1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:11,880 Speaker 1: a show that proves there's more than one way to 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 1: make history. I'm Gabe Lousier and today we're looking at 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: the story of one of England's most notorious turn coats, 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: a scornful radio broadcaster who taunted the British public all 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: through World War Two. The day was January third. William Joyce, 8 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: better known to the British as Lord haw Haw, was 9 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: put to death for betraying his country on behalf of 10 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: Nazi Germany. For six years, beginning in nineteen thirty nine, 11 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: Joyce broadcasted anti British propaganda over the radio. He was 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: quickly given the nickname Lord ha Ha by the British 13 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: press because of his cosmopolitan accent and his smug, sneering voice. 14 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: He began each nightly bulletin by announcing Germany Calling, Germany Calling, 15 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: and then he would give a round up of the 16 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,119 Speaker 1: latest war news, or at least the stories that were 17 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 1: flattering to Germany. The show's menacing, mocking tone was meant 18 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: to chip away at British morale, as were its frequent 19 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: suggestions that the British should just give up and surrender. 20 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: During the war, Joyce broadcast from behind German lines, careful 21 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: to spit his venom only from a safe distance. However, 22 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,759 Speaker 1: when the Nazi regime finally fell, Lord haw Haw had 23 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: nowhere left to hide. William Joyce was executed for high 24 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: treason against the British Crown, but his nationality was a 25 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: little more complicated than that suggests. He was actually an 26 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: American born in Brooklyn, New York in nineteen o six X. 27 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: His parents were both from Ireland, and his father had 28 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: become a naturalized US citizen ten years earlier. The family 29 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: moved back to Galway, Ireland when Joyce was three years old. 30 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: He grew up there and then moved to England when 31 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: he was just fourteen. There he lied about his age 32 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: and wound up being recruited as a courier for the 33 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: British Army during the Irish War for Independence. When it 34 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: was discovered that he was under age, Joyce was dismissed 35 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: from service, but decided to remain in London. He enrolled 36 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: in Birkebeck College, and it was during his studies that 37 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: he first began to flirt with the idea of fascism. 38 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: One day, Joyce attended a meeting for a Conservative Party 39 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: candidate and a fight broke out in the crowd. Joyce 40 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: was slashed with a razor along the right side of 41 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: his face, and the attack left him with a deep 42 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: scar that ran all the way from his ear lobe 43 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 1: to the corner of his health. He described as attackers 44 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: as Jewish communists, and later used the event as justification 45 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: for joining the fascist movement. In nineteen thirty two, Joyce 46 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: made his support official by joining the British Union of Fascists, 47 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: a political party founded that same year. Joyce quickly climbed 48 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: the ranks of the group and became its director of 49 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: propaganda in nineteen thirty four. He had a way with words, 50 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: but as time went on, his rhetoric became more and 51 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: more aggressive and overtly anti Semitic. In late August of 52 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine, just before the official start of World 53 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: War Two, Joyce and his wife Margaret, traveled to Germany 54 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: on British passports. Joyce had obtained his passport one year 55 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: earlier by pretending to be a British subject when he 56 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: was in fact an American citizen. Once the war had 57 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: officially begun, Joyce renounced his phony British sizenship and became 58 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: a German citizen instead. He then traveled to Berlin, where 59 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: he joined the Reish Ministry of Propaganda and began hosting 60 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: his radio show Germany Calling. The head of the Ministry, 61 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: Joseph Goebbels, selected Joyce largely because he was a foreign fascist. 62 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: It was hoped that Joyce's clipped British accent would make 63 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: Nazi propaganda more compelling and palatable to listeners and Allied countries. 64 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: At first, Joyce's broadcasts were simply aimed at sewing division 65 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: among the British populace, and for that he stuck close 66 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,839 Speaker 1: to the fascist playbook, pitting the classes against each other, 67 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: undermining trust in the government, and scapegoating minorities. British citizens 68 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: were discouraged from listening to the German broadcast, but many 69 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: did so anyway. In fact, the show drew an estimated 70 00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: six million regular listeners in eighteen million occasional list nurse 71 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: throughout the United Kingdom. Some people thought Joyce's fiery rhetoric 72 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: was a lively counterpoint to the somber broadcasts of the BBC. 73 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: Others wanted to hear an uncensored report on German victories, 74 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: and were willing to put up with Lord Hahaw to 75 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: get it. However, as the war went on, Joyce's propaganda 76 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: turned increasingly caustic. By May of nineteen forty he was 77 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: threatening British citizens with invasion and urging them to switch 78 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: sides before it was too late. The broadcasts lost their 79 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: appeal from that point on, and most citizens began to 80 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: view them as a genuine threat to the country. Of course, 81 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: Lord Hahaw didn't care what the British public thought of him. 82 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: He continued broadcasting throughout the war, moving from one German 83 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: town to another to avoid Allied bombing raids. Then, at last, 84 00:05:55,680 --> 00:06:00,160 Speaker 1: on the evening of April thirty, nineteen forty five, Lord 85 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,599 Speaker 1: ha Ha recorded his final broadcast. The show came in 86 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: the final days of the Battle of Berlin, just a 87 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: few hours before Adolph Hitler shot himself in his bunker. 88 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: As you might expect, the final broadcast wasn't Joyce's best work. 89 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: Given the circumstances. He was noticeably drunk, and his tirades 90 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: were far more rambling and incoherent than usual. I am 91 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: talking to about Germany that is a concept that many 92 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: of you may have failed to understand. Let me tell you, Ingemann, 93 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: the head and of strength, let me hello here. We 94 00:06:54,520 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 1: have a united people a month ablishes, not impared it. 95 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: They don't want to take what doesn't belonged to him all. 96 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: They wanted to live their own and blind. After signing 97 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: off with a farewell hile to the FurReal, Joyce fled 98 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: with his wife to a small village on the border 99 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: of Germany and Denmark. They hid there until May, when 100 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: Joyce was found and arrested by British intelligence officers who 101 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: get this recognized his voice from the radio. He was 102 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: handed over to British military police and then taken to 103 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: London to stand trial on three counts of high treason. 104 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: The question of jurisdiction loomed large in the case. Joyce 105 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: did have a British passport, but he only got it 106 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: by lying about his country of origin. Otherwise he had 107 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: only ever been an American or German citizen, and now 108 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: either of those can be charged with treason against Great Britain. 109 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: In the end, the jury decided that the passport was valid, 110 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: but that Joyce couldn't be charged with treason for anything 111 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: he did after it expired in nineteen forty. That decision 112 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: led to Joyce being acquitted on two of the three counts. However, 113 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: the last count was for broadcasts he had made between 114 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine and early nineteen forty when his passport 115 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: was still valid. On that final count, Joyce was found 116 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: guilty and sentenced to death on September nine, nineteen forty five. 117 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: Joyce appealed the verdict but was dismissed by the House 118 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: of Lords. On January third, nineteen forty six, he was 119 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: taken to Wandsworth Prison and hanged at nine am that morning. 120 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,680 Speaker 1: It was later reported that Joyce remained remorseless up to 121 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: his death, but made no complaint about his execution. A 122 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: formal notice of his death was posted outside the prison, 123 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: where about two hundred and fifty spectators had gathered. His 124 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: body was shown to the jury that convicted him upon 125 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: their request, and was then buried in an unmarked grave 126 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: on the prison grounds. Thirty years later, Joyce's daughter successfully 127 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: petitioned to have his body exhumed and returned to his 128 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: childhood home in Ireland. Even in death, there was still 129 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: a question as to where William Joyce belonged. He was 130 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: a natural born citizen of the United States, raised in Ireland, 131 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: educated in England, adopted by Germany. However, his identity was 132 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,079 Speaker 1: defined more by his commitment to fascist ideology than by 133 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:50,439 Speaker 1: any allegiance to a specific country or people. That blind 134 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: devotion is what made Joyce such an effective propagandist, but 135 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:59,839 Speaker 1: it's ultimately what cost him his life as well. I 136 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Louisier, and hopefully you now know a little 137 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 138 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 1: have a second and you're so inclined, consider following us 139 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t D I HC show. 140 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 1: You can also leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, 141 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: and you can write to us directly at this day 142 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: at I heart media dot com. Thanks as always the 143 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: channel or Mays for producing the show, and thanks to 144 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 145 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:44,679 Speaker 1: for another Day in History class. For more podcasts from 146 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 147 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.