The zealot Hess, before succumbing to wanderlust [flew to Scotland in May 1941], was the engineer tending the party machinery, passing orders and propaganda down to the Leadership Corps, supervising every aspect of party activities, and maintaining the organization as a loyal and ready instrument of power.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- This describes Hess's operational role in the Nazi party machinery before his flight to Scotland, emphasizing his administrative control over party activities.
- In plain terms
- Hess managed the party organization and spread orders before he flew away.
- What can you take from it?
- Administrative roles in political machines can be central to power structures.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What is the difference between engineering machinery and engineering ideology?
- How does loyalty function in authoritarian systems?
Another view
This view minimizes the ideological nature of the role by focusing only on logistics.
More from Rudolf Hess
A number 3 man who was merely an innocent middleman transmitting Hitler's orders without even reading them, like a postman or delivery boy.
Permalink to quote #17 I was suspicious for several reasons... after all, Hess who had been held in Spandau for almost 30 years was by then 93-years-old and fragile. I doubted he had…
Permalink to quote #16 Hess was slightly off balance for as long as I can recall. Why the Fuhrer kept him on as head of the party was a mystery to most people, but to me I always fel…
Permalink to quote #15
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