Edward Leopold Delaney (December 12, 1885 – July 1, 1972) was an American broadcaster of

Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was indicted for treason in 1943, but the charges were dropped after the war due to a lack of evidence.

Early life

Delaney was born in Olney, Illinois. Delaney began an acting career about 1910, playing the part of Blackie Daw in one of

Cohan Cohan is a surname of Irish origins. It is a variant of Cohane, which itself is an Anglicized form of the Irish Ó Cadhain. Cohan is also a variant spelling of the Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Nor ...

and Harris's road companies' productions of '' Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford''. Delaney left the troupe in 1915 for Australia, where he played the part of the Killer in '' Seven Keys to Baldpate'' in Josephine Cohan's company. In the early 1920s, Delaney returned to the United States as a theatrical tour manager and in 1934 he published his first book, ''The Lady By Degrees'', followed in 1935 by ''The Charm Girl''. From 1935 to 1939, Delaney was employed by the Transoceanic Film Export Company of New York City, traveling to various European countries. In 1937 and 1938 Delaney went to Germany to write, returning to the U.S. in early 1939. In December 1939 he left the U.S. for Italy. Then through his contacts from his involvement with the ultra-right and Coughlinite politics, he was recruited by the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG) to present a series of pro-German broadcasts from an American perspective for its U.S.A. Zone.

Propaganda for Nazi Germany

In January 1940, Delaney began as a commentator for the RRG, German State Radio in Berlin. Using the pseudonym "E. D. Ward", Delaney confined his broadcasts almost entirely to news favorable to Germany and the Axis. Described as a "roving reporter", he denounced the British class system. Delaney claimed never to have formally promoted Nazi doctrine and he is not believed to have made any propaganda broadcasts after U.S. entry into the war on December 11, 1941. Those that were subsequently aired appear to have been recorded earlier. Constant friction with his supervisors at the RRG and interrogation by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

as to his motives and commitment led to his departure from Berlin in 1943.

Arrest

After his dismissal from the RRG, Delaney avoided internment and lived in Germany and Czechoslovakia in

Occupied Europe German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

for two years. He was eventually arrested in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

on May 20, 1945 after he disclosed his wartime activities to two '' Stars and Stripes'' reporters, Howard Byrne and Klaus Mann. He was arrested by the Czechoslovak police and subsequently taken into the custody of the Counter Intelligence Corps at

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. He was returned to the U.S. from

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

on board the U.S. Army transport, the USAT ''George W. Goethals'' and arrested on arrival in New York by the FBI on August 8, 1947. The following day he was held on $10,000 bail for grand jury action.

Charges of treason

On July 26, 1943, Delaney, along with Fred W. Kaltenbach, Douglas Chandler, Jane Anderson, Constance Drexel, Robert Henry Best, Max Otto Koischwitz and

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

was indicted ''in absentia'' by a District of Columbia grand jury on charges of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. Delaney was returned to the U.S. on August 8, 1947, but the charges against him were dropped by the Department of Justice due to lack of evidence on October 27, 1947. A United States Government memorandum held by the DOJ dated June 14, 1946, had stated the following:

Although he may be classified as a political commentator and although he was indicted for treason in 1943, it does not appear worthwhile to continue our efforts to develop information as to his activities in view of the very few wartime recordings made by him.

Later life

Delaney spent a number of years touring the U.S. as an ultra-conservative lecturer and finally settled down in Southern California, where he spent the rest of his life as a political author and small-town newspaper columnist. His publications include ''False Freedom'' 1954, which published through Sequoia University Press, ''Freedom's Frontier'' 1964, and ''Harvest of Deceit'' 1971. He published his autobiography, ''Five Decades Before Dawn'' in 1969. Delaney died in an automobile accident in California in 1972.

References

External links

Courtroom Battles of World War II (Part 1 of 3).
contains information on the careers and fates of some of the Nazi broadcasters and other collaborators.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delaney, Edward Leo 1885 births 1972 deaths American broadcasters for Nazi Germany American expatriates in Germany American fascists Writers from Illinois Road incident deaths in California Liberty Lobby members People from Olney, Illinois People charged with treason Prisoners and detainees of Czechoslovakia Prisoners and detainees of the United States military Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government