1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:38,839 Speaker 1: It was a late night in Eastern Europe in nineteen 7 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: forty two, and Tanya was hard at work. She bobbled 8 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: and weaved through the dining room, delivering food to hungry 9 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: men to the officers who sat at the tables. She 10 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: looked like nothing more than a pretty, dark haired waitress. 11 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 1: Rumor was that she was the daughter of a prince 12 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: from the country of Georgia, and she hated the Soviets 13 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: for killing her father, hated them enough to work in 14 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: a Nazi officer's room. As she passed by the table 15 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,559 Speaker 1: of drunk soldiers, she paused for a moment to deliver 16 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: a very special dish to their table, one that she 17 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: had made herself with a few extra ingredients. She smiled 18 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: at the SS officer, who gave her a wink and 19 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: took a large bite before offering it to his friends, 20 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: and then she returned to the kitchen, grabbed her bag 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: and slipped out the side door. She did not want 22 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: to be there when the poison began to work. Tanya 23 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: was no Georgian princess. She was really Tatiana Marcus, a 24 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: Jewish fem fatale from the Soviet Resistance. Born in nineteen 25 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,199 Speaker 1: twenty one in Kiev, then part of the Soviet Union, 26 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,199 Speaker 1: Tatiana wasn't a soldier, a spy, or even a trained killer. 27 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: She was from a large Jewish family and worked as 28 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: a railway secretary in Kiev before moving to Moldova in 29 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: nineteen forty. But like millions of others, she suddenly found 30 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: herself living in a nightmare as the Nazis invaded the 31 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: rest of Europe, and she could only watch from afar 32 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: in horror as Kiev, her hometown, quickly became came home 33 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: to one of the worst atrocities of the Holocaust. On 34 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: September twenty ninth of nineteen forty one, Nazi soldiers forced 35 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: the Jewish population of Kiev to assemble at Bobby Yar, 36 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: a large ravine on the north side of the city. 37 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: Over two days, they systematically murdered over thirty three thousand 38 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: Jews and buried them in a mass grave in the Ravine. 39 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: In late nineteen forty one, Tatiana returned to Kiev to 40 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: the remnants of her friends and family left behind, But 41 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: the second she stepped foot into the city, she was 42 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: determined to make the Nazis pay. Tatiana obtained fake papers 43 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: under a new name, Tanya, and spread rumors about being 44 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: a Georgian princess and being sympathetic to the Nazis. This 45 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: helped her get jobs infiltrating Nazi spaces, like serving in 46 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: a dining hall or working as a secretary in their offices. 47 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: This was the perfect cover for a spy, and the 48 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,399 Speaker 1: information she carried back to the Soviet underground was invaluable. 49 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: But Tatiana didn't want to stop at collecting information. She 50 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,520 Speaker 1: wanted to take action, so she started a campaign of 51 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: deadly sabotage against the Nazis. In one instance, she and 52 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: her father attended a parade of Nazis and distributed bouquets 53 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: to passing soldiers rather than handing them the flowers, Though 54 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: the two of them threw them at the ground under 55 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: the Nazis' feet. The impact set off the grenades hidden 56 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: inside the bouquets, which exploded, killing four Nazi soldiers. In 57 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: the chaos that followed, Tatiana and her father slipped into 58 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: the crowd and disappeared. Another time, she noticed that she'd 59 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: caught the eye of a high ranking Nazi official. She 60 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: flirted with the man and invited him home, but the 61 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: second they entered her apartment, she drew a pistol from 62 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: her purse and shot him dead. Tatiana wasn't just courageous, 63 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: she was terrifyingly effective. Her missions were precise, personal, and 64 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: often carried out in broad daylight. Over the course of 65 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: an entire year, Tatiana killed dozens of SS and Gestapo officers, 66 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: as well as Nazi informants. In one instance, she even 67 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: left a note daring more to come after her. The 68 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: note said, all of you fascist reptiles are waiting for 69 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: the same fate. Honestly, how do you not love this woman? 70 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: But Tatiana's luck, like that of so many resistance fighters, 71 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: eventually ran out. In nineteen forty two, she was captured 72 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: by the Gestapo, and even then she wouldn't break. Although 73 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: brutally tortured for five months, she refused to betray the resistance. 74 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: On January twenty ninth of nineteen forty three, Tatiana was 75 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: shot by the Nazis. Some sources say that she was 76 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,160 Speaker 1: buried in Babi Yar, the same ravine where thousands of 77 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 1: Jews had already been massacred and thousands more civilians of 78 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,160 Speaker 1: all backgrounds would be murdered still. In two thousand and six, 79 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:44,040 Speaker 1: Tatiana was honored as an official hero of Ukraine, and 80 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine a statue of her was 81 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,840 Speaker 1: erected at Babi Yar, one of many honoring the people 82 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: who were killed there. She didn't survive the war, but 83 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: her legacy lives on, not just in medals and memorials, 84 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: but in what she represents. Tatiana Marcus stands as a 85 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:05,039 Speaker 1: powerful reminder that resistance doesn't require an army, just the 86 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: will to act when it matters most On July seventeenth 87 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: of seventeen ninety four, muskeet fire erupted just outside of 88 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh on a sprawling estate known as Bower Hill. United 89 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 1: States militia clashed with a rebel army of over five 90 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 1: hundred men. America wasn't even yet twenty years old, and 91 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: already they were battling their own citizens. Both the leaders 92 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: of this rebellion died in the gunfire and Bower Hill 93 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: was burned to the ground, but it was still a 94 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: startling defeat for the United States government. The dead rebels 95 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: were seen as martyrs, and the resistance only grew. President 96 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: George Washington ordered his cabinet to assemble an even stronger 97 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: militia to protect the integrity of the United States. When 98 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: few men volunteered, a draft was implemented, and Washington himself 99 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: traveled to Pennsylvania to lead the troops, the first and 100 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: only time a sitting American president personally took command of 101 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: a field army. A militia of twelve thousand strong marched 102 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: through western Pennsylvania. They made several arrests along the way, 103 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: but there was no more fighting. The protesters dispersed at 104 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: the show of force, and the conflict seemed to subside. Ironically, 105 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: the cause of all of this commotion was not dissimilar 106 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: to one of the founding myths of the American Revolution. 107 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: It was caused by tax Three years earlier, the United 108 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: States had been suffering from intense amounts of debt. In 109 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: order to ease the financial burden on the states, Washington 110 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,599 Speaker 1: had implemented attacks on whisky distilleries six to nine cents 111 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: a gallon at the suggestion of one Alexander Hamilton. The 112 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: subsequent uprising would become known as the Whisky Rebellion. As 113 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: the dust settled on the rebellion, it seems that he 114 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: recognized the mistake of this tax, pardoning those who had 115 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: been arrested for organizing protests against the whiskey tax. But 116 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 1: that was just the first step. Washington knew that it 117 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: would take more than a few pardons to fully disperse 118 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: the former rebels. Washington reached out to Thomas Jefferson, then 119 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: the governor of Virginia, to put together an offer for 120 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: the settlers. If they moved to the territory west of Virginia, 121 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: they would be offered sixty acres of land to farm 122 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: upon on the condition that they used the land to 123 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: raise native corn. And all of this resulted in three 124 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: important things. First, scores of settlers took Jefferson up on 125 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: the offer, causing a wave of migration into the territory. Second, 126 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: Jefferson would later be able to successfully run his presidential 127 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: campaign on the promise of repealing the whiskey tax. And Third, 128 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: the settlers who moved from West Pennsylvania to Virginia produced 129 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: much more corn that they knew what to do with, 130 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: and so they did what every society does when it 131 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: has a surplus of produce. They made it into alcohol. 132 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: This process would eventually coalesce into a few key guidelines 133 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: at least fifty one percent corn and a certain amount 134 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: of time spent aging in an oak barrel. The resulting 135 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: whiskey would have a dark brown color and would serve 136 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: as a cheap alternative to French cognac. It's the only 137 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: liquor native to the United States, and it would eventually 138 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: bear the name of the county that started it. A 139 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: lifelong Francophile, Thomas Jefferson had named the western most part 140 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: of the Virginia territories Bourbon County, Virginia, and in the 141 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: mid seventeen nineties it would become Bourbon County, Kentucky. And 142 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: this corn based oak barrel aged liquor is obviously known 143 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: as Bourbon whisky, usually just shortened to bourbon. It's a 144 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: common enough saying that you are what you eat, but 145 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: it may be a truer statement that you learn a 146 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: lot about a culture based on what it drinks, and 147 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 1: every time you raise a glass of bourbon to your lips, 148 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: you're drinking not just spirits, but flavors that trace all 149 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,959 Speaker 1: the way back to the Whisky Rebellion. It might be 150 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: a beverage, but it's also a curio. This bit of 151 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: food for thought. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 152 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 153 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,559 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 154 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: dot com. This show was created by me Aaron Mankey 155 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 156 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,959 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 157 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 158 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:34,119 Speaker 1: over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, 159 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 1: stay curious.