Douglas Chandler
Encyclopedia
Douglas Chandler was an American broadcaster of Nazi propaganda
during World War II. He was convicted of treason in 1947 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In 1924 he married at Bar Harbor Laura Jay Wurts (died 1941 in Germany), daughter of Alexander Jay Wurts, a Carnegie Tech professor and Westinghouse inventor, and great-great-great granddaughter of John Jay
(1745–1829), the first Chief Justice of the U.S.
He was ruined in the Wall Street Crash of 1929
and "fed up to the chin with the Depression and the miasma that was enveloping Washington"
he moved from the U.S. to France and then to Germany in 1931. There he worked as a journalist showing Nazi Germany in an ideal light and contributing on this theme to the National Geographic Magazine
.
From January or February 1942 until January or February 1945 he worked under contract for the Reichs-Radio-Corp.-German Short Wave Station as a commentator in the USA newsroom. Towards the end of the war he broadcast on Radio Munich. Chandler became known as America's Lord Haw-Haw
due to his cultivated American voice.
, Bavaria in May 1945, but he was released on October 23, 1945. He was then rearrested by the US Army on or about March 12, 1946, at the request of the Department of Justice
.
He was then flown to the United States to stand trial, arriving on December
14, 1946.
, Edward Delaney
, Constance Drexel
, Robert Henry Best, Max Otto Koischwitz
and Ezra Pound
had been indicted in absentia
by a District of Columbia grand jury on charges of treason
.
Chandler stood trial at the Boston Federal District Court on June 6, 1947. He entered a defense of insanity and did not testify at the trial. He was found guilty of all ten counts of treason on June 28, 1947. Chandler was fined $10000 and sentenced to life imprisonment. His subsequent appeal was denied.
on August 9, 1963 and returned to Germany.
He was apparently still alive in 1975 and resident on Tenerife
in the Canary Islands
. His precise date of death is not known.
Nazi propaganda
Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the NSDAP in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany...
during World War II. He was convicted of treason in 1947 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Biography
Chandler was an officer in the U.S. Navy in World War I and later worked as a newspaperman in Baltimore.In 1924 he married at Bar Harbor Laura Jay Wurts (died 1941 in Germany), daughter of Alexander Jay Wurts, a Carnegie Tech professor and Westinghouse inventor, and great-great-great granddaughter of John Jay
John Jay
John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
(1745–1829), the first Chief Justice of the U.S.
He was ruined in the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
and "fed up to the chin with the Depression and the miasma that was enveloping Washington"
he moved from the U.S. to France and then to Germany in 1931. There he worked as a journalist showing Nazi Germany in an ideal light and contributing on this theme to the National Geographic Magazine
National Geographic Magazine
National Geographic, formerly the National Geographic Magazine, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society. It published its first issue in 1888, just nine months after the Society itself was founded...
.
Propaganda for Nazi Germany
From April 1941 Chandler broadcast Nazi propaganda from Berlin under the pseudonym of "Paul Revere". When the United States declared war on Nazi Germany on December 11, 1941 American citizens were repatriated from Berlin but Chandler chose to stay.From January or February 1942 until January or February 1945 he worked under contract for the Reichs-Radio-Corp.-German Short Wave Station as a commentator in the USA newsroom. Towards the end of the war he broadcast on Radio Munich. Chandler became known as America's Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw was the nickname of several announcers on the English-language propaganda radio programme Germany Calling, broadcast by Nazi German radio to audiences in Great Britain on the medium wave station Reichssender Hamburg and by shortwave to the United States...
due to his cultivated American voice.
Arrest
Chandler was taken into custody by the U.S. Army at his home in DurachDurach
Durach is a municipality in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavaria in Germany.The village came into international media attention in August 2008 when a light aircraft hit power lines in its vicinity and the pilot and passenger, who had survived inside the plane dangling on high-tension power cables,...
, Bavaria in May 1945, but he was released on October 23, 1945. He was then rearrested by the US Army on or about March 12, 1946, at the request of the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
.
He was then flown to the United States to stand trial, arriving on December
14, 1946.
Trial
On July 26, 1943 Chandler along with Fred W. Kaltenbach, Jane AndersonJane Anderson – The Georgia Peach
Jane Anderson was an American broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during World War II. She was indicted on charges of treason in 1943 but after the war the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.-Biography:...
, Edward Delaney
Edward Leo Delaney
Edward Leo Delaney was an American broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during World War II...
, Constance Drexel
Constance Drexel
Constance Drexel , a naturalized United States citizen, and groundbreaking feature writer for U.S. newspapers, was indicted for treason in World War II for radio broadcasts from Berlin that extolled Nazi virtues...
, Robert Henry Best, Max Otto Koischwitz
Max Otto Koischwitz
Max Oscar Otto Koischwitz was a naturalized American of German origin who directed and broadcast Nazi propaganda during World War II.-Biography:...
and Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
had been indicted in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
by a District of Columbia grand jury on charges of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
.
Chandler stood trial at the Boston Federal District Court on June 6, 1947. He entered a defense of insanity and did not testify at the trial. He was found guilty of all ten counts of treason on June 28, 1947. Chandler was fined $10000 and sentenced to life imprisonment. His subsequent appeal was denied.
Release
After sixteen years’ imprisonment, Chandler’s sentence was commuted by President John F Kennedy in 1963 on condition he leave the United States. He was released from the federal penitentiary at Lewisburg, PennsylvaniaLewisburg, Pennsylvania
Lewisburg is a borough in Union County, Pennsylvania, United States, south by southeast of Williamsport and north of Harrisburg. In the past, it was the commercial center for a fertile grain and general farming region. The population was 5,620 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Union...
on August 9, 1963 and returned to Germany.
He was apparently still alive in 1975 and resident on Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
. His precise date of death is not known.