An SS leader, an executive in the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (the RSHA-Reich Security Main Office), and the Reichskommissar in occupied Denmark.
Best, born in Darmstadt in 1903, studied law and in 1929 was appointed to the bench in Hessen. After the Nazi accession, he became Chief of Police in Hessen. Afterwards, he was transferred to Berlin and became the chief legal advisor to the Gestapo, the secret police bureau chief in the Ministry of the Interior, and a confidante of Reinhard Heydrich. In June 1940, Best was placed in charge of the civil administration in occupied France. From November 1942 until the end of the war, he was the Reichskommissar in occupied Denmark. In 1948 he was given a death sentence that was subsequently reduced to 12 years in prison, and he was released in 1951.
