WEBVTT - 7. Escape into the Mountains (Season 2) 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:15.800 Diversion audio. A note this episode contains descriptions of violence 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.360 that may be disturbing for some audiences. Please take care 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:24.680 in listening. This series is based on historical characters and 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:28.960 real events. Some dialogue has been imagined for dramatic purposes 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:47.840 when no primary source material is available. Virginia Hall's predicament 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.520 was pressing a spy working for the Nazis. She knew 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:55.240 his father Akhn real name Robert Alesh, had exposed her 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.440 identity to the enemy. Now she had to get out 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:02.240 of France and into Spain. And that meant an excruciating 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:06.959 climb over thirty miles of tumultuous mountain terrain. It meant 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:11.560 crossing the Pyrenees. Well, it's it's a chain of mountains. 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.320 It stretches from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean like a 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.520 kind of belt, and it's a very natural border between 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:24.080 France and Spain. It's very wild. That's Edwards Sterton, a 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:28.479 BBC broadcaster who made a commemorative track across the Pyrenees 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:33.200 some seventy years after Virginia Hall, and gosh it was brutal. 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:35.680 I mean it really really was brutal. Some of it 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:38.920 you're almost climbing they put some guide ropes in so 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.800 you can hold yourself up, but just scrambling up rocks, 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.280 and it made you realize what it must have been 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:46.559 like for the people who did that during the war. 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:51.040 After his track, Sterton wrote a book called Cruel Crossing 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:55.040 Escaping Hitler Across the Pyrenees about the people who fled 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.920 occupied Europe via this mountain range during World War Two. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:01.800 And I think that there is a strong sense that 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:05.520 the memory of what happened then, under the extraordinary heroism 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.400 that people and generosity of spirit actually that people showed, 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:14.480 needs to be remembered. The Pyrenees claimed many lives once 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:18.480 the Nazis took over France, as French immigrants downed Allied 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:22.519 soldiers and Jewish Europeans attempted to flee over the mountains. 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:28.240 They were the back door who occupied Europe because if 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.400 you think about it, once the Germans had moved in 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:35.120 and occupied France and taken Belgium and Holland and so forth, 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:38.200 there was no other way out of Europe. You couldn't 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.440 go east because you bumped into Germany. There was the sea, 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:45.840 but that was extremely perilous. So the Pyrenees was really 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:49.840 the only sort of the emergency exit, if you like. 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.520 In the trek with arduous to say the least, some 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:58.359 froze to death, some suffocated from the lack of oxygen 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.919 that came with the heights, Some fell into a rocky grave. 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:06.000 Others got lost and were never heard from again. That's 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:08.960 nothing to say of the avalanches that plagued the mountains 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.320 every year. And on top of all that, there was 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.280 always the risk that you'd be captured by the Germans. 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:19.919 Edwards Sterton remembers the story he heard about a child 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:23.880 whose mother carried her across the mountain range. They had 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.240 one extraordinary memory that had come down to her from 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:30.280 her mother who carried her across the mountains, which was 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:32.680 that she cried as a child, as a childhood in 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:35.520 freezing cold temperatures and up in the mountains, and the 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:40.120 guide said, stop your child crying, because otherwise it'll alert 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.640 the Germans to where we are. And if you can't 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.080 stop it crying, I'm going to shoot it, which I 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:48.160 mean sounds awful, But that kind of thing went on 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.920 in the high mountains in what were very extreme conditions 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:59.640 where everybody was risking their lives. Virginia knew that attempting 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:03.200 to try alone would mean death, especially given that she'd 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:07.720 be hiking with her prosthetic leg. Luckily, Peppignon, the town 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.200 she'd landed in, had a resistance contact she knew fairly well, 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:14.800 a man known to her by his code name Jill Bear. 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:21.400 So I say to my friends, if you didn't want 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:28.040 the calf, you shouldn't have paid for the cow. Ah Mo, 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:36.479 my dear and darling a y surprise trip to Papignon 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:41.640 looking for some mountain air. You don't know the it? 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.880 Can you get me over? You want to take the hike? 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.720 I do so, Junior? Can you find me a guide? 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:55.800 Jor It's funny how faith works. Of course I can 0:04:55.880 --> 0:05:01.480 get you a guide? Was the right price. I want 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:09.560 to introduce you to my friends Antoine Jean, and they 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:13.320 are desperate to get over the mountain as well. But 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:20.479 they've come to me a bit empty pocketed. Virginia couldn't 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:24.640 help but feel betrayed. How could Gilbert be so avaricious 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.240 when four lives were at steak? But there's been news 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.800 recently of additional Germans entering France to defend against the 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:37.839 oncoming American forces. Fears were growing everywhere money would be 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:41.920 even harder to come by. Gilbart was one of Virginia's 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:46.800 best contacts who specialized in shepherding runaways out of the country, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:50.239 but it always came with a price. What were you thinking, 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:57.280 Gil seventy francs seventy tho you mean Rice Mark? You 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.640 intend to win the wall? Don't you? What good will 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:07.560 gentleman money be? Then? Funk, that's as much as I 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.000 can do. Oh, I could have the five of us 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.479 bound together and rolled into the nearest sort of gestapo. 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:20.119 Whichever works better for your wallet. Gilly, you've got the deer. 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:25.720 Enjoy your trip. I would bundle up if I were you. 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:39.839 I'm Steven Talty and from Diversion. This is good Assassin's 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:44.080 Season two. Being killed would be the easy part. Being 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:48.359 tortured would be the hard part. Our intel suggests she 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:51.679 is behind many of the prison bricks all over the country. 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:59.880 She's dangerous, so sabotage plus a little espionage paramilitary operations 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:04.280 make things blow up. The message for Captain Bobby and 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:09.200 I believe I have found the nest of the Limping Lady. 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:26.760 Episode seven. Escape into the mountains late in the night 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:31.240 of November eleven, Virginia found herself in a car with 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.720 a three fleeing Frenchman driven by her context you'll bear 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:38.600 to the nearby town of Lava Lenai, where their guide 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.880 across the mountains was waiting for them. The ride was 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:46.960 mostly silent. Virginia felt shame emitting from the other passengers, Henri, 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:51.160 Antoine and Jean. They didn't seem like men who wanted 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:56.400 to accept any kind of charity. They arrived in love Alena, 0:07:56.760 --> 0:08:00.400 and Virginia was introduced to their guide, a tall, secular 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:04.160 Basque man introduced as one. When he saw that one 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:07.600 of the hikers was a woman. Once sneered, muttering a 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:12.160 curse of annoyance in Spanish to Gilbert. Virginia responded to 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.520 One's insult in Spanish, embarrassing him and quickly shutting him up. 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:20.679 It wasn't the best first impression, but Virginia couldn't help herself. 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.400 The route they would be taking over the Pyrenees was dangerous, 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:27.760 and one was unconvinced that a woman could handle the journey. 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:33.360 I think the pass were extremely picky about who they took, 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:38.160 precisely because it was so dangerous and they were risking 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:42.040 their own lives. So I collet you imagine any child 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:46.280 doing this on foot. To be honest, it's it's too tough. 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:51.400 That's Edwards Sterton again. Being a guide or passer was 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:55.360 incredibly dangerous. If they were found out they you know, 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:59.680 things could be very, very nasty. Indeed, and many of 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.440 them who worked or went off into camps in Germany, 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:06.120 a lot of them died. A lot of them died 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:09.600 in really awful ways. The Germans had a system called 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:13.640 noc To, Niebel, Knight and Fog, which meant that people 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.480 just disciplined into the system of concentration camps and nobody 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.200 knew where they were, which of course was intended to 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.400 frighten anybody considering going on to the wrong side and 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.760 joining an escapeline and helping people to get over over 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:34.320 the Pyrenees. The next morning, November twelve, One woke up 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.199 his crew by handing them knapsacks with food for the track. 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.880 He informed the four that they'd each be responsible for 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.320 rationing their own meals and they couldn't bring anything extra 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.760 as the added weight would slow them down. One gave 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:50.800 them the impression he was a real mountain man, as 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:54.520 cold and hard as the rocky exteriors he navigated for 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:58.360 a living. Virginia quickly realized that she'd have to hide 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:01.720 her false leg from one the entire trip, as there'd 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.040 be no way he'd bring her along if you found 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.360 out that, in addition to being a woman, she was 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:13.880 also disabled. As the five march to the beginning of 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:16.800 the trail, one peppered them with facts about this part 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.080 of the Pyrenees. The highest peak was estimated to be 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:23.720 about eleven thousand feet, the range had cleaned over thirty 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.320 lives just that year, and there were rumors you could 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.000 hear the ghostly cries of the lost in the gusts 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:34.680 of wind that blew up from the valleys below. From 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.920 everything we know about her, Virginia Hall was not a 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:44.600 superstitious person. By all accounts. She was very rational, even skeptical. Still, 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:47.360 she couldn't help but listen for whispers in the wind 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:55.120 as they began their mountain ascent of the Pyrenees. Deep 0:10:55.800 --> 0:11:01.880 deep snow, very very cold, absolutely routal conditions. I would 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:06.760 think Edwards Sterton again, you certainly freeze to death, no 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:11.720 question about it. It's difficult to convey quite what it's 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:16.440 like when it gets really really cold. Think of your worst, 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.760 your coldest cold day, and then multiply it by a 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:22.440 hundred and remember, of course, that you are trying at 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:26.920 the same time to track very difficult to rain. Many 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.600 didn't make it, and a lot of those who did 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:33.600 make it tell stories of terrible choices. Either when your 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.360 when your friend is exhausted, do you leave him? Or 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:38.839 do you do you try and bring it with you 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:49.079 with you. It didn't take long before discomfort and fatigue 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.520 began to creep in. It took the group several hours 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:56.240 to hike uphill through the Orgay Valley in Virginia. Stump 0:11:56.440 --> 0:12:00.079 and began to feel rut raw. She could feel it 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.520 blistering against the course wood of her false leg, but 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:07.800 knew that stopping would reveal her disability too early. She 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:12.280 realized she couldn't ignore this reality for much longer. If 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.319 she could just make it to the midpoint of the 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:18.559 journey before she revealed anything to want, at least at 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:29.880 that point, he wouldn't risk turning back. The people of 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:34.040 Marseille are established. According to Alicia Radio at the large 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:36.760 number of troops the Germans are pouring into the city 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:40.240 each day so far has brought a larger block than 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:45.560 the day before. Sixty contingents are expected. All available housing 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:50.080 accommodation has been requisited. Just days before Virginia began this 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:54.800 mountain escape in November, the Nazi regime had in fact 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:58.640 extended its occupation and formal governance of France with a 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:04.040 further invasion of France's southern quote unquote reazone. So by 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:07.600 this time, some two years into the Nazi occupation, even 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:11.319 the mountain ranges were patrolled by the Germans, especially at night. 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:14.760 They've built a number of tiny three man ports at 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:18.679 various checkpoints throughout the Pyrenees, which allowed them to capture 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:22.600 escape bees and fugitives and quickly process their papers for 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:30.520 deportation to concentration camps. Juan plan so the group was 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.760 mostly traveling in the evening and morning hours for the 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:38.240 long stretches with little natural cover. That way, hiding would 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:43.080 be easier if necessary. It was just one rule, never 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:47.000 fleet from the group. If I losed you for even 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:51.360 a minute, forever, it's not my job to find you. 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:54.680 It was one of the few things that Juan would 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:59.000 say the entire trip. He was stoic, no nonsense, but 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:04.839 something about him made Virginia's highly attuned sensors suspicious. Luan 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:07.800 wasn't a member of the resistance. He was just one 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:11.240 of Gilbart's contacts, and Virginia hadn't had time to check 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.800 his background. It was entirely possible that he could be 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.880 leading them right into the hands of the enemy. He 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.920 had already been paid, and there was nothing stopping him 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:25.000 from taking bribes from the Nazis. Once the idea popped 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:28.920 into her head, Virginia couldn't get it out. She imagined 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.120 finally reaching the highest peak of the Pyrenees, straining every 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.880 muscle in her body to make the ascent, only to 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:38.200 be handed over to the waiting, sickening smiles of Robert 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:42.520 Alesh and Klaus Barbie. She could practically hear Unlesha's voice 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:48.360 taunting her. I thought you were smarter than this, miss Oil, 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.080 and yet you are delieve it to me with your 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:59.760 fisthy tail between your legs. She noticed that much of 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:04.840 wh trail seemed to follow closely along a winding mountain stream. 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:08.440 Virginia decided that if he tried anything funny, she could 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:11.200 take the knife she brought along to defend herself and 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:13.440 put some of her s O E combat training to 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:17.160 good use. Then maybe she could guide the men herself 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:21.280 along the stream until they reached Spain. She was ready 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:24.560 to do it, but watching one on the trail and 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:28.400 noting again his enormous size and strength, she prayed one 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:33.400 was on the up and up. We'll find out after 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:43.280 the break. Hi, this is Stephen Talty, host of Good Assassins. 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:45.960 The folks that helped me bring you the show have 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:49.440 just launched another podcast that we think you'll like. It's 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:54.120 called War Queens. Every episode of War Queens tells the 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:58.640 story of a fearless, powerful female leader from history, from 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:03.160 Elizabeth Tudor and Golden my Years, high stakes, wartime, gambles, Twain. 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:07.680 Goal is Queen Najinga's willingness to shed and occasionally drink blood, 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:11.080 to defend her kingdom, to endear Gandhi's war, to solve 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:15.520 a refugee crisis, and so many more. These are super 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:19.520 engrossing stories told by expert historians in a way that's 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:24.800 successible and interesting. It's great listening. Every episode of War 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:28.400 Queens brings you the stories of extraordinary leaders, all of 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:32.680 them legends. War Queens is out now. Follow the show 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.240 on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app, and wherever 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:48.920 you listen to podcasts. The track was proving brutal. Juan 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:51.640 had led to four travelers out of the most dangerous 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:55.440 German hot zones, but now they faced an elemental disaster, 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:01.240 deep heavy snow that devoured every step they took. This 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.879 was especially tough for Virginia, whose wooden leg was of 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:09.359 almost no use. For stub was mangled, bloody, and splintered, 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:12.160 and she couldn't push it against the fallen snow floor 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.560 that came up as high as her knees. She instead 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:18.520 had to move forward on her good leg and quickly 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:22.320 followed behind in a sidestepping motion that got one's attention. 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:27.040 He must have found it strange, but he didn't come now. 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.600 If you haven't already gotten a clear picture of Virginia 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:33.160 Hall as a tough, badass spine, the fact that she's 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:38.440 managing this harsh, miserable mountain expedition with prosthetic leg should 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:43.520 bring it into focus. At a pass between the mountains, 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:47.159 one noted they were at about eight thousand feet, so 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:50.360 they'd have to be mindful of their breathing. He informed 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:54.240 them a substantial break would be coming soon. Size of 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:58.720 relief came from the frozen exhausted room. Up ahead, one 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:02.480 pointed out an old habit he used for his trips. Inside, 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:06.240 he promised they'd find shelter and beds. The trio men 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:10.160 were ecstatic. Virginia, on the other hand, knew this would 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:14.119 be the perfect place for an ambush. Still she didn't 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:21.400 really have another option. The cabin wasn't significantly warmer than 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:24.680 what they trudged through for hours, but it did protect 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:29.560 them from the snow and wind. There are cuts for everyone. 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:32.960 Get some rest. We have to be on our feet. Soon. 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:36.840 I'll make a fire. A fire will attract that engine, 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:44.120 won't it. It'll be small. The wind will hide the smoke. Again, 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:48.119 alarm bells sounded in Virginia's head. She had learned to 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:51.239 trust her gut and had served her well, and her 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:55.280 guts were telling her something was wrong. But the screen 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:58.240 they had seemed to be following had fallen away. Her 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:01.600 foot and hands were frozen. If one was a trader, 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.080 there was really nothing she could do. She wouldn't win 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.600 a physical fight with him, and even if she did, 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:10.280 she either freezed to death in the cabin or be 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:13.639 lost in the mountains. Her best plan was to just 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:17.600 play along with Wan and hope for the best, as 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:21.959 Edward Sterton explains, and once you're at the top, stomping 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:24.160 is not an option. You know. You can't just take 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:27.879 a break. You have to keep going. After one finally 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.639 warmed the cabin with a fire, Virginia waited for the 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:34.080 men to fall asleep. Then she checked her bad leg. 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.600 Her stump was blistered and swollen, with blood oozing through 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.840 the sock. She cleaned it as best she could and 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:53.920 carefully replace the dressing, all the while wincing an extreme pain. 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:57.720 After she dressed the wound, she attempted to get some sleep, 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:02.320 keeping her knife under her knapsack. If someone attacked, it 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:05.679 was within arm's reach and she would go down fighting. 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:13.159 Virginia's later reports on Robert alesh imply he was always 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:16.119 top of mind for her. She had made a thrilling 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.879 life for herself as a spy, and he had almost 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:22.840 single handedly stolen it away, forcing her to flee France 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:26.280 and her work with the Resistance. It isn't a stretch 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:29.119 to think that on this perilous journey he appeared to 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:34.440 her in dreams and nightmares, still in hot pursuit. If 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:41.520 only you were smarter, you could have said so many No, no, 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:50.600 mae Hello. Virginia had fallen asleep and slept like a 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:53.680 rock for four hours. It took her a minute to 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:56.760 register that Juan was addressing her with her code name, 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.920 It's time to go. She hadn't been attacked or turned 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:05.760 over to the Gestapo. Robert Alesh was nowhere to be found. 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:09.439 In silence and embarrassed, Virginia prepared for the rest of 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:12.760 the trip. They packed up and returned to the trail. 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:19.159 After a few hours of hiking, the group arrived at 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:22.439 a small village nestled in a valley. One claimed to 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:25.119 know a family living in the town and said that 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.480 they had offered up their home to any Resistance fugitives. 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:32.520 It was the first time Virginia heard Juan actually referenced 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:35.919 the Resistance, and this allowed some of her paranoia to 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:45.480 dwindle away gusts. They arrived at the home of a 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:49.320 young couple named Philippe and and Marie. Their last names 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:52.800 have been lost to history belief and a Marie invited 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:56.080 the group in and treated them like family. Virginia had 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:59.159 never been more elated to see civilization in her life. 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:02.480 But Leap also allowed Virginia to use his radio to 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:05.800 contact London so she could update them on her status 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:09.520 through the mountains. Using Morse code, Virginia informed the s 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:14.200 OE of her whereabouts there was a safe house midway 0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:19.560 where the famous radio transmission took place. That's Judith Pearson, 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:22.760 an expert on Virginia Hall who wrote The Wolves at 0:22:22.800 --> 0:22:26.479 the Door, The True story of America's Greatest female Spine. 0:22:27.440 --> 0:22:31.199 She radioed to London saying that she was out of 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:36.680 France and in Spain and halfway to where they would 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:40.120 catch the train to Madrid. And they asked her if 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:43.879 she was having any problems, and she replied, Cuthbert is 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:48.399 giving me trouble. And they responded, if Cuthbert is a bother, 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:51.639 have him eliminated. And of course no one knew that 0:22:51.720 --> 0:22:57.359 Cuthbert was the name of her leg. Virginia felt like 0:22:57.400 --> 0:23:00.840 the worst of her journey was behind her. There was 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:04.160 only one more stretch to go. In Virginia's hellish hike 0:23:04.359 --> 0:23:07.440 over the Pyrenees Mountains, the group said goodbye to their 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:12.360 hosts and began their descent into lush, green Spanish valleys. Finally, 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:15.679 they had crossed the French border and made it into Spain. 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:19.480 Now they had to be wary of Spanish border guards. 0:23:20.640 --> 0:23:27.879 At this point late in Spain's international allegiances were nebulous. Spain, 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:31.480 on the other side, of course, was neutral during the war, 0:23:32.160 --> 0:23:36.360 neutral and leaning towards Germany at the beginning. Spain had 0:23:36.359 --> 0:23:40.119 initially declared neutrality in the war, but offered volunteers to 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:44.560 fight alongside the Germans against the Soviet Union, and sometimes 0:23:44.600 --> 0:23:47.920 they made life difficult for people who came over the mountains. 0:23:47.920 --> 0:23:51.920 In some cases they even sent them back. However, Spain 0:23:52.040 --> 0:23:54.800 was wary of fighting against the US, who was an 0:23:54.800 --> 0:23:58.040 important trade partner, and they were terrified of an assault 0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:01.280 from the British. Virginia wouldn't have to worry about German 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:04.560 troops on patrol in Spain, though she'd have to scrutinize 0:24:04.640 --> 0:24:09.800 citizens individual loyalties. Virginia's party managed to cross over the 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:14.200 border without incident and arrived at their destination, the small 0:24:14.240 --> 0:24:18.480 town of San Juan de las avedisas One led them 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:21.480 to a local safe house. When he informed them that 0:24:21.520 --> 0:24:24.760 he'd be returning the next morning, his departure was anything 0:24:24.800 --> 0:24:29.359 but sentimental. Virginia thanked him with some extra funds. He 0:24:29.480 --> 0:24:33.320 thanked her and returned, and then he was gone. Virginia 0:24:33.359 --> 0:24:36.160 couldn't help but be in awe of his survival skills 0:24:36.440 --> 0:24:39.600 as he disappeared back into the mountains that almost killed her. 0:24:41.760 --> 0:24:44.280 Now they needed to catch a train out of town 0:24:44.320 --> 0:24:58.919 to Barcelona after the break in a scene. The train's 0:24:58.920 --> 0:25:03.320 departure to Barcelon lonac is at the next morning. S 0:25:03.400 --> 0:25:07.119 OE informants had given Virginia this time because they noted 0:25:07.160 --> 0:25:10.600 that the Spanish police didn't patrol the station that early, 0:25:11.400 --> 0:25:16.000 they could easily get through without official passports. If true, 0:25:16.400 --> 0:25:19.160 this would be a break for Virginia, who hadn't had 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:23.880 time to forge fake documents before fleeing Leone. It wasn't 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:30.640 the type of careful prep Virginia usually adhered to, you stop, 0:25:31.760 --> 0:25:35.399 but she'd been misinformed. The station did in fact have 0:25:35.560 --> 0:25:38.359 four guards on duty, and they couldn't help but notice 0:25:38.359 --> 0:25:42.680 a limping woman leading around three foreign looking men. They 0:25:42.680 --> 0:25:46.080 were questioned, and when they couldn't provide the proper paperwork, 0:25:46.480 --> 0:25:51.280 all four were arrested at gunpoint. Okay, let's go move it. 0:25:52.119 --> 0:25:55.480 Virginia was separated from the group for questioning because she 0:25:55.520 --> 0:25:58.560 didn't know the men personally, she didn't know their histories. 0:25:59.119 --> 0:26:02.920 The police drilled her for hours. She refused to answer 0:26:02.960 --> 0:26:06.040 the questions, saying only that she wished to speak to 0:26:06.119 --> 0:26:11.720 someone in the American embassy. Her requests were denied. Get 0:26:11.840 --> 0:26:16.119 in there. This is how Virginia Hall came to be 0:26:16.160 --> 0:26:21.359 in a Spanish prison on November, just two trains away 0:26:21.440 --> 0:26:26.000 from safety in London. She had come so far. She 0:26:26.040 --> 0:26:29.080 had built a new resistance faction in France, she had 0:26:29.119 --> 0:26:33.560 stopped numerous German plots and saved numerous British and French lives. 0:26:34.560 --> 0:26:38.040 She had out maneuvered her adversary and Robert lash one 0:26:38.040 --> 0:26:42.800 of the Gestapo's favorite spies, and now she was locked up. 0:26:43.520 --> 0:26:47.280 She feared these local officers would contact others, discover she 0:26:47.359 --> 0:26:50.159 was wanted, and hand her over to the Germans to 0:26:50.240 --> 0:26:54.439 collect the price on her head. She had no moves 0:26:54.480 --> 0:26:57.919 to play, no hidden tools of escape or weapons to 0:26:57.960 --> 0:27:01.520 surprise her captors. It fell like the end of the road. 0:27:02.600 --> 0:27:05.160 All she could do was pray they wouldn't, in fact, 0:27:05.160 --> 0:27:09.480 discover what she really was. And although Virginia Hall was 0:27:09.520 --> 0:27:12.840 a spy of great skill and talent, she had little 0:27:12.880 --> 0:27:23.360 experience with prayer. That was Robert Alesh's expertise. Coming up 0:27:23.480 --> 0:27:29.040 on the next episode of Good Assassins, I want to 0:27:29.080 --> 0:27:33.840 speak to the American embassy. I'm an American. There was 0:27:33.880 --> 0:27:37.280 no way she would survive even if they were able 0:27:37.840 --> 0:27:41.159 to infiltrate her back into the country, and there were 0:27:41.200 --> 0:27:47.840 too many things against her. Interrogation is not something that 0:27:47.840 --> 0:27:52.159 I grow tired of. I mean, by this point, by especially, 0:27:53.040 --> 0:27:55.240 you pretty much know that if you're an active asistance 0:27:55.520 --> 0:27:58.600 and you get caught, you're going to suffer the greatest consequences. 0:28:10.000 --> 0:28:12.560 If you have any questions for us about Good Assassins, 0:28:12.840 --> 0:28:15.720 if you're curious about some aspect of Virginia Hall story, 0:28:16.119 --> 0:28:18.600 or have any comments on the podcast, we'd love to 0:28:18.680 --> 0:28:21.919 hear from you. Please email us at good Assassins at 0:28:21.960 --> 0:28:26.960 Diversion audio dot com. Make sure you spell assassins correctly. Again, 0:28:27.040 --> 0:28:30.480 that's good Assassins at Diversion Audio dot com. We'll try 0:28:30.520 --> 0:28:34.199 to answer your questions on a future episode. Find us 0:28:34.200 --> 0:28:39.280 on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at diversion pods. Good Assassins 0:28:39.320 --> 0:28:42.320 is a production of Diversion Audio in association with I 0:28:42.480 --> 0:28:46.720 Heart Podcasts. This season is hosted by Stephen Talti and 0:28:46.760 --> 0:28:50.760 written by C. D. Carpenter, Produced and directed by Kevin 0:28:50.800 --> 0:28:55.280 Thompson for Real Jet Packs Productions. Story editing by Jacob 0:28:55.320 --> 0:29:00.640 Bronstein with editorial direction from Scott Waxman. Addition research and 0:29:00.680 --> 0:29:06.120 reporting by Sophie McNulty. Theme music by Tyler Cash featuring 0:29:06.160 --> 0:29:10.600 the voices of michaela Is Caerdo, Raphael cork Kill, Lenna Klingerman, 0:29:10.800 --> 0:29:16.280 John Pierkes, Andrew polk or Lock, Cassidy Monouel Felciano, Sean Gormley, 0:29:16.600 --> 0:29:21.520