Rudolf Hess (1894-1987) was a German politician and one of the leading figures of the Nazi Party. A veteran of the First World War, where he was awarded the Iron Cross, he joined the Nazi movement early on. He participated in the 1923 Munich Putsch and, during his imprisonment with Hitler, contributed to the writing of *Mein Kampf*. Appointed Deputy to Hitler (Stellvertreter des Führers) in 1933, he played a key role in the administration of the Third Reich, countersigning fundamental laws such as the Nuremberg Laws. His most famous act was his solo flight to Scotland in 1941, a failed attempt to negotiate peace with the United Kingdom, which led to his arrest. At the Nuremberg Trials, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against peace and conspiracy. He was the last prisoner in Spandau Prison in Berlin, where he died in 1987.