Verner Best Official lawyer of the Nazi Party Country: Denmark

Biography of Werner Best

Werner Best (1903-1989) was an official lawyer of the Nazi Party and served as the Reich Commissioner of the occupied territory of Denmark from 1942 to 1945. He was born on July 10, 1903, in Darmstadt, Germany, into a family of a postal clerk. Best attended high school in Darmstadt and later in Mainz. At the age of 16, he organized a nationalist youth group in Mainz.

Best studied law at the universities of Frankfurt-on-the-Main, Freiburg, Hesse, and Heidelberg. In 1929, he began working as a lawyer in the Department of Justice of the State of Hesse. He became one of the leaders of the SS and the occupation authorities, holding the rank of Obergruppenführer SS in 1944.

Throughout his early years, Best actively participated in anti-French movements in the Ruhr region. After completing his law studies at Heidelberg University in 1927, he became a lawyer in the Department of Justice of the State of Hesse and a judge in the Hesse Labor Court.

Best joined the NSDAP in 1930 and the SS in 1931. In March 1933, he was appointed as a special police commissioner and in July 1933, he became the mayor of the State of Hesse. On January 1, 1935, Best took over the leadership of the Directorate of Leadership and Law of the SD, and when the Main Security Office was formed in 1936, he headed a similar department. He was one of the creators of the SD and played a significant role in its development.

On September 27, 1939, when the Imperial Security Office of the SS (RSHA) was finally formed as part of the reorganization, Best was appointed as the head of the first department. He was responsible for the technical management of services, material supply, and budgeting. Together with SS Oberführer Melhorn, Best developed a system of "honorary agents" selected from the most distinguished volunteers. These agents provided valuable information that allowed for an accurate understanding of society's sentiments. Best transformed the SD into a modern and technologically advanced intelligence service, even creating a textbook titled "German Police" on the organization and activities of the police.

In 1936, Best moved to the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he dealt with security matters. In 1939, he was sent to Poland, where he became one of the organizers of mass repressions against the population, particularly targeting the Polish intelligentsia. On June 12, 1940, Best left the RSHA and was appointed as the head of the Administrative Department in the administration of occupied France. He was soon appointed as the military representative in the Imperial Commissionerate of Denmark.

Best's actions significantly mitigated the persecution of Jews in Denmark, allowing the majority of them to escape to Sweden. On May 4, 1945, German troops in Denmark surrendered. After the war, Best was arrested and sentenced to death by a Danish court in Copenhagen in 1949, which was later commuted to 20 years in prison. He was released in 1950 and returned to Germany.

In 1958, Best was convicted for his involvement in mass killings. However, in 1952, he was released on grounds of poor health. He then worked as a legal consultant for the "Hugo Stinnes" conglomerate. In 1972, the Polish government requested Best's extradition from West Germany, citing his involvement in war crimes and the creation of Einsatzgruppen in Poland. The West German government denied the request, citing Best's poor health condition.