1
00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:15,800
Speaker 1: Diversion audio. A note this episode contains descriptions of violence

2
00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,360
Speaker 1: that may be disturbing for some audiences. Please take care

3
00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:24,680
Speaker 1: in listening. This series is based on historical characters and

4
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:29,000
Speaker 1: real events. Some dialogue has been imagined for dramatic purposes

5
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:38,720
Speaker 1: when no primary source material is available. Virginia Hall's life

6
00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,640
Speaker 1: had changed again. She was back and occupied France, but

7
00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:45,560
Speaker 1: she was no longer working for the British. She was

8
00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,480
Speaker 1: an agent of the O S S, America's first independent

9
00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:55,080
Speaker 1: intelligence agency, the forerunner of the CIA. Virginia was living

10
00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,760
Speaker 1: in the Cone farmhouse of a respected resistance leader named

11
00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:02,840
Speaker 1: Colonel Vessroau. She was spending the majority of her existence

12
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,560
Speaker 1: in disguise as an old woman, decked out in multiple

13
00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:11,560
Speaker 1: wolf skirts, makeshift prosthetics, and dyed gray hair, all the

14
00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,760
Speaker 1: while constantly walking by wanded posters stabled around town with

15
00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,520
Speaker 1: sketches of the limping lady. But this new life promised

16
00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,160
Speaker 1: Virginia is something she'd been waiting for since she'd had

17
00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:26,560
Speaker 1: a fleet France almost eighteen months earlier, the opportunity to

18
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:36,600
Speaker 1: take the fight directly to the Nazis. After making initial contact,

19
00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,440
Speaker 1: Colonel Vesserot got straight to the point with his newest operative.

20
00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:47,360
Speaker 1: I can't let to you, Virginia, but they've got no

21
00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,800
Speaker 1: idea what's they're doing out there? They need the structure.

22
00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,360
Speaker 1: The Mackie was a new faction of French, British and

23
00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,440
Speaker 1: German freedom fighters. I called them Ragtag in the last episode.

24
00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,680
Speaker 1: They were scrappy guerrilla warfare fighters who could blend in

25
00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,680
Speaker 1: with the French citizen ray and sabotage German trains, trucks

26
00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:13,320
Speaker 1: and tanks using weapons air dropped by the British. What

27
00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,600
Speaker 1: actions have they been engaged in the confection a run

28
00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:22,120
Speaker 1: occasional ambushes on wandering German forces. But our sizes are

29
00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,280
Speaker 1: growing too large. It's good we have more men joining

30
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,519
Speaker 1: the resistance, but when now in a difficult position, if

31
00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,600
Speaker 1: we're too large, we attract attention. We'll never built an

32
00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,519
Speaker 1: army big enough to beat back the Nazis, and we

33
00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,600
Speaker 1: don't have the food or weapons to supply our current stock.

34
00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,880
Speaker 1: The sad truth as the matter is, we work better

35
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,519
Speaker 1: in the shadows, and more men shrink our cover. How

36
00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:57,280
Speaker 1: many just over a hundred now, Split them up, arrange

37
00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,799
Speaker 1: about twenty five in each group, trend them and them separately.

38
00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,160
Speaker 1: I don't know anyone who could lead the other groups

39
00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:10,840
Speaker 1: while I'm off training each other. Yes, Colonel you do.

40
00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:27,120
Speaker 1: I'm Steven Talty and from diversion. This is good Assassin's

41
00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,320
Speaker 1: Season two. Being killed would be the easy part. Being

42
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,600
Speaker 1: tortured would be the hard part. Our intel suggests she

43
00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,960
Speaker 1: is behind many of the prison bricks all over the country.

44
00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:47,200
Speaker 1: She's dangerous, so sabotage plus a little espionage paramilitary operations

45
00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:52,360
Speaker 1: make things blow up. The message for Captain Bobby, I

46
00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:59,680
Speaker 1: believe I have found the nest of the Limping Lady.

47
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:10,920
Speaker 1: Episode nine. Agents of Sabotage in May of Virginia had

48
00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:15,880
Speaker 1: split Colonel Vessero's Macki faction into smaller groups of fighters,

49
00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,400
Speaker 1: each allowing them to continue working in secret without attracting

50
00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,120
Speaker 1: attention from the Nazis. The Makis were ecstatic to be

51
00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,080
Speaker 1: led by a real secret agent, though they were slightly

52
00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,560
Speaker 1: put off by the site of Virginia in disguise as

53
00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:36,240
Speaker 1: an elderly limping woman. But as Brad Catling, Virginia's great nephew,

54
00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,480
Speaker 1: reminded us when we spoke to him, she had a

55
00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,400
Speaker 1: commanding presence. I mean, if she walked in the room,

56
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,880
Speaker 1: you knew who was in charge immediately. The words that

57
00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:52,520
Speaker 1: she spoke were inevitabilities. In fact, there was one member

58
00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:57,080
Speaker 1: of the Marquis that had worked with Virginia who said

59
00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,920
Speaker 1: that she was very strict and very authoritative, and there

60
00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,960
Speaker 1: was one instance where this band said that he had

61
00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:09,400
Speaker 1: taken a home, Eric Bolloxing from Virginia because he hadn't

62
00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,680
Speaker 1: done the right thing. In the beginning of her work

63
00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,920
Speaker 1: with the Maquis, Virginia felt it necessary to keep up

64
00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,120
Speaker 1: her cover. After all, she didn't know who could be

65
00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:23,400
Speaker 1: a defector secretly giving information back to the enemy, and

66
00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,440
Speaker 1: she didn't have time to interrogate them all. She was

67
00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,760
Speaker 1: still haunted by Robert Alesh, the only man who had

68
00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,279
Speaker 1: successfully burned her back in November of forty two. Alesha

69
00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,160
Speaker 1: was still out there somewhere, likely still looking for her,

70
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,920
Speaker 1: and that's another reason why she split the Maquis into

71
00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,640
Speaker 1: smaller groups. She could communicate distinct information to each and

72
00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,800
Speaker 1: if one group was compromised, the others wouldn't be Scouting

73
00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,880
Speaker 1: out a rat among twenty five men is difficult, but

74
00:05:52,960 --> 00:06:13,640
Speaker 1: much simpler than among a hundred. Virginia's first lesson was

75
00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,480
Speaker 1: to teach the makee man how to hail parachute drops

76
00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:21,400
Speaker 1: for supplies. She gave them appropriate times for scheduling cloudy

77
00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:23,840
Speaker 1: nights in the middle of the week, as well as

78
00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:28,680
Speaker 1: a list of code words for specific items. Maggots was

79
00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:33,160
Speaker 1: the name for anything related to explosive materials, dough used

80
00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:38,440
Speaker 1: for demolition items, and yeast for incendiaries. Virginia also provided

81
00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,280
Speaker 1: radio codes so they could schedule the drops when they

82
00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:45,200
Speaker 1: needed them, but this came with a condition. Too many

83
00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,080
Speaker 1: drops scheduled would signal locations and routines to the Nazis.

84
00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,560
Speaker 1: The drops were lifelines to the resistance. If they were abused,

85
00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,000
Speaker 1: the Marquis would be obliterated in a few weeks and

86
00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,279
Speaker 1: the Allies would lose one of their most important resistance groups.

87
00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,000
Speaker 1: So Virginia counseled the Marquis on how to keep their

88
00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:08,200
Speaker 1: actions under the radar literally. She also taught them how

89
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,720
Speaker 1: to suss out bad intel broadcast by undercovered Germans. By

90
00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,440
Speaker 1: this point in time, the Nazis were doing everything in

91
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:20,040
Speaker 1: their power to sabotage the growing Marquis line. By late

92
00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:24,360
Speaker 1: May of forty four, French resistors were getting ANTSI. They've

93
00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,040
Speaker 1: been told to expect the arrival of the Americans, who

94
00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,000
Speaker 1: are planning their invasion of Europe, but had been given

95
00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:35,400
Speaker 1: no confirmed timeline. The message was clear reinforcements were coming,

96
00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:40,040
Speaker 1: but the time and day that was a different, ambiguous story,

97
00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,000
Speaker 1: and every day of waiting saw the Nazis become more

98
00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,480
Speaker 1: and more brutal as they upped their retaliations against the

99
00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,720
Speaker 1: French citizenry. The Germans were expecting the American invasion too,

100
00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,320
Speaker 1: and they wanted to dwindle French forces as much as possible.

101
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,360
Speaker 1: Seeing this escalation, Virginia made the call that the Maki

102
00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,080
Speaker 1: would halt all major operations for a time. She wanted

103
00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,920
Speaker 1: to attack right before the Americans crossed the border. That

104
00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:10,560
Speaker 1: way they could sabotage German equipment and give the Nazis

105
00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:19,760
Speaker 1: less time to repair or restrategize. Richis London callings in

106
00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:25,880
Speaker 1: the European news service of the British postcast incorporation. Every evening,

107
00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,360
Speaker 1: the resistance operatives would huddle around the radio and listen

108
00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,360
Speaker 1: to broadcasts made by the BBC France. They were waiting

109
00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,840
Speaker 1: for the message that the Americans had arrived and the

110
00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:40,199
Speaker 1: invasion had begun, so most evenings were disappointing as the

111
00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:46,600
Speaker 1: notice wasn't given the little call, the little call, the

112
00:08:46,640 --> 00:09:00,679
Speaker 1: American novel lamp, because the American girls lacrobello for the few.

113
00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:06,960
Speaker 1: All the truth direct me who. Of course, the English

114
00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,360
Speaker 1: didn't rule the airways alone. During this period, there was

115
00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:14,760
Speaker 1: another voice broadcasting, and she was taunting the Allied forces

116
00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,240
Speaker 1: from the safety of Berlin. I left on the side

117
00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:20,839
Speaker 1: of profit her work here. I'm not on the side

118
00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,439
Speaker 1: of Aldabelt and his Jewish fairness and his British fairness,

119
00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,760
Speaker 1: because Anton brought up to be one under decent American.

120
00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:35,160
Speaker 1: There of everything Americans constable thing, concerts of our enemies

121
00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,440
Speaker 1: and the elomy complicie to those people who are taking

122
00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,920
Speaker 1: against Germany today and include angels ling in the highly

123
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:48,040
Speaker 1: against America town. Her name was access Sally, and her

124
00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:52,840
Speaker 1: goals were simple, to infuriate and demoralize the American troops

125
00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:57,240
Speaker 1: who were waiting to invade. She had tried time and

126
00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,280
Speaker 1: time again to become an actress of Summary now and

127
00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:05,840
Speaker 1: on Broadway, and fails every time. That's Richard Lucas. He

128
00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:10,040
Speaker 1: wrote access Sally, The American Voice of Nazi Germany, the

129
00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,120
Speaker 1: first biography of Mildred Giller's also known as access Sally

130
00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:21,520
Speaker 1: Gillers was born in the United States but moved to

131
00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,680
Speaker 1: Germany in the nineteen thirties and the hopes of finding fame.

132
00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:30,520
Speaker 1: She was just languishing until she got to Germany. She

133
00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:33,880
Speaker 1: found that she was instead of at the bottom, she

134
00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,160
Speaker 1: was near the top, mixing with people who had some

135
00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:41,239
Speaker 1: influence in the German film industry. She was also determined

136
00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,840
Speaker 1: to be a success at any cost. In y Geller's

137
00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,559
Speaker 1: got a job at the German State Radio Corporation as

138
00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,880
Speaker 1: a broadcaster for Reich Radio. She would speak directly to

139
00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:57,440
Speaker 1: American soldiers fighting abroad and their sweethearts back home, and

140
00:10:57,600 --> 00:10:59,800
Speaker 1: she would say, I'm speaking to the women of a miracle,

141
00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,400
Speaker 1: the women of America. Don't you wish that you had

142
00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,520
Speaker 1: your your husband's home now? Instead they're off fighting for

143
00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:11,280
Speaker 1: the Jewish and the British. She would talk to the

144
00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,520
Speaker 1: American fighting and she would insinuate that their wives and

145
00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:19,680
Speaker 1: sweethearts were fooling around behind their back with the fore ASTs.

146
00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:25,480
Speaker 1: Her broadcasts became extremely popular. I think they are popular

147
00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,400
Speaker 1: because of the music and because she was playing jazz,

148
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:32,160
Speaker 1: which was illegal in Germany. She was playing things that

149
00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:35,719
Speaker 1: no other person on Berlin radio was able to play,

150
00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:40,840
Speaker 1: and it was immensely popular with most of the soldiers said,

151
00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,679
Speaker 1: we never paid any attention to the political content. We

152
00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,240
Speaker 1: just listened to the music. And it was kind of

153
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:51,480
Speaker 1: a joke too. Because Geller's remained in the American Citizen,

154
00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:54,840
Speaker 1: she was tried as a trader after the war. She

155
00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,440
Speaker 1: was discovered because she couldn't bear to part with the

156
00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,720
Speaker 1: tape recordings of her broadcasts. A lot of it was

157
00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:05,160
Speaker 1: her ego, her arrogance, her overwhelming desire to be remembered.

158
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,960
Speaker 1: At the end of the trial, she was convicted. Our

159
00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:19,560
Speaker 1: only one count, and that counts treason. Finally, on June one,

160
00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:23,600
Speaker 1: at nine o'clock at night, the broadcast of Resistance was

161
00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:30,599
Speaker 1: waiting for arrived first year as the messengers country the

162
00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:36,040
Speaker 1: Long Sobs of the Violet per formula long in Real,

163
00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:40,679
Speaker 1: Long Off. It came in the form of a poem

164
00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:44,320
Speaker 1: written by the famous nineteenth century French poet Paul Verlaine,

165
00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,400
Speaker 1: the lines the long Sobs of the Violence of Bottom.

166
00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:52,720
Speaker 1: We're broadcast by the BBC France channel. It was code

167
00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:57,120
Speaker 1: for the Americans are coming. The Resistance was instructed to

168
00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,800
Speaker 1: remain by their radios and await another broadcast the second

169
00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,320
Speaker 1: part of the poem that would signal the forty window

170
00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:08,680
Speaker 1: in which the Americans would arrive. And then four days later,

171
00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,600
Speaker 1: on June five, the second half of the poem came

172
00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,240
Speaker 1: wound my heart with a monotonous languor. That was a

173
00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:21,199
Speaker 1: signal D Day was coming. Ladies and gentlemen, we may

174
00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,880
Speaker 1: be approaching a fateful hour. All night long. Bullet must

175
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,000
Speaker 1: have been pouring in from Berlin claiming that D Day

176
00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,240
Speaker 1: is here, claiming that the invasion of Western Europe has begun.

177
00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:54,360
Speaker 1: Feet on the ground, on the ground, take cover, he

178
00:13:54,520 --> 00:14:11,319
Speaker 1: walked days. On June, over a hundred and fifty thousand American,

179
00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:15,200
Speaker 1: British and Canadian troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France,

180
00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,880
Speaker 1: and led the invasion against the Germans. It was the

181
00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:21,560
Speaker 1: beginning of the end for the Nazi occupation of France

182
00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:24,360
Speaker 1: and is regarded as the turning of the tide for

183
00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:37,000
Speaker 1: all of World War two. Quickly here the tides turning

184
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:39,680
Speaker 1: against the Nazis meant it was time for Virginia Hall

185
00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,920
Speaker 1: to get her hands dirty again. Keep your voice down,

186
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:52,920
Speaker 1: speak only when required goo. While Allied troops were storming

187
00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,680
Speaker 1: the beaches of northwest France. Virginia instructed groups of the

188
00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,320
Speaker 1: Maquis to set bombs on railroad tracks all around hone

189
00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,360
Speaker 1: in the center of the country, laying the groundwork for

190
00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,720
Speaker 1: the Allies to continue beating back the German forces. While

191
00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:12,000
Speaker 1: the Marquis groups split up, Virginia herself decided to chaperone

192
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:18,200
Speaker 1: two frenchmen, Robert and Hiel, on their own excursion. They

193
00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,840
Speaker 1: arrived at their designated location and around midnight and quickly

194
00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,960
Speaker 1: went to work. The tracks led out of Cone about

195
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,120
Speaker 1: ten miles into the nearby city of sure Pray, Laire,

196
00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:32,160
Speaker 1: where the Nazis would need reinforcement if the Allied forces

197
00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:38,080
Speaker 1: kept pushing forward. Packet in here under the steel niece

198
00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:40,600
Speaker 1: is what needs to take the brunt of the explosion.

199
00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,360
Speaker 1: I can't see anything. We need to light to know lights.

200
00:15:45,200 --> 00:16:00,400
Speaker 1: There are patrols outlook out sail walk in my books.

201
00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:05,200
Speaker 1: Take it off of me. I don't volunteer boats in

202
00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:10,240
Speaker 1: my lap. Just as Virginia and her men were placing

203
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,600
Speaker 1: the explosives on the tracks, a two man Nazi patrol

204
00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:19,440
Speaker 1: strolled down the other side. We'll find out what happens

205
00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:28,840
Speaker 1: after the break. Hi This is Stephen Talty, host of

206
00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,640
Speaker 1: Good assassins. The folks that helped me bring you the

207
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:35,160
Speaker 1: show have just launched another podcast that we think you'll like.

208
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:40,480
Speaker 1: It's called War Queens. Every episode of War Queens tells

209
00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,480
Speaker 1: the story of a fearless, powerful female leader from history,

210
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:49,000
Speaker 1: from Elizabeth Tudor and Golden my Years, high stakes, wartime gambles,

211
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:53,080
Speaker 1: Twain goal is Queen Najinga's willingness to shed and occasionally

212
00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:57,120
Speaker 1: drink blood, to defend her kingdom, to endear A Gandhi's war,

213
00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,160
Speaker 1: to solve a refugee crisis, and so many more are

214
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:05,439
Speaker 1: These are super engrossing stories told by expert historians in

215
00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:10,520
Speaker 1: a way that's successible and interesting. It's great listening. Every

216
00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,280
Speaker 1: episode of War Queens brings you the stories of extraordinary leaders,

217
00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:18,760
Speaker 1: all of them legends. War Queens is out now. Follow

218
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,760
Speaker 1: the show on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app,

219
00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:37,159
Speaker 1: and wherever you listen to podcasts. It wasn't supposed to

220
00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:50,280
Speaker 1: business cold, but supposed to yourself. Virginia and her two

221
00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:54,359
Speaker 1: Makia operatives, Robert and Ngiel, rose as they watched two

222
00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:58,000
Speaker 1: German patrol guards stroll their way down the train tracks.

223
00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,200
Speaker 1: They had just tied two packs of plastic explosives to

224
00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,720
Speaker 1: the rails, and there was no time to remove that.

225
00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,040
Speaker 1: If the Nazis saw them, there was no doubt the

226
00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:10,160
Speaker 1: explosives would be discovered and the trio would be shot

227
00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:15,440
Speaker 1: on site. We can shoot them now before they see us.

228
00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:19,119
Speaker 1: If you shoot the noise, will you just bring more gods?

229
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:21,960
Speaker 1: It will give us time to run and run. Where

230
00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:24,800
Speaker 1: do you plan to just lead them back to camp?

231
00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:34,600
Speaker 1: They'll luck us down like dogs, do not shoot hid.

232
00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,960
Speaker 1: As the Nazis approached, Virginia appeared the worst. It was

233
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,639
Speaker 1: practically a certainty that they'd be seen and shot. But

234
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,000
Speaker 1: as the German soldiers got closer, she noticed posing to

235
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,080
Speaker 1: stumble against the brush. Their mutterings were nonsensical, and she

236
00:18:55,240 --> 00:19:00,040
Speaker 1: realized they were drawn. Maybe they had a chance on

237
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:04,240
Speaker 1: to throw these when they done roll under that bush

238
00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:08,960
Speaker 1: this way. One of the Germans stumbled, the other, catching him.

239
00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,720
Speaker 1: In this brief window, Virginia tossed a rock, which clattered

240
00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:16,840
Speaker 1: on the ground behind the soldiers. As they turned, Virginia

241
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,280
Speaker 1: and her men managed to roll under nearby shrubbery covered

242
00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:25,720
Speaker 1: by the leaves and the darkness. What was that? It's

243
00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:35,679
Speaker 1: the Americans? The inision has started. The Nazis approached the

244
00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,800
Speaker 1: area where Virginia and the others were hiding. Yeah, let

245
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,800
Speaker 1: him come. Uh the lit bullets just as well as

246
00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:49,800
Speaker 1: the Roopers. They're going to see us. Don't shoot the shields.

247
00:19:50,560 --> 00:20:01,720
Speaker 1: Wait do you see that? Just something? Don't uh give

248
00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:08,520
Speaker 1: I don't see anything place. You're not getting your promotion tonight.

249
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:18,760
Speaker 1: I'm ordne guy us made the Nazis didn't find them.

250
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,919
Speaker 1: Virginia let out a sigh of relief. Robert asked her

251
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,800
Speaker 1: if they should finish setting up the explosives. Virginia was adamant.

252
00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:32,400
Speaker 1: How else do you expect to win this war? Virginia

253
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,119
Speaker 1: supervised Robert and Gil as they finished their work. They

254
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,600
Speaker 1: tied the pack of explosives to fog signals, two small

255
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,720
Speaker 1: breakable tubes that were glued to the top of the tracks.

256
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,600
Speaker 1: The mechanism was a pretty simple one. Once the train

257
00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,280
Speaker 1: rode over and crushed the signals, the plastic explosives would

258
00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:54,480
Speaker 1: detonate under the track, derailing the train, warping the tracks

259
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:59,639
Speaker 1: and stopping the transport of valuable German supplies. The Marquis

260
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,560
Speaker 1: wanted to keep the Germans either in the skies, where

261
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,320
Speaker 1: they'd have to deal with American and British pilots or

262
00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,600
Speaker 1: on foot, where they'd have to congregate in large groups

263
00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:13,320
Speaker 1: in order to transport supplies. By sabotaging the trains, the

264
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:18,399
Speaker 1: resistance could poke holes in major German movements. The next morning,

265
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:40,680
Speaker 1: Virginia awoke to good news. The Machi had sabotaged five

266
00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:44,920
Speaker 1: separate rail tracks the night before, derailing four trains and

267
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,760
Speaker 1: obliterating the only feasible pathways for the Germans to move

268
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,680
Speaker 1: supplies and information around France. With the American invasion quickly

269
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,119
Speaker 1: advancing from the northwest, the Nazis would have no choice

270
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:02,200
Speaker 1: but to retreat. As the master mind, Virginia's operations helped

271
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,639
Speaker 1: turn the tide of the war in France. She went

272
00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:10,000
Speaker 1: on to become a major player in an astounding seventy

273
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,960
Speaker 1: one rail sabotages that followed, which in turn served to

274
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:19,320
Speaker 1: inspire even greater French resistance across the country. Allied armies

275
00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:22,600
Speaker 1: of Normandy pushed closer to Eich. Other immediate objectives the

276
00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:25,640
Speaker 1: port of Cherbourg and the railway town of can Ten

277
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:29,240
Speaker 1: miles Inland, an American flying wedge of parachute troops and

278
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,159
Speaker 1: infantrymen has cut the main line of German communications to

279
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:36,120
Speaker 1: Cherbourg by capturing the town of Saint Mara Gliza, nineteen

280
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,440
Speaker 1: miles away and sweeping on across the main Peninsula railway

281
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: and the highway that runs parallel to it. Virginia's reputation

282
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,640
Speaker 1: in both the O s S and the Maquis continued

283
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,359
Speaker 1: to grow. In a month's time, she reported to London

284
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,800
Speaker 1: that she was now leading a group of four hundred

285
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:59,720
Speaker 1: Maquis foot soldiers separated its smaller groups. She continued to

286
00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:03,600
Speaker 1: ray neal London with new reports of German movements and intelligence,

287
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,479
Speaker 1: as well as continuing to schedule parachute drops to arm

288
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:13,159
Speaker 1: the growing resistance. She led dozens of sabotage missions, trapping

289
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:18,119
Speaker 1: Nazi soldiers with detonations that destroyed bridges, tunnels, and railroads.

290
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 1: The Germans were becoming boxed in supplies dwindling. This was

291
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,440
Speaker 1: a watershut period for the resistance. They were starting to

292
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:32,080
Speaker 1: win and other resistance leaders were starting to mimic Virginia's plots.

293
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,560
Speaker 1: All over France, different factions of the Maquis were driving

294
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:40,040
Speaker 1: the Nazis into embarrassing losses and at the same time

295
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:46,600
Speaker 1: growing in number. By August, Virginia was leading almost fred

296
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,800
Speaker 1: Maquis resistance fighters. She had come a long way in

297
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,879
Speaker 1: a decade, but she still found herself thinking about her

298
00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,880
Speaker 1: old adversary, Robert Alesh. He had receded to the back

299
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,360
Speaker 1: burner as Virginia took up command to the Marquis, though

300
00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,200
Speaker 1: he consistently plagued her nightmares. At the end of the

301
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,919
Speaker 1: war was around the corner. She wondered if she'd ever

302
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 1: see him again. She wondered if a leash would be

303
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,440
Speaker 1: brought to justice, and if she'd be the one to

304
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:19,160
Speaker 1: do it. More about the fate of Alesh after the break.

305
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:33,000
Speaker 1: After infiltrating Virginia's s OE faction of heckler In and

306
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:35,879
Speaker 1: turning over many of Virginia's operatives to the s S,

307
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:44,440
Speaker 1: Robert Alsh eventually found himself in an uncomfortable predicament. Hello,

308
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 1: can you hear me? This is Alesh awaiting ortis. I

309
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:55,200
Speaker 1: am on day three of radio silence. If the RASH

310
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,240
Speaker 1: needs me out of Paris, I really need money and transportation,

311
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: but I have not received any new intent. Please uspond.

312
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,920
Speaker 1: In June of nineteen forty four, just days after D Day,

313
00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:16,119
Speaker 1: the Germans slowly began to retreat from Paris, leaving the

314
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 1: city torn between Allied and Axis forces. Robert Alesh was

315
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,479
Speaker 1: not an idiot. He could tell that the Germans were

316
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,920
Speaker 1: losing this war. In a matter of three months, the

317
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 1: Nazis were pushed out of the majority of France, beaten

318
00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 1: back by combined American, British and French forces, before the

319
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 1: Allies regained control of Paris and liberated the city on

320
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:43,919
Speaker 1: August twenty fifth, nineteen forty four. Alesh quickly escaped the country,

321
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:49,359
Speaker 1: traveling back to his original home in Luxembourg. There, nobody

322
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,639
Speaker 1: knew about his association with the Nazis and he wasn't

323
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: considered a criminal, but he still needed a job. It

324
00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,879
Speaker 1: was here he decided to officially return to the seminary,

325
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,679
Speaker 1: so he forged a letter from the Archbishop of Paris

326
00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,200
Speaker 1: to a Belgian bishop. In it, the fake archbishop spoke

327
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 1: highly of Aleshous credentials and even noted that he attempted

328
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:16,240
Speaker 1: to rebel against the Germans during the occupation. His deception

329
00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 1: was successful, and beginning in November nineteen forty four, Alash

330
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 1: began work as a chaplain in Brussels. What Alesh didn't

331
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 1: know was that Virginia decided to spend her last months

332
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,399
Speaker 1: as an intelligence agent with O. S. S writing up

333
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,800
Speaker 1: a report on Alesh, his movements during the war, as

334
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,320
Speaker 1: well as his methods and allegiances. It was a damning

335
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,000
Speaker 1: article that provided a physical description of the man, as

336
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:48,000
Speaker 1: well as crediting Alesh with espionage and treason that led

337
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:52,920
Speaker 1: to the arrests and deaths of multiple resistance members. Virginia

338
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,000
Speaker 1: may not have been given the latitude to hunt for

339
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,080
Speaker 1: Alesh herself, but she refused to let him get away

340
00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 1: that easily. Just six months later, in Robert, Lesh was

341
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 1: discovered and identified by the Allies in Luxembourg, arrested and

342
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:12,240
Speaker 1: sent back to France. They had used Virginia's reporting to

343
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 1: track him down. I know you as me. He is

344
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:27,000
Speaker 1: a verdict. Alesha must have wondered how exactly he'd been caught.

345
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 1: He's been so careful for so long. As the jury

346
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,879
Speaker 1: reached a consensus, he must have thought back on the

347
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,840
Speaker 1: limping lady. He had found her, but not captured her,

348
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,600
Speaker 1: damaged her network of spies, who was never able to

349
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:47,119
Speaker 1: hand her over to his superiors. He must have believed

350
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:51,359
Speaker 1: that somehow she had a hand in his arrest. Of course,

351
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:55,000
Speaker 1: we know what Aleshed didn't that. Virginia's writings painted a

352
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:59,000
Speaker 1: damning portrait of a priest who abdicated his divinical duties

353
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,399
Speaker 1: in order a prophet of the Nazi regime, and it

354
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,480
Speaker 1: was her reporting that did him in. Mr Lee, Judge,

355
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 1: the court finds Robert Alsh guilty of high treason. He

356
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,240
Speaker 1: turned out to be the worst of all possible characters.

357
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:23,400
Speaker 1: That's bread Catling again, Virginia's grand nephew. She was right,

358
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:28,159
Speaker 1: she was right to to not trust him completely, but

359
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:33,040
Speaker 1: unfortunately the rest of her network did, and you know,

360
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 1: they paid the price. There was only one resolution for

361
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:40,520
Speaker 1: a lesh. He was found guilty of his crimes and

362
00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 1: sentenced to death. He was executed by firing squad on January.

363
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,600
Speaker 1: The end of World War Two was indeed around the corner.

364
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,760
Speaker 1: The l has continued to advance, the German forces in

365
00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 1: the East fell to a hellish Russian winter, and on

366
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:13,000
Speaker 1: April the German radio has just announced that Hitler is dead.

367
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:19,160
Speaker 1: Adolf Hitler committed suicide in a brilliant bunker. Now we're

368
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,440
Speaker 1: breaking into our programs for the second time tonight, this

369
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:27,400
Speaker 1: time with some splendid news from Moscow. Berlin has fallen

370
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 1: eight days later, Germany surrendered to the Allied Powers. Note

371
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:39,560
Speaker 1: that the first atomic bomb was dropped on the Americans

372
00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,120
Speaker 1: would go on to drop two atomic bombs on the

373
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:46,840
Speaker 1: Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August six and eight,

374
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:51,560
Speaker 1: killing over a hundred thousand people. Exactly what that cloud

375
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:55,440
Speaker 1: looked like, I do not suppose any words will ever describe.

376
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,480
Speaker 1: Unlike any other phenomenon in the world has ever seen,

377
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:04,720
Speaker 1: it was possessed of some diabolical activity, as though it

378
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:10,120
Speaker 1: were a horrible form of life. Just days later, the

379
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:13,920
Speaker 1: President announced at seven pm today the unconditional and from

380
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 1: an unqualified surrender of the Japanese. And then, finally, on

381
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 1: September two, world War two officially ended. Yes, the NDC

382
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,040
Speaker 1: mobile unit in the heart center on the posting focus

383
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:33,720
Speaker 1: of a Shire station time enjoy esterday and looked uptown

384
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:38,840
Speaker 1: over a toy feeling writing back faces lifted charley and

385
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:53,880
Speaker 1: brightly and grisly happy at the back. In May of Virginia,

386
00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,440
Speaker 1: Hall had returned to Paris to take stock of the resistance.

387
00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,760
Speaker 1: She discovered that many of her friends and associates hadn't survived.

388
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 1: Some had been executed on site by the Nazis. Others

389
00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:08,719
Speaker 1: were worked to death in concentration camps, and some disappeared

390
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:13,880
Speaker 1: without a trace. Doctor Hussey, however, was not among the fatalities.

391
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,560
Speaker 1: He had survived both the friend prison and then eighteen

392
00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 1: horrible months in Buchebald and reunited with Virginia. During her

393
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,040
Speaker 1: time in the city, Virginia realized that even if the

394
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:27,560
Speaker 1: war in Europe was going to end, there was still

395
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 1: a lot of work to be done bringing justice to

396
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:34,160
Speaker 1: the surviving Nazis. Just as she did with Robert Alesh,

397
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,480
Speaker 1: Virginia wrote up multiple reports with regards to what she

398
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:40,840
Speaker 1: saw during her time with both Britain's s OE and

399
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:45,520
Speaker 1: the American Office of Strategic Services. Her reports named multiple

400
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:49,400
Speaker 1: Nazis and spies and would be instrimental in their respective

401
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:52,880
Speaker 1: arrests and trials. But when you think of a trailblazer,

402
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:58,480
Speaker 1: she absolutely embodies it. It's someone who was willing to

403
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 1: defy all convention him. She broke so many barriers, and

404
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:07,960
Speaker 1: I think she she just embodies that selfless sacrifice, that

405
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:12,840
Speaker 1: sense of mission that is to that extreme, I think

406
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:17,320
Speaker 1: is fairly rare. She did it because she thought she

407
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:23,640
Speaker 1: was fundamentally writing a wrong that's Karen Schaefer, a former

408
00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:28,160
Speaker 1: CIA operative we heard from an episode six. Schaefer sees

409
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:31,560
Speaker 1: Virginia is a huge inspiration, a key figure in the

410
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:35,240
Speaker 1: history of intelligence, and in fact, with Schaeffer retired in

411
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:38,440
Speaker 1: two thousand nine, she was given a portrait of Virginia.

412
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:45,600
Speaker 1: There could not be a more incredibly thoughtful retirement gift.

413
00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 1: Putting me even in the same planet with Virginia Hall

414
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,880
Speaker 1: is about as good as it gets. You don't want

415
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:57,080
Speaker 1: bands practice like marching bands practice. The conductor is standing

416
00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:02,960
Speaker 1: on the platform, Brad Cat, Virginia's great nephew. It seems

417
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 1: to me that Virginia saw the world that way. She

418
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:10,520
Speaker 1: saw the big picture as well as the infinite details,

419
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:15,040
Speaker 1: and was able to react within those and make really

420
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:24,120
Speaker 1: good decisions. On and the now declassified memorandum to President

421
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:28,200
Speaker 1: Harry Truman O s S Director William J. Donovan wrote,

422
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: Miss Virginia Hall, an American civilian working for this agency

423
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 1: in the European theater of operations, has been awarded the

424
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:43,000
Speaker 1: Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in connection with military

425
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:48,080
Speaker 1: operations against the enemy. We understand that Miss Hall is

426
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,920
Speaker 1: the first civilian woman in this war to receive the

427
00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:56,000
Speaker 1: Distinguished Service Cross, despite the fact that she was well

428
00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:00,720
Speaker 1: known to the Gestapo. Ms Hall voluntarily turned to France

429
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:05,200
Speaker 1: in March ninety four to assist in sabotage operations against

430
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:10,120
Speaker 1: the Germans. Through her courage and physical endurance, even though

431
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:13,879
Speaker 1: she had previously lost a leg in an accident. Miss

432
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:18,760
Speaker 1: Hall succeeded in organizing, arming, and training French resistance forces,

433
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:22,360
Speaker 1: which took part in many engagements with the enemy and

434
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:26,160
Speaker 1: a number of acts of sabotage, resulting in the demolition

435
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:30,040
Speaker 1: of many bridges, the destruction of a number of supply trains,

436
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:36,000
Speaker 1: and the disruption of enemy communications. Inasmuch as an award

437
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:38,759
Speaker 1: of this kind has not been previously made during the

438
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:45,319
Speaker 1: present war, you may wish to make the presentation personally. Ever,

439
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:48,960
Speaker 1: the pragmatist Virginia was only willing to accept the prestigious

440
00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 1: Distinguished Service Cross once the fanfare around it died down.

441
00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 1: She refused to distract from honoring the thousands of lives

442
00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 1: that were lost in pursuit of stopping the Germans. Virginia

443
00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:04,120
Speaker 1: retired from the O s S shortly after, on September

444
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:07,320
Speaker 1: twenty eighth, nineteen forty five. She would then go on

445
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,280
Speaker 1: to work for the U. S A's newly formed Central

446
00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:13,920
Speaker 1: Intelligence Agency in nineteen forty seven, as well as the

447
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,480
Speaker 1: Special Activities Division, but she was never able to get

448
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:20,759
Speaker 1: along with her superiors, who seemed to undervalue the work

449
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:24,760
Speaker 1: she'd done in the war. In nineteen fifty seven, Virginia

450
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 1: married Frenchman Paul Guayot, an agent she had met in

451
00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:31,280
Speaker 1: her O s s days, and finally retired in nineteen

452
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:35,239
Speaker 1: sixty six. Of course, she would have continued on had

453
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 1: she not reached the mandatory retirement age of sixty. Virginia

454
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: and Paul eventually moved to a farm in Barnesville, Maryland,

455
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:44,959
Speaker 1: where she lived out the rest of her days until

456
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:49,520
Speaker 1: she passed away in nineteen eighty two. It's impossible to

457
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,799
Speaker 1: state the historical importance of Virginia Hall. She was an

458
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,200
Speaker 1: exceptional secret agent and one of the most important spies

459
00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:01,040
Speaker 1: in American history. It's believed that were her hands on work,

460
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,600
Speaker 1: she saved thousands of lives across Europe. It was an

461
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:09,320
Speaker 1: instrumental figure in defeating the Nazis. The language employed in

462
00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:13,719
Speaker 1: the official Distinguished Service Cross citation notes working in a

463
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:18,000
Speaker 1: region infested with enemy troops and continually at the risk

464
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:24,040
Speaker 1: of capture, torture, and death. Ms Hold is played rare courage, perseverance,

465
00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:30,360
Speaker 1: and ingenuity. Her efforts contributed materially to the successful operations

466
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:34,440
Speaker 1: of the Resistance forces in support of the Allied Expeditionary

467
00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:39,800
Speaker 1: forces in the liberation of France. How do we define

468
00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:45,920
Speaker 1: our heroes through their work, their beliefs, their sacrifices. Virginia

469
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,279
Speaker 1: Hall was not just a spy. She existed as a

470
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,239
Speaker 1: beacon of determination and persistence in the face of fascism.

471
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:58,480
Speaker 1: At every turn, Virginia continued to fight, to live undercover,

472
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:02,799
Speaker 1: in uncomfortable he in hellish circumstances, all to rid our

473
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:06,400
Speaker 1: world of an epidemic that wiped out millions of lives.

474
00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:11,240
Speaker 1: Virginia refused to accept limits placed on her by others.

475
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:16,600
Speaker 1: She battled sexism, able ism, and agism throughout her career,

476
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,160
Speaker 1: and she still made for herself an identity not out

477
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:24,560
Speaker 1: of ego, but of service. She is the very definition

478
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:33,000
Speaker 1: of a hero. Coming up on the next episode of

479
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:43,640
Speaker 1: Good Assassins, they took everything out they could. They started

480
00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:48,399
Speaker 1: making fires in the synagogues. Well, when this news got

481
00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:54,719
Speaker 1: back to Gebel's and to Hitler, they blew refused. At least,

482
00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:57,680
Speaker 1: that's what most people believed for more than seventy years.

483
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:02,360
Speaker 1: But in two thousand sixteen, Armad Purer, the German journalists

484
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:18,480
Speaker 1: we spoke to meet an amazing discovery. If you have

485
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:21,720
Speaker 1: any questions for us about Good Assassins, if you're curious

486
00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:24,719
Speaker 1: about some aspect of Virginia Hall story, or have any

487
00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:27,279
Speaker 1: comments on the podcast, we'd love to hear from you.

488
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:31,440
Speaker 1: Please email us at Good Assassins at diversion audio dot com.

489
00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 1: Make sure you spell assassins correctly. Again, that's Good Assassins

490
00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,200
Speaker 1: at Diversion Audio dot com. We'll try to answer your

491
00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:43,440
Speaker 1: questions on a future episode. Find us on Twitter, Facebook

492
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:48,080
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Diversion Pods. Good Assassins is a production

493
00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:52,560
Speaker 1: of Diversion Audio in association with I Heart Podcasts. This

494
00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:56,240
Speaker 1: season is hosted by Stephen Talti and written by C. D. Carpenter,

495
00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:01,160
Speaker 1: Produced and directed by Kevin Thompson for Real Jet Packs Productions.

496
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:06,719
Speaker 1: Story editing by Jacob Bronstein with editorial direction from Scott Waxman,

497
00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:12,160
Speaker 1: additional research and reporting by Sophie McNulty. Theme music by

498
00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:17,200
Speaker 1: Tyler Cash featuring the voices of Mikhaela Is Caerdo, Raphael

499
00:39:17,239 --> 00:39:21,279
Speaker 1: cork Kill, Lenna Klingeman, John Pierkes, Andrew polk or Lock,

500
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:26,760
Speaker 1: Cassidy Monouel Falciano, Sean Gormley, Matthew Ament and Steve Rautman.

501
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:32,040
Speaker 1: Sound design, mixing and mastering by Paul Goodrich. Sound editing

502
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:37,840
Speaker 1: by Justin Kilpatrick. Executive producers Jacob Bronstein, Mark Francis and

503
00:39:38,000 --> 00:40:01,520
Speaker 1: Scott Waxman for Diversion Audio Diversion Audio