amnesia, and, finally, again entered into a state of amnesia which
has been prolonged up to the present.
According to the examination of Rudolf Hess on 14 November 1945, the
following was disclosed:
Hess complains of frequent cramping pains in the region of the stomach
which appear independent of the taking of food, and headaches in the
frontal lobes during mental strain, and, finally, of loss of memory.
In general his condition is marked by a pallor of the skin and a
noticeable reduction in food intake.
Regarding the internal organs of Hess, the pulse is 92, and a weakening
of the heart tone is noticeable. There has been no change in the
condition of the other internal organs.
Concerning the neurological aspect, there are no symptoms of organic
impairment of the nervous system.
Psychologically, Hess is in a state of clear consciousness; knows that
he is in prison at Nuremberg under indictment as a war criminal; has
read, and, according to his own words, is acquainted with the charges
against him. He answers questions rapidly and to the point. His speech
is coherent, his thoughts formed with precision and correctness and they
are accompanied by sufficient emotionally expressive movements. Also,
there is no kind of evidence of paralogism. It should also be noted
here, that the present psychological examination, which was conducted by
Lieutenant Gilbert, Ph. D., bears out the testimony that the
intelligence of Hess is normal and in some instances above the average.
His movements are natural and not forced.
He has expressed no delirious fancies nor does he give any delirious
explanation for the painful sensation in his stomach or the loss of
memory, as was previously attested to by Doctor Rees, namely, when Hess
ascribed them to poisoning. At the present time, to the question about
the reason for his painful sensations and the loss of memory, Hess
answers that this is for the doctors to know. According to his own
assertions, he can remember almost nothing of his former life. The gaps
in Hess’ memory are ascertained only on the basis of the subjective
changing of his testimony about his inability to remember this or that
person or event given at different times. What he knows at the present
time is, in his own words, what he allegedly learned only recently from
the information of those around him and the films which have been shown
him.
On 14 November Hess refused the injection of narcotics which were
offered for the purpose of making an analysis of his psychological
condition. On 15 November, in answer to Professor Delay’s offer, he
definitely and firmly refused narcosis and explained to him that, in
general, he would take all measures to cure his amnesia only upon
completion of the Trial.
All that has been exposed above, we are convinced, permits of the
interpretation that the deviation from the norm in the behavior of Hess
takes the following forms:
1. In the psychological personality of Hess there are no changes typical
of the progressive schizophrenic disease, and therefore the delusions,
from which he suffered periodically while in England, cannot be
considered as manifestations of a schizophrenic paranoia, and must be
recognized as the expression of a psychogenic paranoia reaction, that
is, the psychologically comprehensible reaction of an unstable
(psychologically) personality to the situation (the failure of his
mission, arrest, and incarceration). Such an interpretation of the
delirious statements of Hess in England is bespoken by their
disappearance, appearance, and repeated disappearance depending on
external circumstances which affected the mental state of Hess.
2. The loss of memory by Hess is not the result of some kind of mental
disease but represents hysterical amnesia, the basis of which is a
subconscious inclination toward self-defense as well as a deliberate and
conscious tendency toward it. Such behavior often terminates when the
hysterical person is faced with an unavoidable necessity of conducting
himself correctly. Therefore, the amnesia of Hess may end upon his being
brought to Trial.
3. Rudolf Hess, prior to his flight to England, did not suffer from any
kind of insanity, nor is he now suffering from it. At the present time
he exhibits hysterical behavior with signs of a conscious-intentional
(simulated) character, which does not exonerate him from his
responsibility under the Indictment.
/s/ KRASNUSHKIN
Doctor of Medicine
/s/ E. SEPP
Honorary Scientist, Regular Member
of the Academy of Medicine
/s/ KURSHAKOV
Doctor of Medicine, Chief Therapeutist
of
the Commissariat of Health of the
U.S.S.R.