Robert Henry Best

Robert Henry Best (April 15, 1896 - December 16, 1952) was an American broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during World War II. He was convicted in 1948 of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Biography

Best was born in Sumter, South Carolina, a son of Albert H. Best, a Methodist minister, and graduated in 1922 from Columbia University with a bachelor's degree in journalism. With money from a Pulitzer Traveling Scholarship, Best traveled to Vienna where he found work as a foreign news correspondent for the United Press working out of Vienna in 1923. He contributed articles to the "New York Times", "Chicago Daily News", "Time", and "Newsweek". [Path To Treason, page 1053] . When Germany occupied Austria, Best remained in Vienna.

When Germany declared war on the United States in December, 1941, Best was arrested along with other U.S. reporters for deportation, but Best was allowed to remain in Vienna with his fiancee Erna Maurer, an Austrian reporter for the Associated Press in Vienna. In March 1942 Best was hired by the German Foreign Office radio division which was a Nazi propaganda machine created by Joseph Goebbels. Best began broadcasting Nazi propaganda from Germany. ["New York Times", Mar 30, 1948, p 17] Best's broadcasts were antisemitic and anti-Roosevelt, even though many of his former friends in Austria were Jewish. Best was one of two dozen Americans recruited at various times to broadcast to the United States from Berlin. [Path To Treason, page 1056] . Best's broadcasts became so strident that his Nazi supervisors took him off the air on July 14, 1942. On September 2, 1942 he married Erna Maurer who was then 41 years old. Best was 46.

On July 26, 1943, a grand jury in Washington D.C. indicted Best (and Jane Anderson, Douglas Chandler, Edward Delaney, Constance Drexel, Fred W. Kaltenbach, Max Koischwitz and Ezra Pound) [Associated Press, “8 Indicted on Charges of Treason,” Moberly Monitor-Index, 1943-07-26 at 1.] in absentia for treason. After the war ended, he was arrested on January 29, 1946 in Austria and was brought to the U.S. on March 29, 1948 for trial in Boston. Best was accused of "giving aid and comfort" to the Nazis. He acted as his own lawyer in front of judge Francis J.W. Ford. Several people testified at his trial including Princess Sofia zur Lippe-Weissenfeld of Austria. ["New York Times", Apr 8, 1948, p 20]

On April 16, 1948, Best was convicted of 12 counts of treason. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and began his sentence at the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. His conviction was appealed to the United States Circuit Court ["New York Times", Jul 9, 1950, p 24] and to the Supreme Court which refused a hearing. ["The Reno Evening Gazette", Feb 28, 1951]

In August 1951, Best suffered a brain hemorrhage and was transferred to the medical center for federal prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. Best died there on December 16, 1952 and was buried in Spartanburg, South Carolina on December 21, 1952.

References

*"Robert Henry Best: The Path to Treason", by James C. Clark, "Journalism Quarterly", winter 1990, vol 67, pp:1051-1061
*"New York Times", Mar 30, 1948, p 17; Apr 8, 1948 p 20; Jul 9, 1950 p 24
*"The Reno Evening Gazette", Feb 28, 1951 [http://www.newspaperarchive.com/LandingItems/GLP/LP8.aspx?search=%22robert%20h%20best%22&
]
* [http://debs.indstate.edu/u588n4_1954.pdf House Committee on Un-American Activities, "Preliminary Report on Neo-Fascist and Hate Groups", Dec. 17, 1954, pp. 11-12 (mentions Dec. 1952 eulogy for Best)]

External links

* [http://www.earthstation1.com/Robert_H._Best.html Audio of Propaganda Broadcasts by Robert H. Best at EarthStation1.com]