Desmond Zwar (1931–2022) was born in

Beechworth Beechworth is a town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,290. Beechworth's many historical buildings are well pr ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, and was an author and veteran reporter from Melbourne, Australia. He studied at

Scotch College, Melbourne Scotch College is a private, Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college was established in 1851 as The Melbourne Academy in a house in Spri ...

, graduating in 1949. He worked for the ''

Border Mail ''The Border Mail'' is a daily newspaper and online news brand published in Albury-Wodonga, Australia, serving the twin cities and the surrounding region. It was originally published as ''The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times'' and later a ...

'' in

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

, New South Wales, and '' The Herald'' (now the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'') in Melbourne. He was a reporter, foreign correspondent, feature writer and acting features editor of the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' in London for 11 years. Having previously lived near Cairns in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, he resided in Beechworth until his death in 2022. Zwar was most famous for conducting an interview over several years with imprisoned Nazi leader

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician, Nuremberg trials, convicted war criminal and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer ( ...

. That gained international attention because Zwar persuaded Hess to admit that he had been part of the planning team for the invasion of the Soviet Union. The imminent invasion was what had convinced Hess to try, at the last moment, to seek an alliance with Britain against

Bolshevism Bolshevism (derived from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined p ...

by flying to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1941. Zwar's son,

Adam Zwar Adam Zwar (born 13 January 1972) is an Australian actor, voice artist, and writer. He is best known for co-creating the Australian comedy series ''Squinters'', '' Lowdown'', '' Wilfred'' and creating the critically acclaimed Channel 10 comedy ' ...

, is an actor in Australia.

Death

Desmond Zwar passed away on 27 April 2022, aged 90.

Books by Desmond Zwar

* ''The Infamous of Nuremberg'', Written For Col.Burton C Andrus, Published in 1969 By Coward-McCann, US, Leslie Frewin, UK; And in Several European Countries. * ''This Wonderful World of Golf'', With Peter Thomson, Published in 1969 By Pelham Books, UK. . * ''The Loneliest Man in the World: the inside story of the 30-year imprisonment of Rudolf Hess''. Written For Col. Eugene Bird. Secker & Warburg, London, 1974. Published by Viking US and in 10 Other Countries. . * ''Vet in the Clouds'', With Vet Don Lavers, Published By Granada UK. 1978. . * ''In Search of Keith Murdoch'', Published By Macmillan, Aust. And UK. 1980. . * ''The Soul of a School'', Published By Macmillan, Aust. 1982. . * ''New Frontiers of Medical Research'', Published By Stein & Day, US, And in Japan. . * ''The Magic Mussel, Arthritis Another Way'', Published By Ideas Unlimited, Aust., 1983. . * ''The Dame: the Life and Times of Dame Jean Macnamara, Medical Pioneer'', Published By Macmillan, Aust., 1984. . * ''The Ma Evans Baldness Cure'', Woodland Books, US, 1984. * ''Golf: The Dictionary'', Published By Sun Books, Aust., David & Charles, UK, Tomas Books, Germany, 1984. . * ''Doctor Ahead of His Time – The Life of Dr. Ainslie Meares, Psychiatrist'', Published By Greenhouse Publications, 1985. . * ''The Mad, Mad World of Unisex Golf'', Published By Ideas Unlimited, Aust. 1990. . * ''Disgrace! The Saga of The Downfall of Medical Hero, Dr.William Mcbride.'' * ''The Queen, Rupert & Me'', Sid Harta Publishing, Hartwell, Victoria, Australia, 2004/5/6. . * ''Talking To Rudolf Hess'', The History Press UK, 2010. .

References

External links

*
Book Review of Memoirs of a Hackneyed Hack
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwar, Desmond 1931 births 2022 deaths Journalists from Victoria (state) Australian writers Place of death missing