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During World War II, women of all backgrounds work as spies: Krystyna Skarbek, the Polish aristocrat whose daring exploits earn her the title of "Churchill's favorite spy," Andrée de Jongh, the Belgian girl whose ambitious escape network will save hundreds of Allied airmen, Josephine Baker, the glamorous singer whose fame provides the perfect cover for her anti-Nazi activities, and brothel owner Kitty Schmidt, whose Nazi-run establishment offers both secrets and pleasures.
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00:00women who are whip smart women who are beautiful killers women with ice in their veins
00:09women who risk everything to cause mayhem behind enemy lines the life expectancy given to some
00:20agents was only six weeks with a survival rate of 50 50. nothing was off limits
00:25they use bombs to destroy trains and bridges there were all three a trio of assassins
00:33or seduction to steal the enemy's most vital secrets when the guard opens the door there's
00:41batty standing naked in the moonlight supposedly with a strand of pearls what they do will change
00:49the course of history these are the female spies of world war ii
00:55from brothel owners to actresses from sizzling cabaret dancers to close kill experts the stories
01:11of the women's spies who got under the skin of their enemies are etched in history brazen
01:19brilliant and beautiful they ranked among the bravest of all wartime operatives in this episode
01:26christina skarbek churchill's favorite spy andrea de jong creator of the comet line
01:34kittie schmidt the brothel owner and josephine baker the superstar
01:42it may sound overly reductive to describe christina skarbek as a real james bond in a skirt
01:56but it helps illustrate her post-war legacy she was a powerhouse imaginative elegant
02:04patriotic intelligent a fearless operator and efficient killer her outrageous successes
02:13convinced the british to recruit more women agents to work in occupied europe it was a hard
02:20act to follow she made a habit of pulling off some wildly improbable missions and cheating
02:26death time after time was christina skarbek the greatest female spy of world war ii
02:34winston churchill called her one of his favorite spies and ian fleming said that she influenced
02:45his character of money penny well i don't buy that for a minute christina was not going to work in
02:53anybody's office i think she much more would have influenced one of his daredevil women spies
03:00it's 1920 early in the evening at a country estate in poland count josie skarbek is throwing a dinner
03:09party for his influential political friends after dinner the count suggests his guests take a stroll
03:17to the stables to see his excellent horses all is going splendidly until they arrive at the last stall
03:24it's empty his horse called satan is missing a wild and dangerous animal
03:31a furious count jersey is venting his anger at the poor stable hand when over the hill
03:43comes a horse and rider at a gallop it's christina and satan bareback and full paced his daughter is
03:51brazenly showing off to her father and friends how she has tamed the untameable she's 14 years old
03:59christina skarbek also known as christina granville is this incredibly dashing figure she is
04:08so athletic she is so charismatic she's dynamic she's up for anything brave beyond all imagination
04:19fast forward to the 1940s and war is raging
04:26christina's instinctive way with animals is about to save her life
04:32walking in the mountains between spain and france dressed as a peasant woman she suddenly comes
04:39face to face with a snarling german patrol dog as luck would have it christina's shoes had been
04:45rubbing and just that day she had applied some chicken fat for relief quick as a flash she offers
04:52the chicken along with soothing words gradually winning the dog over in fact the dog defected it never
05:00returned to the germans where had this ingenious woman tamer of man and beast come from who was she
05:09how did she end up on this dangerous mountain trail
05:12so christina skarbek was polish and her heritage was a very rich heritage way way back in history her
05:22family had been teutonic knights and they had saved poland more than once and so it was very much part of
05:29her culture and her family heritage to be staunchly and patriotically polish
05:35christina had a very energetic childhood she was described as a tomboy as being wild she was a real
05:44physical and able person she absolutely loved the great outdoors
05:49her immense talents were quickly revealed she spoke fluent french and latin she quickly mastered horse
05:58riding skiing shooting and mountain climbing in 1930 the death of her father left mother and daughter
06:06in financial ruins losing everything including their estate moving back to warsaw christina found work at a car
06:17dealership but breathing in the engine fumes took a serious toll on her health years later the scarring
06:24on her lungs was to prove a blessing brilliantly exploited to save her life
06:30but now she was back in the countryside
06:34one of the things christina used to do for fun to kill a little bit of time was to smuggle cigarettes
06:48so she would take them across the mountains and smuggle them to people who wanted them essentially
06:56so she was used to this life of being undercover of secretive and also of becoming very at one with
07:03the landscape around her
07:041939 christina was in africa with her diplomat husband
07:11when news of the outbreak of war reached them
07:15they set sail for home immediately
07:18on the ship back to london christina learned her beloved warsaw had fallen
07:25in fact she headed for london and all the while she was working out what she could do to help the war
07:31effort and eventually she made it to london march straight to the offices of the secret service
07:37and demand that they take her on as an agent
07:41the first secret intelligence memo which mentioned christina described her as a flaming polish patriot
07:49an expert skier a great adventurous as well as utterly fearless and to top it off someone had
07:56written by hand in the corner she absolutely terrifies me that was just the first impression
08:03the british realized christina was a one-off and how useful she could be they were keen to find out
08:13what the nazis were up to in poland christina was now officially a british agent the first female spy
08:21by a long shot in 1939 she heads to hungary her first cover was a journalist madame marchand and it was
08:30here she ran into an old acquaintance andres kowalski they hit it off immediately
08:38and began an affair which continued for many years
08:43christina's first role was to carry information between still neutral hungary and occupied poland
08:52that winter saw temperatures plunging to minus 40 degrees celsius turning the mountain trail into a
08:58treacherous snow-covered death trap 1940 was a very difficult year for christina but she was doing
09:07what she had always wanted to do she basically spent most of her time on her skis skiing across the
09:13mountains between poland and hungary taking information taking microfilms across the border
09:20where it could be used and hopefully was going to be useful she was good for more than just hiking
09:29a key moment early in the war reveals how she could turn on the charm like a tap
09:34christina is traveling on a train carrying a package of secret information to the polish resistance
09:42she sees the germans are searching the train and calmly considers her options
09:46she can throw the package away and lose the intel or jump and risk death
09:56they were examining people's luggage and so she sidled up to a german officer and persuaded him to hold
10:02her bag for her meaning that it wouldn't get searched a german surely wouldn't search another german
10:08and so somehow she managed to get away with it and the intelligence was saved her luck though would not
10:16last forever such intense and visible activity was bound to bring her to the attention of the nazis
10:24it's january 1941 christina and kowalski are together in her budapest apartment
10:31when there's a loud knock at the door she opens it to reveal uniformed officers the gestapo have
10:39caught up with them under arrest they are given a brief hearing but it's clear what the outcome will be
10:46christina devises an audacious plan she bites down hard on her tongue and begins coughing
10:53the horrified officers see blood pouring from her mouth
11:00she then coughed blood all over this gestapo officer and claimed that she had tuberculosis
11:07now of course they wanted to check this out and so she had x-rays and the x-rays had the scars on her
11:14lungs which she had got whilst working in the car factory but the scars could also have shown she had
11:20tuberculosis and with that being a contagious disease they left her well alone after such a close
11:28call they needed to get out of hungary fast to help them travel less conspicuously the british embassy
11:35issued them new passports kowalski was now anthony kennedy and christina had a new name she would go by
11:42for the rest of her life christine granville in the meantime christina now christine had been working
11:50closely with the musketeers a polish intelligence group of dubious reputation through them she received
11:58some extraordinary information which would mark her career a secret nazi plot to invade russia
12:06her despite their apparent alliance christina's greatest contribution to the war is arguably
12:16the plans for operation barbarossa so she is given photographs on a microfilm that show the german
12:24troops massing on the soviet border eventually these photographs end up on the desk of winston
12:31churchill himself not only does he describe christina as his favorite spy but he also has this evidence
12:40of this huge invasion which is about to take place so through her they have these plans and he knows
12:47exactly what is going on and she can change the course of the second world war in june 1941 having
12:56made her way to cairo with ethne by her side things turned sour for christine in the worst way possible
13:05christina and and her partner in espionage are so excellent at what they're doing that when they
13:13are called back or have to flee to england they are actually suspected of being double agents
13:20they were moving about with such ease gathering such amazing intelligence that surely it was too
13:28good to be true and questions started to be raised about them they were questioned wherever they went they
13:34needed to prove themselves and eventually christina was taken off operational duties it wasn't until 1944
13:42three years later that christine is called upon once again the british special operations executive
13:48intelligence officer responsible for putting her back on active duty once said the most useful thing
13:55i did in my career was to reinstate christine granville when trying to remain undercover christine's beauty
14:03could also be a curse but in occupied territory any man of fighting age would stand out so women
14:11had a natural cover it's what made the prospect of sending an accomplished spy like christine
14:16back into the field so important in an occupied country most of the men are gone there are many
14:23more women than there are men the men are in stahlogs they're in offlogs they died in the blitzkrieg
14:30an occupied country is an overwhelmingly female place sending female spies in they have automatic cover
14:38they're less suspect than if we send a 23 year old fighting fit spy into france and wonder why he's
14:43there at all and doesn't have a job and isn't wounded and so in july 1944 christine granville takes on her
14:54third identity becoming jacqueline armand before leaping from a plane over france and parachuting behind
15:03enemy lines she's disguised as a farm girl except she's carrying forged papers a cyanide pill and a
15:13commando knife strapped to her thigh she links up with a fellow soe agent and together they set up
15:21communications and coordinate resistance training
15:25she'll fight several battles but a bloodless surrender of a mountain fortress in 1944 would
15:34become her second crowning achievement there was a pass the americans wanted to go through but it
15:40was heavily guarded by polish conscripts and there was a fortress there of course christina being polish
15:47was able to speak to these conscripts using a megaphone she basically asked them to abandon their
15:53posts to let the allies come through and they did just that they did what she asked and it meant
16:00the defeat of a german garrison nearby as well so without a shot being fired she was instrumental
16:08in helping with that part of the battle of their core the feat is legendary but a few days later christine
16:17outdoes herself traveling to a nearby prison in the town of dean to secure the release of friends and
16:24fellow soe agents not through a jailbreak but through threats of retribution delivered directly to the
16:30gestapo officer running the prison she said that she was a daughter of general montgomery that she had
16:38huge influence and that if these three men were killed by the gestapo then terrible retribution would be
16:45paid on them when the war finally came to an end and that was on its way the americans were approaching
16:52there was very little time left not only did she manage to convince the gestapo to not kill these men
16:59she actually secured their release and it was considered to be one of the greatest prison breakouts
17:04of the second world war for the second time in a week christine secures an incredible victory
17:11with no bloodshed at war's end christine was awarded an obe and george cross medal among other decorations
17:19yet unforgivably she was left high and dry a few weeks after the armistice she was dismissed with a
17:27month's salary and abandoned in cairo to fend for herself she was a daredevil she was considered one of the finest
17:39spies that people had ever worked with and then she's just at loose ends she has a variety of
17:47not great jobs she ends up uh working on on a cruise ship this is just the idea of this incredible risk
17:53taker smart woman daredevil just not being able to find her way after the war and i think she's not alone
18:00in that it was a tragic end but worse was to come while working on one of the cruise ships christine
18:08met a fellow steward who after a short affair became obsessed with her when she started to deny his
18:15advances
18:18on a morning in june 1952 the day she was due to fly out to be with her old war partner andrew
18:26christine granville was stabbed to death in a hotel by her jilted co-worker she was 37 years old
18:39christina's immense success as a secret agent her incredible way of working actually convinced
18:46the british that women could do the same work as men they could be secret agents
18:51and they could be very very successful at it so christina scarbeck is one of the women one of the
18:57trailblazers who lit the path for other women to undertake this immensely important role
19:05christina scarbeck or christine granville an extraordinary woman for her time
19:10she had survived six years of mortal danger in the most deadly places on earth and died alone
19:20on a hotel floor abandoned by the country she had served
19:27living life as a woman in wartime was a challenge
19:31christina had fought misogyny and skepticism her whole career countless women at war were fighting the
19:38same prejudices in the case of another intrepid and brilliant resistance fighter
19:45being underestimated would in the end save her life
19:51germans were very misogynistic and so when the resistance efforts began they did not believe
19:59that women could be resistors or could be involved in the resistance they didn't think they were
20:05strong enough and so this worked in women's favor in many instances
20:14july 1941 northern france a woman is searching for a rowing boat by the river somme she finds it
20:24but it's right next to some noisy campers so she can't get to it she has 11 people to get across the
20:30river into spain unseen but no boat so she decides to use a car tire in a tube instead
20:39the woman one by one loads the individuals into the tube and pushes them across the river
20:47so begins a trial run for a smuggling scheme that would help civilians and allied soldiers and airmen
20:52escape nazi-occupied territories across 2 000 kilometers from belgium to spain
21:04the woman's name is andrea de jong
21:08and the plan she is pressure testing would come to be called the comet line
21:12as a child andrea never sat still she was high spirited high energy whirling around the place just
21:21never stopping and her father frederick decided to give her the nickname the little cyclone because
21:27she basically whipped things up into a frenzy born in 1916 into wartime german-occupied belgium
21:35it's no wonder andrea gravitated towards the patriotic ideals of country and freedom when the germans
21:43marched into brussels in the spring of 1940 andre de jong was shocked to see her father in tears
21:50it was the first time she'd ever seen him weep but it was the second time that he had seen the germans
21:56march into their capital triumphantly so andre tried to comfort him saying you'll see what we'll do to
22:04them they started this war but they are going to lose this war andrea affectionately known as didi
22:13was 23 when german troops invaded belgium in may 1940. she involved herself straight away as a red cross
22:21volunteer helping captured allied troops tending to them wasn't enough she would hear from the soldiers
22:28of their need to get home and inspired by world war one heroes like edith cabell set about setting up
22:36her own smuggling network her ambitions were sky high the journey through occupied territory covered
22:44almost 1500 kilometers the fact that she even considered it is testament to dd's incredible vision and
22:53tenacity what andre did was create a 1200 mile escape line that stretched all the way from brussels
23:02across occupied france across the pyrenees mountains and into neutral spain and the allied fliers would
23:10be moved from safe house to safe house with such alacrity that it was called the comet line
23:15undaunted didi began the task of putting it together the comet line was a complex operation
23:30the idea of this escape line this huge escape line going across enemy occupied territory up over mountains
23:37which could be covered in snow or ice or in the heat of the summer was frankly audacious it was a huge huge vision
23:47didi was methodical from the outset she set up a series of safe houses in and around brussels
23:54where allied soldiers and air crew could await escort along the route
23:58hidden in cellars and attics they were fed clothed and given false id papers
24:07didi was meticulous and fast volunteers were found and the network gradually established
24:16the work of the comet line resistors not only helped get allied flyers back in action but it also
24:23helped them before they left thamesford for europe because they knew they started to realize that there
24:32were europeans who would rescue them possibly if they were downed so it was a great morale boost for them
24:40to know that there were people in europe ready to rescue them if they were shot down
24:45in july 1941 didi set out on her first test of the network with 11 people it was this event that ended
24:59with the crossing of the border river but once in spain all travelers except didi were arrested
25:07didi realized the comet line would need some rethinking she was going to have to work out a deal with a british
25:21consulate in bilbao to protect those she brought in from france and belgium she took an alternative route
25:29through the countryside longer but safer in 1941 didi finds herself sitting opposite the british consul in
25:44belbauer in spain and she essentially tells him that she has come through france across the pyrenees
25:51but actually with financial support and with their assistance she can bring hundreds and hundreds of
25:57allied troops airmen people who need to escape across this escape line and to get them to safety
26:05the consular officer was shocked at the proposition mainly because it was coming from such a young woman
26:12he didn't believe that this petite young woman dressed neatly had just a few days before across the
26:19pyrenees mountains but she actually had and she engendered his trust and so the comet line was born
26:27but didi turned down all office of advice and assistance the british and belgian authorities were
26:34keen to take control but didi was having none of it this was her operation
26:46when it was clear that the comet line was a success other people wanted to take over the comet line but
26:52andre would not let them she knew that she knew how to run it she had the respect of the mountain guide
26:59and she knew all the people on the line so she kept control of the comet line
27:09the comet line was now ready to go it grew to become the largest of the escape networks in occupied europe
27:16the comet line ended up rescuing over 700 downed airmen and it employed approximately 3 000 people
27:28who were involved in rescuing the airmen andre personally escorted 118 allied flyers to safety in
27:3632 round trips to the british she became known as the postman she always delivered the success of
27:45the comet line came down to its civilian network and didi's ability to recruit them andre had a way of
27:54recruiting people who would be loyal to her to the cause and she was able to rally people who wanted to
28:00fight the germans and so that's why the comet line was so successful but success came at a terrible cost
28:08the escape route became more dangerous at the end of 1942 as all france came under direct nazi rule
28:17and the danger only increased as the nazis became better at breaking into the network
28:22hundreds of members were betrayed arrested and executed or sent to concentration camps
28:31156 members of the comet line are said to have died by the time the escape route shut down as the allies
28:39took over after d-day only a handful of the leaders had survived perhaps it was inevitable in january 1943
28:49didi's luck ran out when a flood made their intended river crossing too dangerous
28:56the river right on the border was in full flood and they were unable to cross as quickly as they would
29:02have liked and so they had to hunker down in the safe house but unfortunately it wasn't as safe as
29:08they might have liked and they were surrounded by german soldiers and they were arrested
29:12but a man's ability to underestimate a woman came into play and saved dede's life she was eventually
29:23caught interrogated arrested and she finally admitted to the germans that she was the head of the comet
29:30line but because she was so young and so petite and so feminine they didn't believe that she was in
29:36charge of the comet line despite her selfless admissions her father frederick who had helped run the network
29:44was captured and executed in march 1944
29:57four weeks later lillian and dayday limped back to our line they brought important information on enemy
30:03strength and positions information that helped the seventh army drive the germans clear over the rhine
30:09their knees were scraped raw and infected from crawling on frozen ground
30:14and dayday's ribs were fractured by gestapo club but they'd done their job
30:21the comet line continued to operate whilst didi was incarcerated until she was finally released by the
30:27advancing allies london looked at this representative group of young men and girls throughout the years
30:34of occupation they fought the bosch by every method in their power after the war didi was showered with
30:40decorations including the united states medal of freedom and the british george cross medal she was
30:48highly decorated she was made a countess in 1985 and she was made an honorary member of the belgian army
31:03not all spies were as hands-on as to young and granville though kitty schmidt may not be a household name
31:11but the name of her establishment has found its place as an icon of popular culture
31:17salon kitty no wonder sex and espionage make a potent mix
31:23kitty was in many ways a living contradiction she was never a fully fledged nazi in fact
31:29she aboard anti-semitism and helped many of her jewish friends flee
31:34yet she became famous for using her particular skills to spy not for the allies but for the nazis
31:43kitty was born in hamburg in 1882 and grew up there with seven siblings although two of them died
31:49she had very good contact with the two sisters elsa and trudel at the age of 20 she went to england as a
31:56piano teacher kitty and her daughter returned to germany making her home in berlin just in time to
32:03settle into the life of free love and women's emancipation
32:09women fought for a place not only in the working world her new self-confidence brought the woman with
32:15her fashion style dealing openly with sexuality was part of a newly gained freedom with cigarette holders
32:23narrow cut fringe dresses and pearl necklaces boas decorated handbands fans the woman played with
32:32their charms and kitty began renting out rooms as a boarding house one year later in 1919
32:43kitty's boarding house soon had girls on staff ready to cater for the whims of the male guests
32:49she opened her first commercial saloon around 1930 which she had to close because she served alcohol
33:03without a license and in 1935 she opened second salon on kurfürstendamm and four years later in 1939 she finally
33:16moved her salon at the giezebrichtstraße in the charlattenburg district and it was on the third floor
33:22money and business flowed for kitty and her girls riding the wave of sexual freedoms kitty fitted the role
33:28of salon owner well unfortunately for kitty the nazis were about to come into power running on a platform of
33:40sending women back to the home and closing down the sex industry the nazis are bored prostitution
33:52hitler himself described the prostitutes as a disgrace to humanity prostitutes were taken into
33:59productive custody and brothels closed for example in 1934 there were only 20 brothels left in berlin
34:11in 1939 kitty relocated her business to a wealthy district of berlin and in that moment the famous
34:18salon kitty was born her establishment was notorious right from the start though kitty had no clue as to
34:26what it would become it was as they say a classy joint the clientele was mostly wealthy and powerful
34:33dignitaries including high-ranking nazis listed officially as a hostel it was quite the operation
34:44customers were even provided with a photo catalog on arrival to appease the powerful men kitty was strict
34:51on the women she employed your kitty attached great importance to appearance education level and manners
34:59the girls were beautiful smartly dressed intelligent multilingual and in their 20s and 30s
35:08a hint of her future came in april 1939 when officials proposed placing a number of female
35:14nazi agents onto the roster of her girls to check the loyalty of selected nazi clients kitty's polite but
35:22firm refusal was reinforcement of her distaste for nazi policy but now she had shown her hand
35:30but saying no to the nazis was rarely a good idea it was time to run
35:35june 28 1939 kitty makes her move her plan is to flee perhaps to london but she is captured before
35:45she ever makes it whether tortured or blackmailed on her arrest it's unclear but kitty doesn't have many
35:54options she was incarcerated and tortured at last mentally but that's probably more fiction than facts
36:04more likely is that kitty was somehow blackmailed into cooperation but kitty was business-minded and
36:10street smart she knew that if the gestapo or the ss wanted something that there was no way for her to
36:19resist locked up and allegedly beaten kitty was now in a mood to cooperate so she's offered a deal she
36:27can't refuse kitty was shown a pledge to obey all orders and maintain strict secrecy she would be
36:34released and free to run the salon as if nothing had happened but only if she complied with their demands
36:42kitty signed the orders now she and salon kitty were owned by the nazis and spy master
36:48reinhard heidrich was intent on milking it for information in the inner circle heidrich was full
36:56of suspicion he fanatically collected information the idea of getting more information in a brothel suits him
37:04and although he always had a gallant demeanor he was known for his nocturnal forays
37:11heidrich envisaged a place of seductive female companionship in such an atmosphere the most trusted diplomat
37:19might be induced to unwind and reveal information and so work began to transform a high-end brothel into
37:27a high-tech nazi espionage center the rooms were expanded and lavishly decorated to the tastes of the day
37:34featuring plush velvet chairs and curtains cabinets of crystal glass a grand piano and a gramophone in
37:41the corridors pink lights burned day and night all very tasteful discreet and ever so slightly suggestive
37:51but it was the covert surveillance operation that truly stands out
37:56there was double walls modern listening devices and automatic long distance transmission cables were
38:03laid on the carpets moldings and picture frames under cupboards a total of 48 microphones were hidden
38:13behind paintings lampshades tables waces and there would have been secret cameras in all of the nine
38:22rooms in the basement two officers took turn listening to the love talks it was all ready for action in four
38:30weeks meanwhile recruitment of the new special agents had begun the requirement profile read wanted our
38:39women and girls who are intelligent multilingual nationalistic minded and furthermore man crazy
38:46the vice squad began arresting dozens of berlin prostitutes and selecting the most attractive
38:52and suitable to be trained as salon kitty agents the lucky finalists were induced into the ss
38:58even swearing an oath to hitler the same man who had once condemned sex workers as a disgrace to
39:04humanity training included social graces unarmed combat first aid and the art of conversation plus
39:15techniques designed to please the most discerning of clients by march 1940 kitty now had an additional 20
39:23extra girls on her books for special clients and business was booming we think that the new salon was
39:31really successful a lot of people were there and and kitty loves the activity around her and the people around
39:42her loves to come and see her because she was a woman with a lot of magic around her
39:51what exactly happened behind closed doors isn't known but there were rumors of high-ranking nazis
39:59being involved even joseph goebbels himself
40:05knowing the nazis and of the debauchery of some of the leading figures of the regime
40:11we can imagine that the salon kitty had its share of it as well goebbels is reported to have watched
40:19a private lesbian show at the salon kitty for example nightly visits have been paid by the royal
40:24air force and it's a great comfort to know that the germans are getting it in the neck in 1943 salon kitty
40:31was bombed by the british raf with the third and fourth floors destroyed the germans lost interest
40:37entirely shut down the program and handed the place back to kitty but not before she was able to
40:43hide a jewish woman on the run and save her life kitty's true convictions had remained alive despite
40:50all but the question is was it all worth it for the nazis yeah frankly we we don't really know
40:59there's a salon kitty was probably more a fantasy of hydrate and some of these uh lieutenants inspired by
41:07their admiration of british spy novels and the british intelligence service but the nazis didn't
41:14trust anybody including their own people and they were extreme control freaks in that regard the
41:21long kitty remains a symbol of the nazis twisted desire to know everything to spy on everyone
41:29everywhere every time even during sex
41:34over the salon's few years in operation around 70 000 recordings were said to have been made by
41:40the gestapo now all lost or destroyed whispers silenced and forgotten kitty schmidt died in 1954
41:50she was 71. her obituary perhaps reflected the way she lived her life
41:55the truth never fully revealed partly shrouded in secrets and shadows she was simply described as
42:03the owner of an establishment run along paris customs and a favored arranger of gallant entertainment
42:09for foreign guests of the reich government
42:20lies deception and espionage
42:22it was not for everyone in wartime only those with rare talents would be drawn to it
42:34the pressures were constant and often overwhelming so many lives including one's own depended on a
42:41flawless performance it required someone able to use nervous energy as a weapon while staying relaxed and
42:49focused someone used to performing on stage josephine baker was born in st louis in 1906 she's african-american
43:00they are poor people this is a rough life she becomes interested in the stage very young and she is a comic
43:11actor actor and dancer she ends up going to france as a very young woman with a review that performs in paris
43:23it's here that josephine baker makes her mark and she can't get enough of it not only are the plays well
43:32received but after facing discrimination in st louis the lack of racism in paris is liberating
43:38she quickly became the toast of paris hemingway wrote about her picasso painted her she became the
43:47star of an operetta she became the star of a film so at that time she was most likely the wealthiest black
43:54woman in the world in the 1920s she joined la revue negra and soon made an indelible mark on the popular
44:03culture of the early 20th century josephine caused a storm with her infamous don sauvage dressed only
44:11in a banana skirt and a string of pearls of course a semi-nude black woman dancing provocatively was going
44:18to cause a stir not surprisingly it was the extreme autocratic right that despised her
44:25to them she was a beacon of liberal filth propaganda minister joseph goebbels even denounced her performance
44:35as degenerate art they hated her and she hated them she would never forget how they treated her
44:47as the rumble of hitler's war machine sounded in the distance
44:50the cash strapped intelligence services were on the lookout for an amateur freelance bargain basement
44:58spy who loved their country and were happy to work for nothing when the french began tossing josephine's
45:05name around as a contender many amongst them dismissed women as too sensitive and delicate for the job of
45:11spying when josephine baker's name came up as one of these agents jacques abti who was the head of
45:19paris french intelligence did not think that she was a good choice she was flighty she was flaky she
45:26was just a superstar and he didn't think that she had what was necessary to be a good agent
45:33despite misgivings the intelligence team met josephine and it didn't take long for her star power
45:39to have an effect asked if she would like to spy she responded that france had given her everything
45:47and now she would like to give back they soon realized the access that having a star on the team
45:54could give them so it might seem crazy that a star would become a spy but it actually worked quite well
46:08because stars move amongst us and they can use this incredible fame as actual cover because people
46:20are not scrutinizing them the way a border crossing guard is not gonna you know check out josephine baker
46:27a celebrity to you know see if they are transporting materials they're kind of become above the law even
46:35during a war josephine was first tasked with manipulating the important clientele extracting
46:42any information she could it was late 1930s and countries were jostling for position the allies were
46:49keen to know everyone's intentions in the event of germany declaring war josephine expanded her territory
46:56into embassies ministries nightclubs and fancy parties her fame gave her entry while her charm
47:04loosened the lips of high-ranking officials at one party at the italian embassy she discovered
47:10some priceless information that italy was considering a pact with the nazis
47:17she moved easily through social circles picking up secrets of war adored and fawned over and entirely
47:24undetected josephine used her access to people to charm information out of people she'd meet
47:33in her social circles as she's traveling around to do performances they could take note of what they
47:42are seeing in terms of build up or armaments support networks that the germans are establishing
47:53with the outbreak of war josephine was not content with soirees and parties
47:58instead she took to the air because she happened to be a trained pilot she began flying over occupied
48:06europe delivering aid and supplies to places like the netherlands and belgium
48:12she would go on to eventually join the french air force actress dancer singer spy pilot
48:20early in june just before german boots hit the avenues of paris josephine fled her beloved city
48:29having already been banned from the stage along with all negroes and jews
48:34retreating to her chateau in southwestern france her safety was hardly assured although it was technically
48:41a free zone under the puppet vichy authority all the resistance agents had gone to ground
48:47but who would suspect the house of josephine baker when the germans take paris josephine moves out to
48:56chateau miland in the countryside this is her enormous estate that then becomes her control center for
49:04operating for you know getting information to other figures in the resistance and helping however she can
49:12but josephine couldn't sit around the chateau forever another job was beckoning the new mission
49:19was to carry a vital dossier of information from france to portugal including the identities of nazi
49:27agents operating in britain it was red hot intelligence and the road ahead was swarming with nazis
49:35she sets off on the hazardous drive through spain to the british embassy in lisbon with cyanide pills just
49:44in case photos of invasion landing craft and nazi signal intercepts were hidden in her stage clothes and
49:53makeup they were gambling on what made josephine the perfect spy her star power one of josephine's most
50:08intense missions is smuggling photographs from france to lisbon and everyone is just counting on her star
50:20power to enable her to get through the checkpoints with this incredibly important but also dangerous to
50:30her information but of course josephine succeeds josephine breezed through the many checkpoints instead
50:40of the germans searching the luggage they were running to get their wives and girlfriends to see the great
50:45josephine baker in 1941 she moved her operation to morocco from where she made many trips to spain with
50:53information pinned to the inside of her underwear she was never caught josephine would actually smuggle
51:02intelligence hidden in her negligee or in her undergarments she's like you know who is going to
51:08search me down to that level i dare them after the war although she had hung up her cloak and dagger
51:18she would continue to delight audiences with her performances tellingly she refused to perform for
51:25segregated audiences in the u.s and became a vital force in the civil rights movement working alongside
51:32martin luther king josephine baker died at the age of 68 in april 1975. her funeral in paris was attended by
51:4220 000 mourners she was the only american-born woman to receive full military honor
51:49josephine baker was so effective in her espionage work that charles de gaulle made her an honorary member
51:58of the free french forces and when she died in paris in the 1970s she was given full military honors at her
52:07funeral brilliance bravery devotion to country these were the traits common to the successful female spies
52:16of world war ii they all shared something else it's what gave them the edge over their male counterparts
52:24and helped them pull the wool over the eyes of their enemies it was the weapon of invisibility men
52:31overlooked them underestimated them failed to even register them until it was too late
52:38in the right hands being a woman allowed them room to move to open new escape hatches and find unique
52:46paths to victory the world of espionage was changed forever
53:03so
53:11so
53:13so
53:15so
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