The World - News from March 18, 1988

Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s former deputy, was buried in his family’s plot seven months after his suicide in West Berlin’s Spandau prison. Police stood guard at the cemetery in northern Bavaria to prevent any disturbances. Hess’ burial was postponed last August after Nazi sympathizers began gathering at the graveyard in Wunsiedel. Only 11 relatives and close friends attended the unpublicized burial ceremony. Hess’ widow, Ilse, was ill and could not attend the final rites, but a videotape was made for her. The family had kept the date of the burial secret until it was over. Hess, the last imprisoned leader of Nazi Germany, hanged himself at age 93.