Rudolf Hess Exhumed: A Look At World Figures Who Were Dug Up Post-Mortem from LIFE.com (PHOTOS)

German authorities decided this week to remove Rudolf Hess's bones from their Bavarian resting place this week, after reports that the grave of Adolf Hitler's deputy had become a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis.

The Associated Press quotes Wunsiedel cemetery administrator Andreas Fabel as saying that Hess's bones were cremated and scattered secretly in a lake -- the name and location of which have not been divulged.

But as LIFE.com is reporting, Hess -- who died in Berlin in 1987 -- isn't the first world figure whose remains have been removed from their graves. Among the famous others who didn't quite rest in peace the first time around: legendary Argentine first lady Eva Peron, Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, and of course, former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

View the fascinating full gallery on LIFE.com here.

View samples from the gallery below. All photos and captions are courtesy of LIFE.com.

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Rudolf Hess

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In July 2011, officials in a small Bavarian town exhumed and cremated the remains of Adolf Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, after Hess' grave became an increasingly troublesome pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis. In the pre-dawn hours of July 21, workers exhumed Hess' bones from the grave in the town of Wunsiedel, burned them, and scattered them in a lake whose name and location remain a closely guarded secret. Hitler's deputy was "always a muddled man," Rise and Fall of the Third Reich author William Shirer wrote. Hess tried to personally make peace with Britain in 1941, flying to the UK on the eve of Hitler's war against Stalin. Promptly arrested, he sat out the war as a POW.

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In July 2011, officials in a small Bavarian town exhumed and cremated the remains of Adolf Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, after Hess' grave became an increasingly troublesome pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis. In the pre-dawn hours of July 21, workers exhumed Hess' bones from the grave in the town of Wunsiedel, burned them, and scattered them in a lake whose name and location remain a closely guarded secret. Hitler's deputy was "always a muddled man," Rise and Fall of the Third Reich author William Shirer wrote. Hess tried to personally make peace with Britain in 1941, flying to the UK on the eve of Hitler's war against Stalin. Promptly arrested, he sat out the war as a POW.

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Comments

[Ramkshrestha]

07:55 AM on 07/26/2011

Russia wanted to sell Lenin's body to Germany. To follow "ism" or not that is another thing, but this kind of person's body always with historic importance.

[PedroAnimala]

07:49 AM on 07/26/2011

much ado a bout nothing...what is the point o this collage..

[WILLIEMOJORISIN]

06:39 PM on 07/25/2011

Che fought side be side with Fidel , and then was his executioner for almots two years ordering thounds of executions of people who didn't agree with Fidel , then he decided he wanted to be a dictator like Fidel , he wanted power so he went to Bolivia , big mistake , 9 slugs tend to make ones heart stop beating

[bruce22051]

06:04 PM on 07/25/2011

Oh good, Germans Gathering. get ready.

[lpiquette]

04:35 PM on 07/25/2011

This seems to be a wise move, in future advance. Who knows what memorials can cause at a later date in apprehension.

[TheSarge]

03:44 PM on 07/25/2011

Drop him into the sea and leave them no shrine to worship.

[WILLIEMOJORISIN]

11:25 AM on 07/25/2011

Che was not a "rebel" he was a terrorist who had a bad habit of shooting his own soldiers if they dissagreed with him

[oldmole1861]

06:51 PM on 07/23/2011

I can't help but be reminded by this macabre event of when Catholic authorities exhumed and burned the bones of reformer John Wycliffe who may, like Hess and so many others, have been guilty of being born into the wrong century.

I fear it is almost inevitable that when the human population expands to the breaking point on a planet suffering dwindling resources, theories about the "master race" will be revived to justify depriving others of their fair share once again.

[TheSarge]

03:46 PM on 07/25/2011

We can stop them, we just can never be silent or allow the left or right fringe to lead us in the wrong direction.

[thetxsndn]

12:34 PM on 07/23/2011

And what of all the NDN's that have been dug up & never returned to the proper tribes ? Every time i go into a museum, I can't help but wonder how many of my ancestors they have in boxes & drawers in their storage areas.

[Deep Thinking Man]

06:31 PM on 07/24/2011

NDN,
i've wondered the same about my Cherokee Ancestors as well. i'm sure there was a law passed a few years ago that said, all remains must be given back to their Nations. i never found out the name of this law, so i have no link for you.

gwine,
have ever heard of Metacomet, or as the whites called him, King Phillip ??? he was Wampanoag. he was be-headed after he was murdered by the settlers and his head was impaled on a 20 foot spike in the center of Jamestopwn for 25 years.

[Deep Thinking Man]

06:32 PM on 07/24/2011

by the way NDN...you're fanned !!!!!

[thetxsndn]

09:49 AM on 07/25/2011

Back atcha agidoi ! You're right. There was a law passed. The Native American Repatriation Act. http://www.nps.gov/nagpra/
Who knows though if it's been followed though.

[mortician]

11:28 AM on 07/23/2011

Guys is never to late to correct wrong information.
"Evita" Peron is resting in a very small Mausoleum in La Recoleta cemetery under her maiden name Eva Maria Duarte. and Peron is buried in Cemeterio de la Chacarita also in the city of Buenos Aires The remains of Evita were "repatriados" from norther Italy ( Milan). The Boeing 707 transporting he remains had the first 7 rows of Seats removed and for safety reason did not land in Ezeiza but in Moron.Everybody in tghe Plain was dismissed from there

[gwinegarden]

09:05 AM on 07/23/2011

When Charles II came back to England, he had Oliver Cromwell's body exhumed and beheaded. The head was then stuck up on a pole for all to see.

[BurtonDesque]

05:27 PM on 07/22/2011

Lots of Egyptian royalty were exhumed more than once!

[The Pen]

12:42 PM on 07/22/2011

They should have thrown his bones to the dogs.

[BurtonDesque]

05:28 PM on 07/22/2011

That would have been too good for them. The bones, not the dogs.

[czs5056]

02:49 PM on 07/23/2011

i'm thinking they should have thrown the ashes into the sea or a junkyard

[aeph1026]

11:43 PM on 07/24/2011

If you're talking about Hess - they did

[RedneckSamurai]

08:41 AM on 07/22/2011

Spin is beautiful this time of year

[Wren11]

05:14 PM on 07/23/2011

Positively delightful. lol

[Evji108]

02:21 AM on 07/24/2011

So true, especially the No-Spin Zone

[jfcboston]

07:55 AM on 07/22/2011

What about Abe Lincoln? He traveled more after death than some people do while they are alive.

[The Pen]

01:04 PM on 07/22/2011

They dug up Oliver Cromwell and hung him at Tyburn!

[thetxsndn]

12:42 PM on 07/23/2011

LOL yeah & that was 3 yrs AFTER he died. They then put his head on a pike for 20 yrs. Popular guy was ol' Olie Cromwell.

[sdmartintc]

04:35 PM on 07/24/2011

The history of Lincoln's body until its final entombment is found at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Tomb#History