Hitler ordered his Jewish commander spared

Susanne Maus, editor of Jewish Voice from Germany, unearthed the almost unique order in the archives of the Gestapo secret police with regard to Ernst Hess, a judge in the western city of Dusseldorf.

Signed by Hitler's henchman and SS chief Heinrich Himmler in June 1940, it

said that "as per the Führer's wishes" his war comrade was "not to be

importuned in any way whatsoever."

Hess was a highly decorated soldier, receiving, among other medals, the Iron

Cross, first and second class.

By 1936 however, he had been stripped of his job, when was beaten up by Nazi thugs, and had moved to Italy. But in 1940 he returned to live in Bavaria.

"Hess's exemption only lasted until 1942 when at the Wannsee Conference the

murder of the European Jews was codified," wrote Maus, who interviewed his

86-year-old daughter Ursula.

"Hess survived thanks to his mixed marriage' with his gentile wife. His

sister was murdered by the Nazis, as were millions of others.

"One irony of this dark history is that Hitler could on occasion bestow his

personal protection to a person otherwise marked for death," Maus said, citing

also the example of his former family doctor Eduard Bloch.

Maus said Hess's daughter recalled how her father would often relate the

surprise expressed by corporal Hitler's former comrades when they heard that

the maverick politician had been in their ranks.

"Hess then used to explain that Hitler had had no friends within the

regiment, never said a word to anyone and had been 'an absolute cipher.'"

He had petitioned Hitler as early as June 1936 asking for an exception to

be made for himself and his daughter, referring to his Christian upbringing

and patriotic political outlook, as well as to his service in World War I.

"For us, it is a kind of spiritual death to now be branded as Jews and

exposed to general contempt," he wrote.

Although Hitler turned down the petition he did allow Hess's pension to be

transferred to Italy in 1937, albeit at a reduced amount and released Hess

from the obligation to bear the name 'Israel' that identified him as a Jew.

Hess was finally deported to Milbertshofen, a concentration camp for Jews

near Munich, where he did forced labour in the city.

After the war he became an executive with the national railways and died in

Frankfurt in 1983 at the age of 93.

Maus said his mother Elisabeth and his sister Berta had talked themselves

into believing that the "protection" accorded to Ernst also extended to them.

Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Nazis' mass murder of the Jews, "went out of his way to categorically deny this, personally signing the

deportation order for both women."

Berta Hess was killed Auschwitz while her mother survived and went to live

with her son Paul in Brazil.

AFP/mbw