1 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: Diversion audio. 2 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 2: On May fifth, nineteen forty one. Paris was under Nazi occupation. 3 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 2: Charles de Gaul had been exiled from his own country, 4 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 2: and Philippe Patan had set up a proxy government called 5 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 2: the Vishi Administration. They instated the Aryan laws, very similar 6 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 2: to the Nuremberg Laws, that limited and dispossessed Jewish citizens 7 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 2: almost completely. One important aspect of these racist laws was 8 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 2: that Jewish people could not hold businesses. Said businesses were 9 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 2: forfeited to the government. Here is part of one very 10 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 2: notable letter of request from a partial business owner to 11 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 2: the new Nazi party that now governed France. Parfum Chanel 12 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 2: is still the property of Jews, and it has been 13 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 2: legally abandoned by the owners. I have an indisputable right 14 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 2: of priority. The profits that I have received from my 15 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 2: creations since the founding of this business are disproportionate. What 16 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 2: you just heard is part of an English translation of 17 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 2: the letter that Coco Chanel wrote the Nazi administration to 18 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 2: try to take full control of her company and take 19 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 2: it away from her Jewish business partners. Welcome to the 20 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 2: greatest true crime stories ever told. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer. 21 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:09,119 Speaker 2: Today's episode we're calling Coco Chanel and the Aryan Laws. 22 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 2: It's the story of the famous French fashion designer, but 23 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 2: maybe not as you've heard it before. You're probably at 24 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 2: least somewhat aware of how Coco's designs influenced women's fashion 25 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 2: in the nineteen twenties through the present, and if you're not, 26 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 2: I'll fill you in on that history as well. But 27 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 2: you may not be as familiar with the more shocking 28 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 2: parts of her life, the parts that deal with Nazi collaboration, 29 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 2: the parts to do with invoking the Aryan laws against 30 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 2: her Jewish business partners. Not to worry, I'll tell you 31 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 2: everything I could find about these topics after the break. 32 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 2: I started watching the show The New Look as soon 33 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,959 Speaker 2: as it premiered this year. The plot follows two still 34 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 2: famous Parisian designers, Christian Duer and Coco Chanel, as they 35 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 2: both navigate Nazi occupied France. I'll confess at the time, 36 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 2: I didn't know very much about either of them besides 37 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 2: how to pronounce their names, and I knew that only 38 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 2: based on when they were name dropped in rap lyrics. 39 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 2: So I'm not a hardcore apologist for either of them, 40 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 2: to be honest. The show is basically a high fashion 41 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 2: espionage period piece. It was visually stunning and it stars 42 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 2: Ben Mendelssohn and juliette Venoche. So I was sold and 43 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 2: I do recommend the show for sure. What got my 44 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 2: attention to cover the story on our show, though, was 45 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 2: not the gray area in which both designers had to operate, 46 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 2: Chanelle more so than Dior according to the series. But 47 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 2: what got my attention was the reviews I read about 48 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 2: the series afterward. So many of them said the new 49 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 2: look went super easy on Coco Chanel. The most generous 50 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 2: critique said it was quote too easy to call Coco 51 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 2: Chanel a Nazi. Other cited newspapers of her time which 52 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 2: called her a quote vicious anti Semite, and some of 53 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 2: them were like, I mean, when the Allies came to 54 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 2: liberate France, she fled to Switzerland. You do the math, 55 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 2: So this episode is me doing the math. There's this 56 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 2: bit of dialogue in the opening scenes that I think 57 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 2: sort of sums up where we live when it comes 58 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 2: to writing nonfiction. 59 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 3: Is it true that during the German occupation of Paris, 60 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 3: Kokoschenell closed to hertelier and refused to design dresses for 61 00:04:52,920 --> 00:05:00,839 Speaker 3: the wives of Nazis while you kept designing and making money. 62 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: For those who lived through the chaos of war four 63 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: years Nazi occupation, darker stays of our lives and just 64 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: we did our large designs to him, Nazi whitts and governments. 65 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: There is the truth, but there's always another truth that 66 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: lives behind them. 67 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 2: The line has definitely been dramatized. The real man is 68 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,280 Speaker 2: not on record having said that. So much of this 69 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 2: is drama, and I do love drama. But today we're 70 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 2: going to try to get to the bottom of the 71 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 2: story of Koko Chanel and the Aryan laws, or at 72 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 2: least as deep as I can go. A couple warnings. 73 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:55,359 Speaker 2: Number one, Koko Chanel was notoriously deceptive. She was very secretive, 74 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,720 Speaker 2: and many biographers gave up on her as a subject 75 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 2: because they couldn't get the straight facts from her. So 76 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 2: just keep that in mind as we proceed. Second, we're 77 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 2: a true crime podcast, and technically, at the time, collaborating 78 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 2: with the Nazis in the Nazi occupied France was not 79 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 2: a crime. Don't misunderstand. Though it was exactly wrong, it 80 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 2: was just also legal. So this episode is a bit 81 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 2: of a branch out. I hope you like it, and 82 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 2: I definitely think it's fascinating. Third, there are a lot 83 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 2: of French and German names in these two episodes. I'm 84 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 2: doing my best to pronounce them accurately, but I want 85 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 2: to thank you in advance for your patients when I 86 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 2: mess it up. Seriously, when I went to Paris a 87 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 2: couple years ago, I tried so hard just to read 88 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 2: the words off a menu, and because your girl studied 89 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,840 Speaker 2: Spanish in school, I got asked more than once, oh, 90 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 2: are you Catalan, to which I said, Hui, I am 91 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 2: not an incompetent American tourist. I'm definitely Catalan. Anyway, I 92 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 2: appreciate your grace. As we go forward with the many 93 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 2: vowels and silent consonants of the French language, let's start 94 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 2: at the beginning. I won't spend too much time on 95 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 2: her early life, because well, that's not really what our 96 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 2: show is about. I do think it's relevant to know 97 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 2: some of her background, though, so Gabrielle Chanel, that's Coco Later. 98 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 2: She grew up in rural western France and in poverty. 99 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 2: Her mother died when she was eleven, and her father 100 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 2: abandoned the family. She and her sister went to the 101 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 2: Catholic Aubosine Convent orphanage until they moved into a Catholic 102 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 2: boarding house later. I didn't realize this, but at the 103 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 2: time the Catholic Church was largely anti Symitic. That certainly 104 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 2: does not mean that all Catholics were or are anti Semitic, 105 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 2: and the Catholic Church would later officially oppose the Nazi Party. Still, 106 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 2: the Catechism that Coco would have learned taught that it 107 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 2: was the Jews who crucified Jesus, and hearing that in 108 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 2: school doesn't necessarily mean that Coco was antisemitic either, but 109 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 2: it's relevant information. Plus, at the time, the French were 110 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 2: debating the Dreyfus affair, in which a young French artillery 111 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 2: officer of Jewish descent was unfairly accused of passing secrets 112 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 2: to the German embassy and convicted for high treason. He 113 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 2: was not guilty, but even if he had been, I'm 114 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 2: not sure how this one instance spoke for all Jewish 115 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 2: people everywhere. I feel like listeners of this podcast know 116 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 2: enough to know that over generalizations are how racism perpetuates itself, 117 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,080 Speaker 2: so I think we can leave this topic alone. For now, 118 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 2: just suffice it to say that antisemitic views were all 119 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 2: around Coco. During her formative years. When she was twenty 120 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 2: years old, Gabriel had two jobs. First, she worked as 121 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 2: a seamstress. Second, she sang and danced at a cabaret cafe. 122 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 2: That's where she got her nickname Coco, from a popular 123 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 2: song she performed. At the time. During Francis Bellipac, cabarets 124 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 2: bloomed from small clubs where men could eat and drink 125 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 2: and be entertained by song and dance into the full 126 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 2: blown venues whose names we still know today, like the 127 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 2: Chat Noir and the Moulain Rouge. Most of the performances 128 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 2: were risque, if not outright scandalous. Even with the new 129 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 2: standards of glamour that were becoming vogue, dancing for entertainment 130 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 2: had always been looked down on by high society. It 131 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 2: was not ladylike to perform the can can or be 132 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 2: paid for attracting attention in that way at all, And 133 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 2: even if the performers were not actually prostitutes, they still 134 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 2: had the stigma about them. Coco wasn't a great singer 135 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:01,439 Speaker 2: or dancer, though she was very charming. Many performers, especially 136 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 2: if they were sex workers. The best case scenario was 137 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 2: to leverage their position in the cabaret into status as 138 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 2: a kept woman. I'm not sure exactly where Coco drew 139 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,839 Speaker 2: the line regarding sex work, but she did become a 140 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 2: kept woman, and after a while she turned that status 141 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 2: into a full on patronage. Her first patron's name was 142 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 2: Etienne Balsan. Their relationship was certainly intimate, if not romantic, 143 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 2: but it wasn't long after that when Coco fell in 144 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 2: love with one of Ittien's friends. In nineteen oh eight, 145 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 2: Coco fell in with her second big money patron, Arthur 146 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 2: Edward boy Cappel. He put her in a Paris apartment 147 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 2: and helped her open her first hat shop. Her method 148 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 2: was pretty cool. She went pretty simplistic, well simplistic compared 149 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 2: to European pre war fashions, which were layers and layers 150 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 2: of corsets and frills and feathers and such. She bought 151 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 2: cheap hat bases already made from a wholesaler, and then 152 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 2: she decorated them with minimal accents. It was a big success. 153 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 2: Boy Capel also helped Coco with a more personal matter 154 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,439 Speaker 2: after her elder sister completed suicide. Coco wanted her nephew, 155 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 2: Andrea Palas, to be her ward. She and Boy unofficially 156 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 2: adopted him, and Boy arranged for Andrea to attend an 157 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 2: English boarding school. Boy was very good to Coco. He 158 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 2: was a great love of her life for eleven years. 159 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 2: His station in life required him to marry inside his 160 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 2: class in nineteen eighteen, but he and Coco remained lovers 161 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 2: until his later death by a car crash. One thing 162 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 2: Coco had learned while riding horses with Etienne and Boy 163 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,320 Speaker 2: was that none of the women's clothes were practical ride 164 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 2: horses in, so Coco wore men's clothes. It's pretty interesting 165 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 2: to me that even back in the nineteen twenties, pockets 166 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 2: were a big feature. In all the photos where she's 167 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 2: modeling her outfits, she has her hands in her pockets. 168 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 2: Pockets were and are very feminist accents for clothes, because 169 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 2: that's where you keep money and keys, which are essentially 170 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 2: the markers of liberation. After the First World War, she 171 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 2: pioneered the nineteen twenties flapper silhouette, the tomboy one with 172 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 2: the shapeless torso and the drop waist that was also 173 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 2: very successful. It's at this point, at the end of 174 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty three with Boy, that Coco met the Duke 175 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 2: of Westminster, Edward, Prince of Wales, who was in line 176 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 2: to inherit the throne of England. From what I can gather, 177 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,559 Speaker 2: they had a romance. At the very least, they had 178 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 2: a ten year long relationship of some sort. I'm not 179 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 2: sure how far it went, but I do know that 180 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 2: it was through Prince Edward that she met Winston Churchill. 181 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 2: This is huge later on, so hang on to this information. 182 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 2: It also seems like Winston Churchill kind of sabotaged their 183 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 2: whole thing. He's the one who told Prince Edward straight 184 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,199 Speaker 2: up that English society would never accept Coco as one 185 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 2: of their own because of her past. Remember, not only 186 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 2: was Coco working class, she had done sex work, or 187 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 2: at least was associated with it. This is also interesting 188 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 2: to note because, as fans of the crown will remember, 189 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 2: Prince Edward is known as the Abdicator. He was actually 190 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 2: on the throne for less than a year because he 191 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 2: proposed marriage to a married American woman who had already 192 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 2: been divorced once and he couldn't remain the king if 193 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 2: he was married to a divorcee. Times have clearly changed, 194 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 2: but we don't have to go there, at least not yet. 195 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 2: We will get to it, though, But back to the story. 196 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 2: The breakup with the Crown Prince doesn't seem to have 197 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 2: affected Coco all that much, at least not for long. 198 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 2: They stayed acquaintances and she had many lovers. Here are 199 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 2: a few names you might recognize, Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso, 200 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 2: Pierre Riverdi, Sergei Diagalov. To recap, that's Igor Stravinsky, the composer, 201 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 2: Pablo Picasso, the painter Pierre Rivardi, the poet Sergei Diagalov 202 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 2: of the Russian Ballet. They're all artists. By the mid 203 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 2: nineteen twenties, she was known as a big patron of 204 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 2: the arts too, even costuming for some of the stage performances. 205 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 2: The Ballet Parade was a success because of her, and 206 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 2: Right of Spring would have run out of funding if 207 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 2: she hadn't come to the rescue, which makes her next 208 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 2: alignment very interesting. During the fallout of the nineteen seventeen 209 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 2: Bolshevik Revolution, class systems were changing in Europe, but Koko 210 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:31,280 Speaker 2: was not down with the Bolsheviks. Even as an artist herself. 211 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 2: She might have been a lover of artists, but she 212 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 2: was also a lover of a grand duke Romanov my 213 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 2: true crime people, let me tell you, I was so 214 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 2: incredibly intrigued to learn that this duke was one of 215 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 2: the guys responsible for murdering Rasputen. Still, many working class 216 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 2: people thought socialism would work in their favor. In theory, 217 00:15:55,680 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 2: it should, but Koko, though Nuvoich from the world working class, 218 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 2: thought it would wreck her business. Her seamstresses did strike 219 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 2: against her for better wages, and even though the business 220 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 2: recovered well from the strike once the worker's demands were met, 221 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 2: it must have left her with this sour taste. She did, however, 222 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:19,480 Speaker 2: employ several of the white Russians who sought refuge from 223 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 2: their own country in France. One documentary called this a 224 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 2: quote social revenge, the former aristocracy now having to work 225 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 2: for her, But it also could have been sympathy. I 226 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 2: know you've been patiently waiting for me to get to 227 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 2: the point about Coco's potential crimes, so thank you for 228 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 2: your patience. And here we are. We have arrived at 229 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 2: the inciting incident in nineteen twenty four, at the Horse track, 230 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 2: Coco met Pierre and Paul Wrdimer. The brothers were French 231 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 2: Jewish businessmen. They wanted to distribute all her creations, from 232 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 2: her hats to her clothing, but more specifically, the Wardimers 233 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 2: wanted to distribute her famous perfume, Chanell number five. And 234 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:16,880 Speaker 2: there's no way you've gotten through this much of your 235 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 2: life without hearing about Chanelle number five. It was Coco's 236 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 2: first perfume, but it was the fifth one that the 237 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:28,679 Speaker 2: perfumer let her sample, and it was the one she 238 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 2: didn't want to smell like a rose. She didn't want 239 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 2: to smell like lily of the valley. She wanted her 240 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 2: smell to be as complex as a woman, a whole 241 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 2: bouquet of flowers and a sexy animal musk that lingered. 242 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,879 Speaker 2: And this scent needed to be practical. It needed to 243 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 2: persist all day, no fading around noon. Number five is 244 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 2: not my personal favorite fragrance, but for all the reasons 245 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 2: listed above, I think it might have been if I'd 246 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 2: been around when it debuted. Flappers at the time certainly 247 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,680 Speaker 2: loved it, and it had been growing in popularity and 248 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 2: scarcity since its release in nineteen twenty one. Coco's friend, 249 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 2: thea fil vader, introduced her to the wordimers at the 250 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 2: horse track. She asked them straight up, you want to 251 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 2: produce and distribute perfumes for me? Pierre said, why not. 252 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 2: But if you want the perfume to be made under 253 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:27,680 Speaker 2: the name of Chanel, we've got to incorporate. I'll tell 254 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 2: you all about the deal they struck after the break. 255 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,400 Speaker 2: It's awesome when a creative person can find the business 256 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 2: mind to monetize their creations. It's truly a magnificent connection, 257 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 2: each party doing what they do best, working together to 258 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 2: help each other. You've heard of that happening a thousand times, right, 259 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,920 Speaker 2: of course not. You've heard of Britney Spears not being 260 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,879 Speaker 2: in control of her own life and money, or Taylor 261 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 2: Swift getting screwed in a contract by some intentionally deceptive wording, 262 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,919 Speaker 2: Elvis and his manager ripping off artists of color, or 263 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 2: of artists getting very greedy and wanting much more than 264 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:24,400 Speaker 2: their contract entitled. One biographer, Hal Vaughan, said that Chanelle's 265 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 2: quote nonchalance in reaching a deal and agreeing to use 266 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 2: this same lawyer as the warderers to draw up contracts 267 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 2: borders on commercial recklessness. Another biographer even said it was 268 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 2: her idea to relinquish all business control. She told them 269 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 2: they could start a company if they wanted, but she 270 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:50,159 Speaker 2: wanted to be in charge of the designs. Naturally, the 271 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 2: businessmen agreed. In nineteen twenty four, Chanelle turned into a 272 00:19:55,240 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 2: new French company, Les Parfume Chanel. She turned over the 273 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 2: ownership and rights to manufacture her perfumes, as well as 274 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 2: the formula and methods to produce them. For her part, 275 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,639 Speaker 2: she was the new company's president. She held two hundred 276 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,640 Speaker 2: fully paid shares, which represented ten percent of the capital, 277 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,360 Speaker 2: and she got ten percent of the capital of all 278 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 2: companies that manufactured her creations outside of France, seventy percent 279 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 2: of the outstanding shares went to the wordimers for their 280 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 2: production and distribution, and twenty percent of the shares went 281 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,880 Speaker 2: to theofil baters guys. Kind of like a finder's fee. Now, 282 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 2: that would have pissed me off if the guy who 283 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 2: hooked us up made more than I did. But it 284 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:47,239 Speaker 2: didn't seem to bother Coco, at least not yet. She 285 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 2: had agreed to the contract, signed it in front of lawyers, 286 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 2: but by nineteen thirty, after a stint designing costumes in Hollywood, 287 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 2: Coco got more and more unhappy with their deal. She 288 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,679 Speaker 2: was not a businesswoman, she said so many times. But 289 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 2: now she was sure that the Wardimer brothers were cheating 290 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 2: her out of the prophets they agreed on, and she 291 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 2: resented the deal they had agreed on seven years earlier. 292 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 2: She said, quote, I let myself be swindled, But those 293 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,160 Speaker 2: were the terms she agreed on when she hired French 294 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 2: American attorney Renee de Chambrune to sue the Wartimers in 295 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,639 Speaker 2: nineteen thirty. The trial dragged on for years before she 296 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 2: finally lost. Turns out, a contract is a contract. That is, 297 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:38,119 Speaker 2: it was a contract until the outbreak of the Second 298 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:55,400 Speaker 2: World War. Between the times she incorporated with the Wartimers 299 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:59,120 Speaker 2: in nineteen twenty four and the mobilization of French troops 300 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 2: to war and nineteen thirty eight, a lot happened. Fourteen 301 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 2: years happened, but I'm going to condense them into a 302 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 2: few key points for the sake of telling this threat 303 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 2: of the story. Earlier, I mentioned that Coco had tried 304 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 2: to sue her business partners in nineteen thirty, and she failed. 305 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,679 Speaker 2: In nineteen thirty four, Cooko moved into a suite at 306 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 2: the Ritz Hotel. Based on the photos, I can tell 307 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,199 Speaker 2: you this move was exactly as glamorous and decadent as 308 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:35,879 Speaker 2: it sounds. Her apartment overlooked the Place Vendome. It was 309 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 2: just around the corner from her second apartment, which was 310 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 2: on top of her workspace. From the back entrance of 311 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,200 Speaker 2: the Ritz, she had a very short across the street 312 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 2: commute to her salon, and she ate in the dining 313 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 2: room regularly even throughout the later war. In nineteen thirty five, 314 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,400 Speaker 2: the Nazis approved the Nuremberg Laws in Germany to recap 315 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 2: That set of laws was aimed at enfranchising the Jewish people. 316 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 2: They deprived Jews of German citizenship, deprived them of the 317 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 2: right to vote, forbade marriage between Jews and non Jewish Germans, 318 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 2: forbade Jews to employ German domestic help, among many other limitations. 319 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 2: It was terrible, Obviously, not everyone thought so. Remember Coco's 320 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 2: old friend Edward, the Prince of Wales. He ascended the 321 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 2: throne in January of nineteen thirty six. While still uncrowned, 322 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 2: he was determined to marry Wallace Simpson, who was an 323 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 2: American divorcee. Parliament was going to block this marriage, so 324 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 2: on December eleventh of the same year, he announced on 325 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 2: a BBC broadcast that he was abdicating the throne. His 326 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,239 Speaker 2: friend Winston Churchhill had hoped to talk him out of 327 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:57,119 Speaker 2: marrying Wallace, but he failed. He helped him write the 328 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 2: abdication speech. Eight months later, the exiled Edward, now Duke 329 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 2: of Windsor, and his new wife Wallace, visited Coco at 330 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 2: the Ritz. They were on their way back from vacationing 331 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,640 Speaker 2: with Adolf Hitler at his Bavarian retreat. The open secret 332 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,879 Speaker 2: that is only somewhat confirmed even now, is that the 333 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 2: Nazis had promised Edward to reinstate him should Britain unite 334 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 2: with Germany. In nineteen thirty eight, most of France believed 335 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 2: war could still be avoided. Adolf Hitler had signed an 336 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 2: agreement with Neville, Chamberlain and Munich, and business was booming 337 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 2: for Coco, and French authorities cracked down on anti French propaganda. 338 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 2: In nineteen thirty nine, France mobilized for war. Nazi agents 339 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 2: like Baron Hans guntervon Dinklaga, also known as Spats, fled 340 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:58,919 Speaker 2: to Switzerland. Coco's beloved nephew Andre went to war fighting 341 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 2: with the French troops. His wife and two daughters stayed 342 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,439 Speaker 2: in southern France while he served on the front, and 343 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,400 Speaker 2: Coco took care of the family's needs. There were one 344 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 2: hundred and twenty thousand refugees in France at the time, 345 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:26,919 Speaker 2: and most of them were Jewish. In nineteen forty, Coco 346 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 2: evacuated Paris with almost everyone else who could afford to. 347 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 2: She went to her family in Cobert. Seven weeks after 348 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 2: the Nazis entered France, they flew the swastika from the 349 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 2: Eiffel Tower. Coco and her family waited for news from Andre. 350 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:49,439 Speaker 2: They had nothing for weeks. In mid June, the World 351 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 2: War One hero Marshal Piton had asked the Germans for 352 00:25:53,359 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 2: an armistice. France was now officially occupied by the Nazis. Finally, 353 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 2: Coco and her family got news of Andre via the 354 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:18,400 Speaker 2: Red Cross. Andrea was alive, but he had been captured. 355 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 2: He was a German prisoner of war camp, and he 356 00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:28,159 Speaker 2: had contracted tuberculosis. Coco went to Vishi, that's where their 357 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 2: new leader Patan has set up his headquarters. She thought 358 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 2: that she might use some of her influence to get 359 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:39,199 Speaker 2: more information about Andrea. What she found there was that 360 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 2: the Nazis forced Patan to appoint their puppet as a 361 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:47,400 Speaker 2: deputy prime Minister, and just three months later he approved 362 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:51,640 Speaker 2: a new statute on Jews. He also added his own 363 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:56,480 Speaker 2: restrictions on Jews and unoccupied parts of France, banning them 364 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 2: from high public service positions, and it would only grow. 365 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,680 Speaker 2: Coco stayed at a friend's hotel room since he had 366 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,640 Speaker 2: just been ordered to leave the country. The Vhy administration 367 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,119 Speaker 2: had discovered that he'd helped Jews obtain visas to evacuate 368 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 2: to America. Among the Jewish refugees from France were Pierre 369 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 2: and Paul Wortimer. When they arrived in New York by 370 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 2: way of Spain and then Brazil, they sent an emissary 371 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 2: back to France to tidy up their business. First, the 372 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 2: emissary h Gregory Thomas, needed to secure the formula for 373 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:51,399 Speaker 2: Number five and its main ingredients. By the way, if 374 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,639 Speaker 2: you're wondering why companies like Coca Cola are so protective 375 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 2: of their recipes to this day, it's because formula for 376 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 2: inventions like perfumes and sodas are not covered by intellectual 377 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 2: property laws, so Gregory had to be stealthy about it. 378 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 2: Gregory also helped Pierre's son Jacques, escape to New York, 379 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 2: and he did one more clandestine maneuver. Let me remind 380 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 2: you that Coco had tried to sue the Wurdimers with 381 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:22,560 Speaker 2: no real basis for argument for years. She had already 382 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,959 Speaker 2: betrayed them, even while they were honoring the contract that 383 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:29,640 Speaker 2: she suggested. So it's been four or five years since 384 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:33,119 Speaker 2: the Nuremberg laws, and the Wartimers saw how that worked 385 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:36,439 Speaker 2: out for Jewish companies. So what they did was have 386 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 2: Gregory arbitrate a deal with a French engineer named Felix Amio. 387 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 2: They sold their shares of the company to Felix. Under 388 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 2: the table. Felix sold arms to the Nazi Luftwaffe. No 389 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:56,360 Speaker 2: Germans were coming anywhere close to him. Let me pause 390 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 2: here and reflect for a moment, though, So to recap, 391 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 2: these Jewish businessmen fled their home country for physical safety, 392 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 2: and they essentially broke her to deal with an Aryan 393 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 2: weapons maker to hold onto their company for them until 394 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 2: they were allowed to come back home. On the one hand, 395 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 2: that is a real business person, what incredible foresight strong will, 396 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 2: cool headedness in the face of literal decimation. And on 397 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,959 Speaker 2: the other hand, even if I'd had the presence of 398 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 2: mind to reach the option of doing that, I'm not 399 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 2: sure I would have had the strength of spirit to 400 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,800 Speaker 2: actually do it. I think I might actually rather go 401 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:40,280 Speaker 2: down with the ship on principle. Of course, if I survived, 402 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:43,720 Speaker 2: i'd certainly live to regret it. But regardless of my 403 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 2: lack of self preservation skills, the Wordomers pulled it off, 404 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 2: and it's a good thing they did, because you're not 405 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 2: going to believe what Coco tried to get away with. 406 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 2: Next I'll tell you all about it after the break. 407 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 2: So in nineteen forty Coco must have known that the 408 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 2: Nazis would use French prisoners of war as bargaining chips 409 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 2: like hostages, because she pulled out all the stops to 410 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 2: get her nephew Andre freed. It's not on record how 411 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:37,280 Speaker 2: Coco met Baron Hans Gunter von Dinklaga, the Nazi espionage agent, 412 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 2: but she did. She met him and Baron Louis de 413 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 2: Vouffrelon in nineteen forty one. It was urgent that Andrea 414 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 2: be freed, especially with his contraction of tuberculosis, and because 415 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 2: she was inventive and opportunistic, Coco was sure that she 416 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 2: could navigate through Nazi occupied Paris. Hans and Louis said 417 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 2: they could help free her nephew for a price. Louis 418 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 2: also implied that with these new Aryan laws he could 419 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:12,680 Speaker 2: probably get her company back out of possession of the Wartimers. 420 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 2: Coco had powerful connections in England, Spain and France, and 421 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 2: in the spring of nineteen forty one, Coco Chanel was 422 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 2: enrolled in the Berlin Channel as agent F seven to 423 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 2: one two four code name Westminster. Coco closed all her 424 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 2: boutiques except her perfume shop, because she explained, people weren't 425 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 2: concerned with fashion when there was a war of this magnitude, 426 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 2: but the perfume stayed because quote, not all Germans were gangsters. 427 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,880 Speaker 2: And then interesting, she stayed in Paris. Well, she didn't 428 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 2: just stay in Nazi occupied Paris. She lived at the 429 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 2: Ritz Hotel. You might be thinking, well, she's rich, so 430 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 2: how much of a stretch is that. It's a big stretch, 431 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:18,120 Speaker 2: considering the Nazis had commandeered the Ritz as their headquarters 432 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 2: in Paris. Actually, only certain non Germans were allowed to 433 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 2: stay there, like collaborator Ferne Bideaux, the pro Nazi Dubonet 434 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,959 Speaker 2: family and the Ritzes themselves. Everyone coming and going from 435 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 2: the hotel had to be first invited and then identified 436 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,840 Speaker 2: as well, and any weapons were confiscated in a cot 437 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:44,959 Speaker 2: check like situation, So she's getting a lot of preferential 438 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 2: treatment already. Chanelle's first mission was to Spain, and while 439 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,160 Speaker 2: she was there she stayed at the Ritz in Madrid. 440 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 2: It's impossible to reconstruct her activities while she was there 441 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 2: because France's World War Two archives have all been tragically destroyed, 442 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 2: but British reports say she went to a dinner party 443 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 2: while she was there, and there are some pretty anti 444 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 2: Semitic remarks on the record. When she returned to France, 445 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,480 Speaker 2: so had Andre. He was free, but he was very sick. 446 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 2: While he recuperated, Coco and Lewis worked to convince the 447 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 2: Nazis that Chanelle's perfume business rightfully belonged in her hands 448 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:30,800 Speaker 2: according to the Aryan laws. Jewish companies were all surrendered 449 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 2: to the Vichy administration. She wrote to them on her 450 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 2: own behalf, saying Parfum Chanel is still the property of 451 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 2: Jews and has been legally abandoned by the owners. I 452 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 2: have an indisputable right of priority. The prophets that I 453 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,680 Speaker 2: have received from my creations since the founding of this 454 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 2: business are disproportionate. Here, I want to pause again because 455 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:58,680 Speaker 2: to me, we're in a bit of a gray area. First, 456 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 2: one might argue that the Madrid mission was a quid 457 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 2: pro quo to save the life of her adoptive son. 458 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,439 Speaker 2: Whether that's factually true is somewhat ambiguous. Still, I think 459 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 2: most people could equivocate that the means justified the ends there, 460 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,520 Speaker 2: especially because we don't really know what she did on 461 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:23,279 Speaker 2: that mission. Second to the best of Coco's knowledge, she 462 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,960 Speaker 2: and the Wordermers were getting screwed by the business's forfeiture. 463 00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:32,239 Speaker 2: I can almost not blame her for appealing to the 464 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 2: powers in charge to try to get her own business 465 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 2: back under her control. On the other hand, how bad 466 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:42,960 Speaker 2: does it have to be to align yourself with the Nazis? 467 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 2: I mean, we can't say for sure that she wouldn't 468 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,680 Speaker 2: have siphoned money back to Pierre and Paul, or would 469 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:55,319 Speaker 2: have reinstated their contract after the war, Except unfortunately, we 470 00:34:55,719 --> 00:35:07,800 Speaker 2: can say that, Remember, Cooco didn't know that the wordimers 471 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:12,439 Speaker 2: had protected their shares of Chanelle parfumes. They'd sold them 472 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:17,640 Speaker 2: to the arms manufacturer Felipe's EMO. When the VS administration 473 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:22,759 Speaker 2: notified her of this fact, she didn't back off. She 474 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:27,920 Speaker 2: doubled down. She said it was a lie with no information. 475 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,840 Speaker 2: She said that Pierre was still in control and Felix 476 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:37,040 Speaker 2: was just a figurehead. That is a no. There is 477 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 2: no equivocating for her here. And what's worse, the Nazi 478 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:48,239 Speaker 2: spy Hans Gunter von Dinklaga. He was Koko's lover. She 479 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,919 Speaker 2: knew he was a German spy, and she's still kept 480 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,480 Speaker 2: on with him for a long long time. And there's 481 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:58,360 Speaker 2: no conceivable way that she didn't know what kind of 482 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 2: man he was. Then she went on a second undercover mission, 483 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 2: this time in nineteen forty three. Coco went to Berlin. 484 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:11,720 Speaker 2: While she was in town, guess where she stayed. This time, 485 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 2: she met with Adolf Hitler's chief of counterintelligence, Walter Schellenberg. 486 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 2: She was supposed to get a message to Winston Churchill. 487 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 2: They called it Operation Model Hat. It was a last 488 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:26,520 Speaker 2: ditch effort for the Nazis to make a deal with 489 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 2: the British, and she was supposed to get the message 490 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:32,040 Speaker 2: to him, but because we're on the other side of 491 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:37,240 Speaker 2: this war, we know what happened. Thank god that mission failed. 492 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:52,840 Speaker 2: It was a matter of time before the war ended. 493 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 2: The Allies came through and liberated Paris all of France. 494 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,400 Speaker 2: Charles de Gaul, who was the leader France before Patan 495 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:06,400 Speaker 2: agreed to occupation, returned with the French resistance and everything changed. 496 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:11,040 Speaker 2: Coco Chanel handed out free bottles of Chanel number five 497 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:16,120 Speaker 2: to American Gis for their girlfriends back home. She hoped 498 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,680 Speaker 2: that she wouldn't be marched through town naked with her 499 00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:23,719 Speaker 2: head shaved for being a horizontal collaborator, and in the meantime, 500 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,600 Speaker 2: she would have to figure out how to fly below 501 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:31,759 Speaker 2: the radar after not only having an ongoing affair with 502 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:36,160 Speaker 2: a Nazi officer, but actually working with the Nazis on 503 00:37:36,360 --> 00:38:03,240 Speaker 2: several clandestine missions. Join me next week on the Greatest 504 00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:06,640 Speaker 2: true crime Stories Ever told for our second of two 505 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:11,920 Speaker 2: episodes about the fashion designer and possible Nazi collaborator, Coco Chanel. 506 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:15,120 Speaker 2: I'd like to shout out a few key sources that 507 00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:17,400 Speaker 2: made it possible for me to tell this week's story, 508 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:22,920 Speaker 2: especially the documentary The Wars of Coco Chanel and the 509 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:27,360 Speaker 2: book by Hal Vaughan Sleeping with the Enemy. There's also 510 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 2: the Becoming Chanell documentary. Although, to be honest, our source 511 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:34,279 Speaker 2: list for this episode is pretty exhaustive, so do be 512 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,040 Speaker 2: sure to check out our show notes for everyone's expertise. 513 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,960 Speaker 2: The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told is a production 514 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:48,800 Speaker 2: of Diversion Audio. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, and I hosted 515 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:52,960 Speaker 2: this episode. I also wrote this episode. Our show is 516 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:57,000 Speaker 2: produced by Emma Demuth and edited by Antonio Enriquez. Theme 517 00:38:57,080 --> 00:39:00,760 Speaker 2: music by Tyler Cash. Executive producer Scott Waxman