Atomic/Alamy Stock PhotoWilliam Joyce, better known as Lord Haw-Haw, an American-born fascist who broadcasted Nazi propaganda.His voice was impossible to forget: a nasal, haughty sneer, an exaggerated mimicked poshness of the British upper class, warped by a malevolent glee. The British press dubbed him Lord Haw-Haw, the host of a pro-Nazi, English-language radio program called Germany Calling that became the mocking soundtrack to the Blitz. But even though he was part of the Nazi propaganda machine, broadcasting from a radio station in Germany, Lord Haw-Haw was not German. His real name was William Joyce, and he was an American-born fascist who had spent much of his early life in Ireland and England. He eventually fled Britain to embrace the Nazi regime during World War II. Joyce sat before the glowing red light of the Reichssender Hamburg microphone, spewing disinformation intended to break the spirits of the British nation. He promised imminent destruction and scoffed at the courage of the men on the battlefield. But as the tide of war turned and the Allied armies closed in on the shattered remains of the Third Reich, it was not Lord Haw-Haw who would have the last laugh. The broadcast career of one of the worlds most infamous turncoats would soon come to an abrupt end. Who Was William Joyce?Born on April 24, 1906 in Brooklyn, New York, to Michael Francis Joyce (a naturalized U.S. citizen of Irish origin) and Gertrude Emily Brooke (who came from an Anglo-Irish family), William Joyce spent his early childhood in the United States before his family returned to Ireland. Throughout World War I, William Joyces father was a supporter of the Allied cause, and during the Irish War of Independence, he aligned with the British establishment. Eventually fearing the ire of Irish nationalists, the Joyce family fled to England. There, William Joyce continued his education, enrolling in the University of London Officer Training Corps (OTC) and then studying English Language and Literature and History at Birkbeck College.During his studies, Joyce had also become interested in politics. Not the ordinary kind, however. He developed worryingly extreme views, becoming obsessed with fascism. He had first joined with the British Fascists in 1923 an early fascist organization modeled after Benito Mussolinis movement. James Boardman Archive/Alamy Stock PhotoWilliam Joyce was a proponent of fascist ideals and antisemitism.In 1924, while attending a rally in London, Joyce was caught up in a violent melee, during which he received a deep slash to his face, leaving a permanent scar. Joyce claimed his attacker was a Jewish communist, which apparently cemented a deep antisemitism within him.However, historian Colin Holmes, who authored the book Searching for Lord Haw-Haw, wrote that Joyces first wife Hazel Kathleen Barr had said that Joyce was actually knifed by an Irish woman, and that he changed the details later to solidify his standing within the fascist movement.Though Hazel Kathleen Barr and William Joyce stayed together from 1927 to 1936, Barr eventually left him when it became clear that he was not a devoted husband nor a family man, his mind too focused on politics. Rising Through The Ranks Of Fascist Organizations In BritainIn the early 1930s, William Joyce had encountered Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the new British Union of Fascists (BUF). Joyce was captivated by Mosleys vision and joined his organization without hesitation. It soon became clear that Joyce had all the zeal of a militant revolutionary. Thanks to his intelligence and charisma, he quickly rose through the organizations ranks, eventually becoming the BUFs Director of Propaganda. His relationship with Mosley, however, began to sour over time. Public DomainOswald Mosley modeled his BUF organization on Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolinis movements. There were two main reasons for this rift. First was the issue of Joyces fervent antisemitism, which he felt Mosley and other BUF leaders who were certainly antisemitic were too soft on. Mosley had largely focused on pushing for economic prosperity through corporatism, whereas Joyce promoted a far more blatant hatred of Jews.Second was Joyces lack of loyalty to Mosley. Per the Imperial War Museums, Joyce had called Mosley hopeless, referring to him as the worst leader of what should have been the best cause in the world.Eventually, Mosley dismissed Joyce from the organization.Joyce then decided to establish his own fascist organization, the National Socialist League. The new group was smaller, tighter, and more explicitly modeled on Adolf Hitlers Nazi Party. But this group still saw a lot of infighting regarding how best to promote fascism in Britain.Public DomainWilliam Joyces fascist organization in Britain was short-lived before he fled to Germany.By 1939, war with Germany was on the horizon, the National Socialist League was fractured beyond repair, and Joyce, in the throes of alcoholism, could still see the writing on the wall. He dissolved the organization and, together with his second wife Margaret, left England behind. To me it was clear on the morning of 25th August that the greatest struggle in history was now doomed to take place, Joyce wrote in his book Twilight over England. England was going to war. I felt that if, for perfect reasons of conscience, I could not fight for her, I must give her up forever. Joyce fled to Berlin, shortly before Hitlers invasion of Poland, ready to spread the influence of the Nazi regime far and wide.The Rise Of The Third Reichs New Radio Personality, Lord Haw-HawUpon arriving in Germany, William Joyce immediately offered his services to Joseph Goebbels Reich Ministry of Propaganda and, after a successful audition, he was given his own radio show, Germany Calling. From there, he became the main English-language broadcaster for the Nazi regime. At first, he primarily focused on sowing the seeds of distrust between the British people and the British government. He told the working class that they were being oppressed by the middle class and wealthy Jewish businessmen. He launched attacks on the foundations of democracy. And he did it all in a dramatic, caustic, fiery, and admittedly entertaining manner, especially when contrasted with the drier programming of the BBC. The whole system of English so-called democracy is a fraud, Joyce had said, per Historic UK. It is an elaborate system of make-believe, under which you may have the illusion that you are choosing your own government, but which in reality simply ensures that the same privileged class, the same wealthy people, shall rule England under different names.As for the name Lord Haw-Haw, it hadnt actually been intended for Joyce at all. Daily Express radio critic Jonah Barrington had, in 1939, written of a gent moaning periodically from Zeesen who spoke English of the haw-haw, damit-get-out-of-my-way variety with a gentlemanly indignation. Barrington had most likely been referring to the German broadcaster Wolf Mittler, who fit the description much better, but given that Joyce was more prominent than Mittler, the name stuck to him instead. I tell the Fhrer about Lord Haw-Haws success, Goebbels wrote in a journal entry about Joyces broadcasts, which is really astonishing.Public DomainA cartoon parodying William Joyces broadcasts.The goal of Lord Haw-Haws broadcasts was to discourage and demoralize Allied troops and the British public, aiming to suppress the war effort and persuade the Allies to accept peace terms that would leave the Nazi regime intact. He specialized in a mix of fear-mongering and sarcasm, often exaggerating German military successes and highlighting British problems. By 1940, Joyce had become a German citizen, and though he enjoyed success within the Nazi regime over the next half decade (at one point boasting 6 million regular listeners in the U.K.), his actual impact on British morale was minimal. But even though most Brits saw him as an entertainer rather than a leader, this isnt to say that all listeners were laughing.He talks a lot of cock and 75 percent of his statements are either lies or propaganda, but occasionally he hits the nail on the head, said one Royal Air Force airman. Its then that he makes you think. You wonder whether a lot of his statements are also true.But his constant contempt and sneering eventually wore thin. Many listeners who were initially amused by him became annoyed by him, and few seemed to take his messages seriously. And as the war progressed and the tide turned against Germany, Joyce became increasingly irrelevant but fatefully, some people still remembered him after the war ended. Lord Haw-Haws Last BroadcastWilliam Joyce made his final broadcast from Hamburg on April 30, 1945, the same day Adolf Hitler died by suicide in Berlin. Joyce said, And now I ask you earnestly, can Britain survive? I am profoundly convinced that without German help she cannot. He later signed off, Heil Hitler and farewell.With the Nazi regime collapsing, Joyce and his wife planned to flee to Sweden before moving to neutral Ireland. However, their escape was botched. Joyce was captured near Germanys border with Denmark on May 29, 1945, after he encountered two British officers and spoke to them. Though he had false papers with him, his distinctive voice revealed his real identity. He was subsequently brought back to Britain to face trial for treason, but the court faced the legal challenge of establishing that Joyce had owed allegiance to Britain in the first place. Given that he was born in the United States to an Irish father and held American citizenship, his status was seen as somewhat ambiguous. But there was a technicality in the courts favor: Joyce had acquired a British passport before leaving for Germany.Public DomainWilliam Joyce, pictured after being arrested by Allied soldiers.Though Joyce obtained the passport by falsely claiming to be a British subject, the court argued that by holding this document, he had accepted the rule and protection of the British King and, therefore, owed allegiance to the Crown during the time in which his passport was considered valid. In the end, he was found guilty of high treason for the propaganda he broadcasted during the time that he held the British passport, and he was ultimately sentenced to death for his crime.Failing to appeal the verdict, William Joyce was hanged at Wandsworth Prison on Jan. 3, 1946. He was 39 years old.His alleged last words, according to the National WWII Museum, were unsurprisingly antisemitic and unapologetic for his actions:In death as in life, I defy the Jews who caused this last war, and I defy the power of darkness which they represent. I warn the British people against the crushing imperialism of the Soviet Union. May Britain be great once again and in the hour of the greatest danger in the West may the standard be raised from the dust, crowned with the words You have conquered nevertheless. I am proud to die for my ideals and I am sorry for the sons of Britain who have died without knowing why.After reading the story of Lord Haw-Haw, a.k.a. William Joyce, read the story of Mildred Gillars, a.k.a. Axis Sally, the American voice of Nazi propaganda during World War II. Then, learn about Ian Brady, the Nazi-obsessed Scot who brutalized five children in 1960s England.The post The Twisted Story Of William Joyce And His Nazi Propagandist Alter-Ego Lord Haw-Haw appeared first on All That's Interesting.