In the eyes of the United States, Robert H. Best (1896 – 1952) was a traitor, plain and simple; yet to Joseph Goebbels, Best was simply another motivational speaker on the payroll.
What Iva Toguri (the alleged Tokyo Rose) was believed to have done for Hirohito, and what Pound did for Mussolini is what Best did for Adolf Hitler: he had broadcast Nazi radio propaganda.
“During the past year, Mr. – or Herr – Best tried to play off all the propaganda arguments of Dr. Goebbels and Lord Haw Haw. He appealed to the American people’s prejudices, to their fears and avarice. He incited class against class, group against group, and all against the government. He singled out every popular leader as a Jew or a Communist and constantly abused the President. Whenever the Axis scored a victory, he warned Americans to come to terms with Hitler, who is ‘invincible’.”
During the opening weeks of 1946, the American Military Police had located Best living in Austria. He was returned in irons to the United States. A Federal Grand Jury was convened on April 16, 1948; he was found guilty on 12 counts of treason and sentenced to life in prison. Best died four years later at the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut.
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