Werner Best | |
|---|---|
 Best in uniform, 1942 | |
| Reich's Plenipotentiary in Denmark | |
| In office November 1942 – 8 May 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Cécil von Renthe-Fink |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Karl Rudolf Werner Best 10 July 1903 Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire |
| Died | 23 June 1989 (aged 85) Mülheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany |
| Alma mater | University of Heidelberg |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch/service |  Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | 1931–1945 |
| Rank | SS-Obergruppenführer |
| Commands | Amt I, RSHA |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Karl Rudolf Werner Best (10 July 1903 – 23 June 1989) was a German jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer, Nazi Party leader, and theoretician from Darmstadt. He was the first chief of Department 1 of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret police, and initiated a registry of all Jews in Germany. As a deputy of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, he organized the World War II SS-Einsatzgruppen, paramilitary death squads that carried out mass-murder in Nazi-occupied territories.
Best served in the German military occupation administration of France (1940–1942), and then became the civilian administrator of occupied Denmark (1942–1945). Convicted of war crimes in Denmark, he was released from prison in 1951. Following his release, Best campaigned for an amnesty for Nazi war criminals and against the abolition of the statute of limitations. He escaped further prosecution in West Germany in 1972 due to ill health and died in 1989, aged 85.