Pro-Hess demonstrators arrested

NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (JTA) — Police arrested about 400 people in Germany and approximately 50 people in Denmark over the weekend on the 10th anniversary of the death of Rudolf Hess. Hess, Adolf Hitler’s deputy, has become a cult figure among right- wing extremists since he hung himself in Berlin’s Spandau prison. Many of the arrests in Germany were made on Saturday as right-wing extremists headed for rallies. German courts had banned pro-Hess demonstrations in much of the country. Other arrests were prompted by clashes between neo-Nazis and leftists. In Denmark, approximately 150 neo-Nazis marched in a town outside of Copenhagen, shouting “Sieg Heil” and waving flags with swastikas. Several hundred anti-Nazi protesters clashed with police when a pro- Hess demonstration failed to materialize in another town outside of the Danish capital. Denmark’s liberal free speech laws have made it a haven for neo-Nazis in recent years. Hess flew to Britain on a secret mission in 1941, where he was arrested. At the Nuremberg trials after the end of World War II, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life in prison. For 20 years, he was the lone inmate at the Spandau prison. The prison was torn down after his death to prevent it from becoming a rallying point for neo-Nazis.