Hitler’s Deputy Remembered in Germany, Denmark

WIESBADEN, Germany â€”  Scores of neo-Nazis were arrested Saturday by riot police in Germany, and scuffles broke out in neighboring Denmark on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the death of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy.

More than 220 arrests across Germany were related to today’s anniversary, authorities said. Danish police said about 50 people--skinheads and their opponents--were arrested in Roskilde and Greve, hotbeds for neo-Nazi activities.

Authorities in most of Germany’s 16 states had banned gatherings marking the Aug. 17, 1987, death of Hess--including in Wunsiedel, the Bavarian town where he is buried.

Officials say Hess committed suicide in Berlin’s Spandau prison, but his family claims that he was murdered. Hess, who was arrested in Britain when he flew there on a secret mission in 1941, has become a cult figure among neo-Nazi youths in Europe and elsewhere.

For 20 years, Hess was the lone inmate at Spandau prison, where he was sent on conviction of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials. The prison was torn down after his death to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi rallying point.

In Denmark on Saturday, about 120 rightists marched in Koege, 30 miles south of Copenhagen, to mark Hess’ death. There were several scuffles between the rightists and bystanders who booed them.

One marcher was arrested for assaulting a photographer, but the gathering was significantly less unruly than the last Hess commemoration in Denmark in 1995.

At that demonstration, in Roskilde, clashes erupted as residents chased the neo-Nazis out of town.

This year’s demonstration originally was planned for Roskilde, but police changed the venue at the last minute in hopes of avoiding a repeat. Many of the black- and brown-shirted demonstrators in Koege carried shields bearing Hess’ picture.

In Wiesbaden, German police said many of the 89 arrested in Hessen state had signs and leaflets with neo-Nazi slogans.

Police in Thuringia state said at least 31 rightists suspected of heading to Hess rallies were detained as a precaution.

In Koenigslutter, police broke up a rally of radical rightists, including black-clad skinheads from Berlin. At least 100 of them were detained when they scuffled with police.

Police spokesman Thomas Eichner in Halle said 40 leftists clashed with 50 rightists at a rally to mark Hess’ death.