Frederick William Kaltenbach

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Frederick William Kaltenbach (1895 - 1945?) was an American of German descent who served the Nazis as wartime radio broadcaster known as "Lord Hee Haw." The eldest child of John Kaltenbach, Frederick Kaltenbach was born in Dubuque, Iowa, and was raised in Waterloo, Iowa. Kaltenbach had three brothers and one sister.

After he graduated from East High School in Waterloo, Kaltenbach and his brother Gustav went on a bicycle tour of Germany, and were in the country when World War I broke out in August of 1914. The two were detained by German authorities on suspicion of espionage until December when they were released. Despite the problems the Kaltenbach encountered, he became quite fond of Germany and its people.

When he returned home, Kaltenbach enrolled in Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, and studied there for three years. In June of 1918 he entered joined the United States Army, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Coast Artillery. Kaltenbach did not leave the country during his army service, and the war ended shortly after his commissioning. In the downsizing of the military that followed, Kaltenbach was honorably discharged in April of 1919. Kaltenbach then resumed his education at the Iowa State Teachers College, and earned a Bachelor's degree in 1920.

Kaltenbach worked for the next seven years as an appraiser before becoming a teacher. His first teaching assignment was in Manchester. In 1931 Kaltenbach was offered a position at Dubuque's Senior High School - teaching business law, economics, and debate. During the early 1930s, he earned a Master's Degree in History from the University of Chicago. He then took a leave of absence from his position to pursue his Doctorate at the University of Berlin, and while in Germany became infatuated with the Nazi movement.

Upon his return to the United States, Kaltenbach resumed his teaching position. In 1935, Kaltenbach began a club for boys based on the Hitler Youth (Hitler-Jugend) model. Kaltenbach called the club "The Militant Order of Spartan Knights." He demanded the boys wear brown shirts and participate in shooting practice with .22 rifles. The concern of parents became such that Kaltenbach was dismissed at the direct order of the school board on May 13, 1935.

After he was fired from his teaching position, Kaltenbach left for Germany. He began reading English press releases for the Nazis in 1936.

During World War II, Kaltenbach was serving as a wartime radio broadcaster. He became one of Joseph Goebbels favorite broadcasters, and was considered one of the most notorious Nazi propagandists. Kaltenbach's voice was heard several days a week. He used a homey style, and frequent mentions of Iowa which were propaganda techniques that were carefully planned to gain listener confidence. Kaltenbach was given the name "Lord Hee Haw" by British listeners after they compared his speech patters with "Lord Haw Haw" - who was the British Nazi broadcaster William Joyce.

On July 26, 1943 Kaltenbach and several others were indicted by a District of Columbia grand jury on charges of treason. When the Nazi government fell, Kaltenbach was reportedly captured by Soviet troops in Berlin. The Soviets refused American requests to return Kaltenbach to them, and Kaltenbach is believed to have died in a Soviet prison in October 1945.