A deputy of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) asked the government in the Bundestag on Monday to “put mercy before justice” and free Rudolph Hess. The appeal by Dr. Friederich Beermann was the latest in a growing movement to have the one-time No. 2 Nazi released from Spandau prison in West Berlin. Beermann noted that Hess, the last surviving member of the Nazis’ top hierarchy still in jail, has been imprisoned for more than 30 years. Hess is 79.
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