Born Hesse, Germany in 1903. A lawyer by training, Best worked under Reinhard Heydrich within the Gestapo until falling out of favour in 1939. He subsequently served as civilian administrator in occupied France and, from 1942, as Reichsbevollmachtiger (Plenipotentiary) to Denmark. Under his guidance Denmark was a model of the benefits of cooperation with the Reich, a fact for which Best received a great deal of credit after the war. His ideas on the Generalplan West, similar to those of Wilhelm Stuckart, were partially implemented (the decentralisation of France, etc). He worked in the Ministry of Justice for the remainder of his career.
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