An Unusual Pacolet Connection
You would not expect for there to be a connection between the Pacolet area and the Nazi government in World War II but there is. It is a strange story. From Dec. 1912 until 1914, Rev. Albert Hartwell Best was the pastor at the Pacolet Methodist Church in Pacolet Station. His son, Robert Henry Best, attended Wofford College. After Robert graduated in 1917 he went on to become a US army officer and a reporter for United Press in Europe.
Through a series of events, he became a propaganda agent for the Nazi government. He remained in Germany during the war and actively supported the Nazi cause. After the war, he was convicted of Treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in 1952 while still in confinement. You can see photos of Robert Best at:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41137032
Recently, we have received additional information about Robert Best from Mr. Jerry Williams. Mr. Williams is a reporter who has done considerable research about Mr. Best. He has found the following article about Mr. Best that was published in the Spartanburg newspaper in July, 2004.
https://www.goupstate.com/news/20040721/local-journalist-became-a-story-of-his-own-during-world-war-ii
He has also found a very interesting recording of Mr. Best broadcasting propaganda for the Nazi government in 1942. In this broadcast, Mr. Best is very critical of Pres. Roosevelt and the Jewish people. There is no denying that Mr. Best has a very decided southern accent. The YouTube link is at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=isZ8ywQGdWs.
There’s been interest in exactly where in the cemetery that Robert Best is buried. Thanks to Nettie Rothrock Gentry, a former Pacolet High School classmate, that information is now known. A map can be seen at Directions to Grave of Robert Best.
Robert Best is buried beside his sister, Louise Best. Louise was a Methodist missionary. The following information about her was found on the site
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47833629/louise-best. She was the daughter of a Methodist Minister, Rev. Albert H. Best, who once was the pastor at the Pacolet Methodist Church. She died unexpectedly on July 25, 1966 while visiting in Lincolnton, NC. She was a Methodist Missionary who had served in Brazil for 37 and one half years.
Louise’s father, Rev. Albert H. Best, is buried in Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery in the town of Lamar in Darlington County, SC where he was a pastor.
Even after so many years, it is still chilling to realize that Pacolet is the final resting place for an agent of the evil Nazi regime. Robert Best was a colleague of and worked with Joseph Goebbels, the Chief of Propaganda for Hitler. At the end of the war in 1945, Goebbels and his wife committed suicide after poisoning their six children.
(Thanks to Neil Gibson for bringing this story to my attention, to Nettie Gentry for furnishing information about Pastor Albert Best and his Pacolet connection and to Jerry Williams for the additional information.)
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