WWII: Douglas Chandler – U.S. Nazi Propagandist Treason Files

Description

Douglas Chandler: Traitor’s Timeline and Cast

1889: Douglas Chandler is born in Chicago.

World War I: Chandler serves as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

Post-WWI: Chandler works as a newspaper writer in the Baltimore area. He marries into a prosperous family.

1929: Failed business ventures and the Wall Street Crash leave Chandler in financial trouble. He moves to France, then to Germany.

April 1941: Chandler begins broadcasting Nazi propaganda for the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (German State Radio) from Berlin. He uses the pseudonym “Paul Revere.”

September 9, 1941: Chandler (as “Paul Revere”) makes a propaganda broadcast, lauding Axis victories and denouncing “Churchill the Charlatan” and “Roosevelt the Renegade.”

December 11, 1941: Germany declares war on the United States. Chandler chooses to remain in Germany despite the U.S. government’s repatriation efforts for American citizens. He continues his anti-Roosevelt and anti-Semitic broadcasts.

July 26, 1943: A District of Columbia grand jury indicts Chandler, along with other propaganda broadcasters (Fred W. Kaltenbach, Jane Anderson, Edward Delaney, Constance Drexel, Robert Henry Best, Max Otto Koischwitz, and Ezra Pound), in absentia on charges of treason.

March 26, 1945: (Latest date mentioned for newspaper articles covering Chandler’s activities).

February 1945: Chandler ceases his anti-Roosevelt and anti-Semitic broadcasts.

May 1945: Chandler is taken into custody by the U.S. Army at his home in Durach, Bavaria.

October 23, 1945: The U.S. Army releases Chandler.

March 1946: At the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, Chandler is re-apprehended by the U.S. Army and flown back to the United States.

June 6, 1947: Chandler’s treason trial begins in Boston Federal District Court.

June 28, 1947: Chandler is found guilty of all ten counts of treason.

Post-Conviction (before sentencing): Prosecutor Oscar R. Ewing argues for the death penalty by hanging.

(Unspecified date after conviction): Judge Francis J. W. Ford sentences Chandler to life imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, and loss of U.S. citizenship.

August 9, 1963: President John F. Kennedy commutes Chandler’s life sentence on the condition that he immediately leave the United States. Chandler is released from the federal penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and returns to Germany.

October 1965: “Treason and Aiding the Enemy,” an article by Captain Jabez W. Loane IV in the Military Law Review, makes several mentions of Chandler’s case.

Cast of Characters

• Douglas Chandler (“Paul Revere”): The central figure of the case, born in Chicago in 1889. A former U.S. Navy officer and newspaper writer, he became a “radio traitor” for Nazi Germany during World War II, broadcasting anti-American and anti-Semitic propaganda under the pseudonym “Paul Revere.” He was indicted, tried, and convicted of treason, receiving a life sentence that was later commuted by President Kennedy.
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt (“Roosevelt the Renegade”): The sitting U.S. President during World War II, frequently denounced by Chandler in his broadcasts.
• Winston Churchill (“Churchill the Charlatan”): The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II, also a target of Chandler’s propaganda.
• Fred W. Kaltenbach: Another propaganda broadcaster indicted in absentia for treason alongside Chandler in 1943.
• Jane Anderson: Another propaganda broadcaster indicted in absentia for treason alongside Chandler in 1943.
• Edward Delaney: Another propaganda broadcaster indicted in absentia for treason alongside Chandler in 1943.
• Constance Drexel: Another propaganda broadcaster indicted in absentia for treason alongside Chandler in 1943.
• Robert Henry Best: Another propaganda broadcaster indicted in absentia for treason alongside Chandler in 1943.
• Max Otto Koischwitz: Another propaganda broadcaster indicted in absentia for treason alongside Chandler in 1943.
• Ezra Pound: A notable American poet also indicted in absentia for treason for his pro-fascist broadcasts from Italy during the war. His Department of Justice files are excerpted in the provided source, mentioning Chandler.
• Oscar R. Ewing: The prosecutor in Douglas Chandler’s treason trial. He argued for the death penalty for Chandler.
• Judge Francis J. W. Ford: The judge in Chandler’s trial who sentenced him to life imprisonment, a fine, and loss of citizenship.
• President John F. Kennedy: The U.S. President who commuted Douglas Chandler’s life sentence in 1963 on the condition he leave the United States.
• Captain Jabez W. Loane IV: Author of “Treason and Aiding the Enemy,” an article in the Military Law Review (1965) that mentions Chandler’s case.