Werner Best

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Dr. Werner Best

Werner Best (10 July 1903 – 23 June 1989) was a German Nazi , jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi Party leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. He studied law and in 1927 obtained his doctorate degree at Heidelberg. Best served as civilian administrator of France and Denmark while Nazi Germany occupied those countries during World War II.

Contents

[edit] The Nazi state and World War II

Prior to September 1939, Best was an SS officer, head of Department 1 in the SS-Gestapo that oversaw organization, administration, and legal affairs.[1] He was a deputy of Reinhard Heydrich. In September 1939 the security and police agencies of Nazi Germany were consolidated into Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA), headed by Heydrich.[2] Best was made head of Amt I (Department I) of the RSHA: Personnel. That department dealt with the legal and personnel issues/matters of the SS and security police.[3] Heydrich and Heinrich Himmler relied on Best to develop and explain legally the activities against enemies of the state and in relation to the Nazi Jewish policy.

According to one source [4] Werner Best in 1939 lost a power struggle, and had to leave Berlin, thereafter. In 1940, Best was appointed head of the civilian administration at the German Military Command in occupied France, a position he kept until 1942.

In November 1942 after the Telegram Crisis, Best was appointed the Third Reich's Plenipotentiary (Reichsbevollmächtigter) in Denmark. He was accredited to King Christian X, who, unlike most Heads of state under Nazi German occupation, remained in power, along with the Danish Parliament, cabinet (a coalition of national unity) and courts.

In this role, Best supervised civilian affairs in occupied Denmark. He kept his position until the end of the war in May 1945, even after a Reichskommissar had been appointed to exercise the direct German administration proclaimed on 29 August 1943.

Best hoped to maintain good relations between Germany and Denmark in order to make Denmark an example of what life in Nazi Europe could be. As a result conditions were better in Denmark, by comparison with conditions in other areas occupied by Germany. Best was unenthusiastic about taking punitive measures against Jews until after the fall of the Danish government.

[edit] Administration by the Permanent Secretaries

Best (right) with Erik Scavenius, Danish PM 1942-43.

The director of the ministry of foreign affairs Nils Svenningsen in January 1944 suggested establishment of a Danish camp in order to avoid deportations to Germany.[5] Werner Best accepted this suggestion, but on condition that this camp was built close to the German border. Frøslev Prison Camp was set up in August 1944.

Due to the Danish cabinet's decision on 9 April 1940 to accept cooperation with German authorities, the Danish police consequently cooperated with the German occupation forces.[6] This arrangement remained in effect even after the resignation of the Danish government on 29 September 1943. On 12 May 1944, Dr. Werner Best demanded that the Danish police should take over the task of protecting 57 specific enterprises sabotaged by the Danish resistance movement, which was growing in strength. Should the Danish civil service not accept this, the Danish police force would be reduced to 3,000 men. The head of the Danish administration, Nils Svenningsen, was inclined to accept this demand, but the organizations of the Danish police were opposed to the idea. The German request was ultimately turned down, and this was reported to Best on 6 June 1944. This reduced the Gestapo's already limited trust in the Danish police even further, and on 19 September 1944, the German army began arresting members of the Danish police forces. 1,960 policemen were arrested and deported to German KZ and prisoner of war camps.

During deliberations about capitulation 3 May 1945, Werner Best fought to avoid a scorched earth policy in Denmark.[7]

[edit] After the war

In 1948, Best was sentenced to death by a Danish court, but his sentence was reduced to 12 years in prison, and he was released in 1951. Best was fined by a Berlin de-Nazification court in 1958 for his actions during the war and was later charged in 1972 when further war crimes allegations arose. He was found medically unfit to stand trial and was released.

After that, Best was part of a network that helped old SS comrades.[8] He died in Mülheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, in 1989.

[edit] Sources

  • WorldStatesmen - Denmark
  • Westermann Verlag, Großer Atlass zur Weltgeschichte (in German)
  • "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940-1945." Published 2002.
  • Lumsden, Robin (2001). A Collector's Guide To: The Allgemeine - SS, Ian Allan Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-7110-2905-9.
  • McNab, Chris (2009). The SS: 1923-1945, Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-49-5.

[edit] References

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  1. ^ McNab, Chris. The SS: 1923-1945, p 156.
  2. ^ Lumsden, Robin. A Collector's Guide To: The Allgemeine - SS, pp 80-84.
  3. ^ Lumsden, Robin. A Collector's Guide To: The Allgemeine - SS, p 83.
  4. ^ "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940-1945." Published 2002.
  5. ^ "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940-1945." Published 2002. Page 178.
  6. ^ "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940-1945." Published 2002. Page 367.
  7. ^ "Gads leksikon om dansk besættelsestid 1940-1945." Published 2002. Page 41.
  8. ^ Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich at War (New York 2008) 749.
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