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The Lost Women Spies S01E04 (2025) [Full Movie] [Long Version]Full EP - Full
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00:07April 1945, the war is entering its brutal final stages.
00:17The Nazis are surrounded as the UK and US advance into Germany from the west
00:26and the Soviets lay siege to Berlin from the east.
00:33As the Allied forces sweep through Europe, liberating the citizens,
00:41they begin to uncover the horrors of Nazi concentration camps.
00:50In London, the Allied advance brings news for Vera Atkins
00:57as one of her lost women spies, Yvonne Bazden arrives back
01:04at Euston railway station, but many of her agents remain missing,
01:10presumed dead, like Violet Sabo, who left her one-year-old child to fight the Nazis,
01:20or headstrong Noor Inayat Khan, who many said was unsuitable to be an agent.
01:26Are you ready?
01:27Yes, Miss Atkins.
01:29Vera begins the hunt to find her agents, dead or alive.
01:37Answer me!
01:38But she can't do it alone.
01:42So she turns to Britain's elite fighting service,
01:49the S.A.S., the S.A.S., and specialist Nazi hunter, Major Bill Barkworth.
02:01A
02:05Lost
02:05Harri
02:05And
02:05in
02:05And
02:12in
02:12In
02:13In
02:31It's the 28th of April 1945, the Ravensbrück concentration camp for women in northern Germany,
02:4190 kilometres north of Berlin.
02:46SOE agent Odette Sansom is in solitary confinement.
02:53But the camp is about to be overrun by the Soviet Red Army.
02:59At this point in the war, the Germans are completely on the back foot.
03:03They've got the Russians attacking from one side, the Red Army,
03:05and they've got the Americans and the British from the other side.
03:08Move! I'm on my way!
03:10Himmler has given the order that all witnesses to the horrors of the camp must be killed.
03:21The man who has come for Odette is Fritz Surin.
03:26Get up!
03:29Move!
03:30Yes! Up, up, up!
03:33Yes!
03:38Fritz Surin was the commandant of Ravensbrück concentration camp.
03:42It was a women's only camp, and Surin had complete control of everything that went on within it.
03:47So the forced labour programmes that the women would be sent out into,
03:50the round-ups for the executions,
03:53and also the medical experiments that were carried out at Ravensbrück.
03:56He would oversee those and have an understanding of what that meant.
04:01Move! Come on!
04:02Odette is about to see daylight for the first time in six months.
04:08But her life hangs in the balance.
04:21Surin flees the Soviet liberation of his camp,
04:25driving south of Berlin,
04:28towards the U.S. Army line.
04:31Move!
04:33As the Red Army and the Americans get closer to Ravensbrück,
04:38the commandant, Surin, panics.
04:41Because at this point, he knows he is going to get captured by one army or the other,
04:46and he's going to make that decision himself.
04:49He's going to pick a side,
04:50and so he goes for the Americans and the British.
04:53This is who he aims for.
04:56Soorin takes Odette with him,
04:59believing she is the perfect bargaining chip to win him freedom.
05:06When Odette was captured,
05:08she gave the surname of her network chief,
05:11Churchill, as her own surname,
05:13convincing Surin that she is related to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
05:19Hands up!
05:22But Surin is about to get a nasty shock.
05:32Don't fire!
05:35Identify yourselves!
05:37This is Odette Churchill!
05:39Don't shoot!
05:40Get out!
05:42This is Odette Churchill!
05:44This is Odette Churchill!
05:44The niece of Winston Churchill!
05:46Turn fire!
05:48Who are you?
05:53My name is Odette Sanson.
05:57I'm a member of the British Special Operations Executive.
06:04This man is a war criminal.
06:13Can you imagine what Surin would have thought?
06:15Because immediately Odette announces
06:17that not only is she not Churchill's niece or any relation to him,
06:21but she's an SOE agent.
06:23And she just confesses everything.
06:25This key information that he's been after for ages.
06:28It must have been incredibly frustrating and also humiliating for him.
06:33Odette's final act of humiliation
06:36is to steal Surin's bag containing his personalised pistol.
06:41She hands him over to the Americans,
06:43watches while he's taken in,
06:45takes his bag,
06:46which has a pistol and his other belongings,
06:49and hands it over in London to Vera Adkins.
06:53It would have been a huge relief to finally get to safety.
06:57It would also be crucial because she knew about other agents.
07:00She could then give crucial information to Vera Adkins.
07:078th of May, 1945.
07:11The Nazis surrender.
07:17Victory in Europe.
07:24In London, thousands pour into the streets to celebrate
07:28as Churchill announces peace across the continent.
07:34For the SOE, it appears much of their work is done.
07:41But for Vera, her hunt is just beginning.
07:47Odette arrives back in London.
07:49She meets with Vera to debrief her
07:52and to see if she can help track down the lost women spies.
07:57It's so good to have you back.
08:08After they arrested me,
08:11I was kept in prison
08:14in Paris.
08:19Then the Gestapo came.
08:25Just tell us.
08:30I didn't tell them anything.
08:36They seem to know so much.
08:42about the circuits.
08:44Who was involved, where, when.
08:51And then they took me over the border
08:53into Germany.
08:56Karlsruhe.
08:58With other women.
09:02Karlsruhe.
09:05And finally, Ravensbrook.
09:09And finally, Ravensbrook.
09:32Karlsruhe.
09:34You said there were other women.
09:46Odette describes seven female agents
09:48that she remembers from Karlsruhe.
10:00It's an important lead
10:02for Vera.
10:09Nora Njerkan was one of Vera's favorite agents.
10:12One of the people she seems to really have cared about.
10:15When she was in training,
10:16there was some question mark
10:17as to whether or not Nora was
10:18good enough for the job
10:20because she seemed to be so kind.
10:22She said she could never lie.
10:23And yet Vera was really the one
10:25who gave the final approval
10:26and said, no, you're going to go
10:28and she'll be fine
10:29and it'll work.
10:36And Vera seems to have had
10:38a very guilty conscience,
10:40a very sort of deeply felt question
10:42as to what had happened
10:43to this delightful young woman
10:45who she really had been responsible
10:47for sending to France.
10:53I do.
10:55But no.
10:58Don't take my word for it, though.
11:01Ask the b**** at the prison.
11:04Becca.
11:06Fraulein Becca.
11:09She ran the place.
11:13If anyone knows,
11:15she will.
11:21I think Vera's reaction
11:22to starting to uncover
11:24the stories of these women
11:25and to trace them to Karlsruhe
11:27must have come as a real shock to her.
11:33To understand the dehumanizing process
11:36that they'd been put through
11:37right from their arrest
11:38and now they're in solitary confinement.
11:43These women that she would have last seen
11:44on an airfield in England
11:45full of life and full of hope
11:47and excitement for their missions
11:49suddenly in this horrible world,
11:52having experienced
11:52some brutal things already
11:54and just starting to unravel their stories
11:58and wondering what became of them
12:00after they left this prison
12:01at Karlsruhe.
12:05Thanks to Odette,
12:08Vera has a major breakthrough
12:09in intelligence.
12:11It's important for Vera
12:13not only professionally
12:14but also personally.
12:18In a way,
12:20although Vera never had children herself,
12:21she does kind of have maternal qualities here
12:26in her investigation.
12:34Vera has the prison
12:36in Karlsruhe
12:37in southern Germany
12:38as the last location
12:40for at least seven women.
12:45Vera also knows
12:46about the Ravensbrück
12:48women's concentration camp
12:50situated in north-eastern Germany.
12:54Ravensbrück was a concentration camp
12:56just north of Berlin
12:57and unlike every other concentration camp,
13:00it was for women.
13:01It was particularly horrifying
13:03for the sensibilities of people
13:05in the 1940s as well
13:07where women are meant
13:08to be kept out of combat,
13:09out of war
13:10and treated with some level of humanity.
13:12Ravensbrück was a particular
13:14horrific sight to end up in.
13:20It's from here
13:21that three agents,
13:23including Yvonne Basden
13:25and Odette Sansom,
13:28have come back alive.
13:33Ravensbrück is also the last known location
13:36for young mother and widow
13:39Violette Sabo.
13:47But there is one of Vera's agents
13:50that has not been spotted
13:51at either a prison or a camp,
13:55Nor Inayat Khan.
13:57Nor Inayat Khan.
14:02There's a generally held sense
14:04that Nor, amongst the others,
14:06might be alive.
14:10And so she realizes, too,
14:12that there's a tremendous amount
14:13of pressure on her
14:14that if she's going to find
14:15her missing agents,
14:16she's going to have to do it fast.
14:19Vera can't travel to Germany
14:22and continue her investigations
14:24due to her low rank.
14:27So she enlists the help
14:29of an army unit
14:30who are hunting Nazis
14:32across post-war Germany.
14:34A unit that was founded
14:36just a few years before.
14:38The SAS.
14:54The SAS, or Special Air Service,
14:58are an elite commando unit
15:00founded during the height of the war.
15:03The SAS were formed
15:05in the North African desert
15:06and the concept behind
15:07their kind of operations
15:08were these fast
15:09hit-and-run missions
15:10that they were deploying
15:11in these Willis jeeps,
15:13which were very maneuverable
15:14and nimble,
15:14and they were heavily armed
15:15with mounted machine guns.
15:17And the idea was
15:18to carry out
15:19these hit-and-run raids
15:20largely targeting
15:21Italian and German airfields.
15:25And they were extremely successful
15:27in the North Africa campaign.
15:29So in those 18 months or so
15:31that they soldiered there,
15:32the SAS had destroyed
15:34387 proven enemy warplane kills.
15:37That's spectacular achievement.
15:41But in the winter of 1942,
15:44Hitler fights back.
15:47His Nazi high command
15:48issues the so-called commando order.
15:53What the commando order said
15:55was that any parachutist,
15:57so any Allied parachutist,
15:59that could be SAS,
16:00it could be commandos,
16:01it could be Special Operations
16:02Executive Agents,
16:03any of those captured
16:04behind the lines,
16:06whether in uniform
16:07or out of uniform,
16:08whether fighting or not fighting,
16:10whether trying to surrender or not,
16:12would be kept alive
16:13only for as long
16:14as it took the Gestapo
16:15and the SS to interrogate them.
16:18And find out what they knew,
16:19and then they'd be shot out of hand.
16:24In other words,
16:25murdered.
16:28And what that meant for the SAS
16:31is if you were captured,
16:32it was a death sentence.
16:34Despite the order,
16:36the SAS continue their raids
16:39and are a key part
16:40of the Allied success
16:41in northern France
16:43that sees the Nazis defeated.
16:49With the end of the war,
16:51SAS Major Bill Barkworth
16:53and a team
16:54are sent to Germany
16:55to hunt down the Nazis
16:57who carried out the commando order
16:59and bring them to justice.
17:04Major Eric Bill Barkworth
17:06is an extraordinary figure
17:07in World War II,
17:08and especially
17:09within Special Forces history.
17:11He's eccentric,
17:12he's single-minded,
17:14he's a maverick,
17:15he's a rule-breaker,
17:16he's one of those
17:17very, very archetypal individuals
17:19who can think
17:20the absolute unthinkable.
17:22But the other thing
17:22about Barkworth as well,
17:23which is key to how
17:24he develops as a character
17:26during the war,
17:27is he's got this unshakable
17:28moral compass.
17:30His sense of right and wrong
17:31is absolutely inflexible.
17:37Barkworth has commandeered
17:39a private villa,
17:41the Villa Degler,
17:43in Garganau,
17:45near Karlsruhe,
17:46on the edge of the Black Forest.
17:51And he is here
17:52on a special mission
17:54for the SAS.
17:59On the 12th of August,
18:011944,
18:02an SAS team
18:03was dropped behind enemy lines
18:05in the Vosges mountains
18:07of eastern France
18:08to hit the Nazis
18:10before an Allied advance.
18:14But the team
18:15were tracked down
18:17and 31 soldiers
18:19were captured.
18:26after months
18:27of interrogation,
18:30the soldiers
18:31were taken to the woods,
18:33stripped
18:33and shot.
18:38Such a loss of life
18:39would have a profound effect
18:41on everyone
18:42in the SAS.
18:45When you are serving
18:46in a unit
18:47like the SAS
18:47in World War II,
18:49you forge these bonds
18:50of brotherhood
18:51with your fellow operators
18:53which are extremely,
18:54extremely powerful
18:55and close.
18:56You read the accounts
18:57from people at the time
18:58or you interview veterans
18:59as I have,
19:00and you speak about
19:01those kind of relationships,
19:02they are very,
19:03very, very special.
19:05It's the kind of spirit
19:07that means you will
19:08lay down your life
19:09for your fellow brother-in-arms,
19:11and that's what
19:11so often happens.
19:20Barkworth is determined
19:22to find those responsible
19:23for the deaths
19:25of the 31 SAS soldiers.
19:30Chief among them
19:33is Hans Kiefer,
19:35the head of the SD.
19:41the Nazi intelligence agency
19:42in Paris.
19:45A man Vera also believes
19:47may know what happened
19:49to her lost women spies.
19:54So Vera shares the photos
19:56of her agents
19:56with Barkworth
19:57in the hopes
19:59he can help her.
20:01Both Barkworth
20:02and Vera,
20:03their investigations
20:04led them to one name,
20:06and that was Hans Kiefer.
20:09He was in charge
20:10of the SD.
20:11He was responsible
20:12for all of the investigations
20:14that the Gestapo
20:15and the SD
20:15were doing in Paris.
20:16So he was responsible
20:18for the interrogation
20:20of what the agents
20:21and what the soldiers
20:22of the SAS
20:22went through.
20:26He was a spider
20:27at the centre of the web
20:28issuing all these orders
20:30for interrogating,
20:31and this is the man
20:32that they were desperate
20:33to find.
20:34But as the atrocities
20:36of Kiefer
20:37and other Nazis
20:38come to light,
20:40people back in the UK
20:41begin to ask
20:43some difficult questions.
20:52Vera receives a letter
20:54alerting her
20:56to the actions
20:56of Violet Sabo's father,
20:58Charles Bushell.
21:02Violet has a child
21:04called Tanya,
21:05and Bushell wants to know
21:07when the baby's mother
21:08will return.
21:33Bushell is talking
21:35to his MP
21:35and giving interviews
21:37to the newspapers
21:38about his missing daughter.
21:43For Vera
21:44and the SOE,
21:46this could be
21:47a major problem.
21:49Vera is in a very
21:50difficult situation
21:51because suddenly
21:53the war's over
21:54and these young women
21:56who've gone off
21:57to serve somewhere
21:57and their families
21:58don't know anything
21:59about what they really
22:00did in the SOE
22:01aren't coming home.
22:07Violet Sabo's father,
22:08who's been left
22:09with her infant daughter,
22:11is starting to ask questions,
22:12is starting to push
22:13for answers.
22:14What's happened
22:14to my daughter?
22:15Why hasn't she come home?
22:16And there are others
22:17starting to step forward
22:18and say,
22:18listen,
22:19we've heard nothing.
22:20We don't know
22:20where they were serving.
22:21We don't know
22:22what part of the world
22:23they've ended up in.
22:24We don't know
22:24why they're not home.
22:25And so there starts
22:26to become this pressure
22:27from family members
22:28and friends
22:29and other acquaintances
22:30of these young women
22:31who've just suddenly vanished.
22:35And Vera has another problem.
22:39She has a new boss.
22:43Head of SOE F section,
22:46Maurice Buckmaster,
22:47has returned to his civilian role
22:49of public relations manager
22:51at the Ford Motor Company.
22:54He is replaced
22:55by new broom...
22:57Vera.
22:59...Captain Norman Mott.
23:01Please, have a seat.
23:04A man who comes
23:05from the SOE security section
23:08and whose main interest
23:10is in keeping things secret.
23:13Mott doesn't help Vera very much.
23:16He doesn't see this
23:17as the sort of passionate necessity
23:19that Vera sees it as.
23:21And she's now started
23:22to get information
23:23about the camps.
23:27And she's pushing
23:29to see if she can get
23:30a chance to have
23:31some sort of contact
23:32or interrogate
23:34the heads of these camps
23:35where her agents
23:36might have ended up.
23:39And yet she's given
23:40the cold shoulder.
23:41She's really effectively told
23:43that this isn't of interest
23:45to the government,
23:46this is not of interest
23:47to her former colleagues,
23:48and would she please
23:49just leave it alone?
23:56So it's really tense for Vera.
23:58She doesn't know
23:59how much power she will have
24:00to carry on this investigation.
24:02She needs to find out
24:03if there are agents
24:04surviving in these camps,
24:06she has to find them
24:07before they are dead or gone,
24:08or any evidence of them
24:10is wiped out.
24:11So the timing is crucial
24:13and she is basically
24:14racing against the clock.
24:17Vera has to fight
24:19to convince Mott
24:20and the war office
24:21to allow her to go to Germany
24:23and speed up the hunt
24:24for her missing spies.
24:30Letters from agents' relatives
24:31asking difficult questions
24:33puts pressure
24:34on the home office.
24:38And after months of lobbying,
24:41Vera gets her answer.
24:45Vera will be given the rank
24:46of flight officer
24:48in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force,
24:50allowing her to travel to Germany.
24:56But she is told
24:57that she has just four days
25:00to demonstrate
25:01she can get results.
25:15December, 1945.
25:19Vera's destination
25:20is Berlin.
25:23A capital city
25:25in ruins.
25:28A city conquered
25:29by the Soviet Union.
25:33In among the destruction
25:35of Germany,
25:36Vera has just a few days
25:38to prove her worth
25:40to the war office.
25:46Vera's first mission
25:47is to identify the grave
25:49of F-Section's male agent,
25:52Clement Marc Jumeau,
25:53who is believed
25:54to have died of tuberculosis
25:56at a hospital north of Berlin.
25:59Many women were sent
26:00to Germany post-war,
26:01but mostly in secretarial roles
26:03or in a way to assist
26:05with the men
26:06of the armed forces
26:07who were trying
26:08to reconcile Germany.
26:10But Vera was there
26:11in a totally different capacity.
26:13She had a mission
26:14that she wanted to fulfill.
26:20And although she was
26:21probably very nervous
26:22and had a sense of trepidation,
26:24she really had to mask that
26:26and to go forward
26:27with an air of confidence
26:28and to prove
26:30that she was the right person
26:31to uncover the stories
26:33of the missing agents.
26:35But Vera has a problem.
26:37Jumeau's grave
26:38is most likely
26:39in Soviet-controlled Germany,
26:41north of Berlin.
26:43After the fall of Germany,
26:45the country is split
26:46into zones
26:47under control
26:48of the US,
26:49the UK,
26:50France
26:50and the Soviet Union.
26:56At a checkpoint in Buch,
26:59Vera is stopped
27:00by a Soviet sentry
27:01and her progress
27:02is halted.
27:18Vera is blocked
27:19from entering
27:20the Soviet zone.
27:26If Vera fails here,
27:28she knows there is no chance
27:30that Mott
27:30and the War Office
27:31would allow her
27:32to continue
27:33her investigations.
27:36But then,
27:38Vera addresses
27:39the sentry
27:39in Russian.
27:43Something the sentry
27:45would not
27:45have been expecting.
27:48They come to a Russian
27:49checkpoint
27:50and she speaks
27:51in Russian
27:51and it must have been
27:53a real shock
27:53because for him,
27:54she was a member
27:56of the WAF,
27:56you know,
27:57she was a lady
27:58in a blue uniform
27:59and suddenly
28:00she's speaking Russian
28:01which would have been
28:02something he would have
28:03been completely
28:03unprepared for.
28:06Vera,
28:06somehow,
28:07not only speaks Russian,
28:11but she does so
28:12with a level of fluency
28:13that the sentry
28:14lets them through.
28:18Vera is able
28:19to continue
28:19her journey
28:20into the Soviet zone
28:21thanks to her
28:23unexpected ability
28:24to speak Russian.
28:35At the hospital,
28:37Vera questions
28:38the staff
28:44and they direct her
28:45to the location
28:46of Jumot's grave.
28:51Within the first day
28:52of her time
28:53in Germany,
28:54Vera proves
28:55to the war office
28:56and to Mott
28:57that her investigations
28:59get results.
29:02Now she can move
29:03on to the main reason
29:04for her journey,
29:05Ravensbrück.
29:16Ravensbrück.
29:20The women's camp.
29:2590 kilometers north
29:27of Berlin.
29:32Ravensbrück
29:33is hideous camp
29:35which was set up
29:36specifically
29:37to hold women
29:38and tens of thousands
29:40of women
29:41died there.
29:42I think over 50,000
29:43women were imprisoned there.
29:48Ravensbrück
29:49is of particular
29:50interest to Vera
29:51because she
29:52interviewed Odette
29:53who'd come out
29:54of Ravensbrück
29:55who had told her
29:56about her agents
29:57who were there.
29:58So Ravensbrück
29:59seems to be
29:59the place,
30:01the concentration camp
30:02where a lot
30:02of her agents
30:03disappeared.
30:05Vera is here
30:06to interrogate
30:08the commandant
30:08Fritz Soeren.
30:10Ravensbrück camp
30:12is the camp
30:12which Odette
30:13left alive.
30:15It is also
30:16the last known location
30:17of Vera's
30:18missing agent
30:19Violette Sabo
30:20along with two others,
30:23Lillian Rolf
30:23and Denise Block.
30:26Soeren holds the key
30:28to not just one
30:29but possibly
30:30the lives
30:31of three
30:31of her agents.
30:34The pressure
30:35is on.
30:39Vera's not
30:39particularly experienced
30:41yet at interrogations
30:43and she knows
30:44he has information.
30:47He knows everything
30:48that went on
30:49in the camp
30:49and if there were
30:50special prisoners
30:52considered to be agents
30:53he would have known.
30:59How many English
31:00women
31:01were at the camp?
31:06There were
31:07no English
31:08women
31:08at the camp.
31:11Odette
31:12is English.
31:14She was
31:15a special prisoner
31:16for whom
31:17I had special
31:18responsibilities
31:20because we thought
31:21what she was related
31:22to Churchill.
31:25So the other
31:26English women
31:28how many
31:29were there?
31:32I already
31:33told you
31:34there were
31:36no others.
31:38I have
31:39testimony
31:40that there were.
31:48Answer me!
31:52I have
31:53nothing else
31:54to say.
32:00Surin offers
32:01Vera
32:02nothing.
32:12Without
32:13any new evidence
32:14Vera leaves
32:16Ravensbrück
32:16and returns
32:17to London
32:18empty-handed.
32:29Back in London
32:30Vera gets
32:31some news
32:32that could
32:32prevent her
32:33from ever
32:33finding her
32:34agents.
32:36Have a read
32:36please.
32:40She is
32:41informed
32:42that F
32:42section
32:43is to be
32:43closed down
32:44permanently.
32:48Norman
32:49Mort
32:49tells
32:49Vera
32:50that she's
32:51to wind
32:51down,
32:52she's
32:52to close
32:53the office
32:53and really
32:54nobody's
32:55very interested
32:55in what's
32:56happening
32:56to these
32:56agents
32:57of hers.
33:02There is
33:03no sense
33:04that there
33:04should be
33:05accounts
33:06from surviving
33:07agents
33:07which is
33:08what we
33:08see from
33:08other
33:09military
33:09intelligence
33:10departments
33:11so there's
33:12no accountability
33:13there's no
33:14learning
33:15from the
33:15mistakes
33:16of the
33:16past.
33:18SOE
33:19was so
33:19embarrassed
33:20by some
33:20of its
33:20mistakes
33:21that it
33:22was just
33:23going to
33:23hush
33:23everything
33:23up
33:24and close
33:24it down
33:25as quickly
33:25as possible.
33:28If
33:29F section
33:29is shut
33:30down
33:30it would
33:31see
33:31Vera
33:32without
33:32the
33:32mandate
33:33to find
33:33her
33:34lost
33:34women
33:34spies.
33:36They would
33:37remain
33:37missing
33:38presumed
33:39dead.
33:41But for
33:42Vera
33:42this wasn't
33:43acceptable.
33:43It wasn't
33:44fair.
33:45It wasn't
33:45fair on
33:45them.
33:46It wasn't
33:46fair on
33:46their
33:47families.
33:47And so
33:48she was
33:48determined
33:49to find
33:49out what
33:50had
33:50happened
33:50particularly
33:51to the
33:52young
33:52women
33:52agents
33:53that
33:53she
33:53had
33:54personally
33:54sent
33:55to
33:55France.
34:03What
34:04Vera
34:05needs
34:05is
34:06new
34:06evidence
34:07that
34:07will
34:07shock
34:08her
34:08bosses
34:08into
34:09letting
34:09her
34:10continue.
34:21Vera
34:22receives
34:22word
34:23from
34:23SAS
34:24Major
34:24Barkworth
34:25about
34:25evidence
34:26from
34:26a
34:26secret
34:27concentration
34:28camp.
34:29A
34:30camp
34:31that
34:31has
34:31been
34:32liberated
34:32and
34:33filmed
34:33by
34:34US
34:34forces.
34:37known
34:38as
34:39Nazweiler
34:39Strutof
34:40the camp
34:41is hidden
34:41in the
34:42Vosges
34:42mountains
34:42of eastern
34:43France
34:44close to
34:45the German
34:45border.
34:52It is
34:53the only
34:53camp
34:54the Nazis
34:54build
34:55in
34:55France.
34:57A
34:58camp
34:58built
34:59to destroy
35:00the
35:00French
35:00resistance.
35:05On
35:06the
35:067th
35:06of
35:06December
35:061941
35:07Hitler
35:09passes
35:09an
35:09order
35:10codenamed
35:11Night
35:11and
35:12Fog.
35:14This
35:14secret
35:15order
35:15means
35:16anyone
35:16believed
35:17to be
35:17endangering
35:18German
35:18security
35:19can be
35:20abducted
35:20at night
35:21and without
35:22trial
35:22taken
35:23to
35:23Nazweiler.
35:26People
35:26would be
35:27according
35:28to the
35:28Nazi
35:28order
35:29turned
35:30into
35:30mist.
35:33It's
35:34a way
35:34of punishing
35:35people
35:35that was
35:36more feared
35:37than
35:37any
35:37other.
35:41But
35:42it's
35:42what
35:42Barkworth
35:43includes
35:43next
35:44in his
35:44report
35:44that
35:45has
35:45the
35:46most
35:46shocking
35:46impact
35:47on
35:47Vera's
35:48hunt
35:48for
35:49her
35:49lost
35:49women
35:50spies.
36:01Vera
36:02reads
36:02Barkworth's
36:03interrogation
36:04report
36:04of a
36:05former
36:05prisoner
36:06at
36:06Natzweiler
36:08Franz
36:08Berg.
36:28Berg
36:28tells
36:29Barkworth
36:29he worked
36:30in the
36:31crematorium
36:31as a
36:32stoker.
36:34One day
36:35in July
36:361944
36:37Berg
36:38and the
36:38other
36:39stokers
36:39are told
36:40to expect
36:40some
36:41English
36:41women.
36:45From his
36:46crematorium
36:47cell
36:47he witnesses
36:49their arrival.
36:55Franz gives
36:57a detailed
36:58deposition.
36:59He describes
37:00these
37:00English
37:01women
37:01who come
37:02and on
37:02the night
37:03he says
37:04that the
37:05head of
37:05the crematorium
37:06has told
37:07him to
37:07light the
37:07fires
37:08and take
37:09it to
37:09the hottest
37:09point by
37:109.30pm.
37:12They're hearing
37:13that these
37:14girls are going
37:14to be killed
37:15by lethal
37:16injection.
37:20They see
37:21three women
37:22being dragged.
37:23These are
37:23the English
37:24women.
37:24Two are
37:25unconscious.
37:25One of them
37:26seems to be
37:26moving.
37:27There's groans
37:27and grunts
37:28and one even
37:29speaks and
37:30says,
37:30Purkwa.
37:32They are then
37:33dragged into
37:33the crematorium.
37:34They can't see
37:35anymore and
37:36they say later
37:36that one of the
37:37women was alive
37:38and had scratched
37:39one of the
37:40men who had
37:40come.
37:41Then they
37:42heard the
37:42crematorium
37:43doors being
37:43shut and
37:45they knew
37:45it was
37:45all being
37:45fired up.
37:49After that
37:50there's silence.
37:54It's horror
37:56at what
37:56these girls
37:57would have
37:57gone through.
37:58There is
37:58no way
37:59when they
38:00prepared them
38:00for their
38:00training,
38:01for the
38:02torture that
38:02might lie
38:03ahead,
38:03they would
38:04have
38:04envisaged
38:05something like
38:05this.
38:10After being
38:10shown Vera's
38:11photographs of
38:12her missing
38:13spies,
38:14Burke says
38:15that he
38:15believes one
38:16of the
38:16women brought
38:17to the
38:17crematorium
38:19is Noor
38:20Inayat Khan.
38:25Vera would
38:25have been
38:26absolutely
38:26horrified and
38:28the thought
38:28that this
38:28could have
38:28been Noor
38:29as well,
38:30I mean,
38:30horrified for
38:30all the
38:31girls.
38:35And the
38:36fact that
38:36maybe this
38:37is what
38:38happened to
38:38Noor is
38:38something that
38:39really haunted
38:39her.
38:52armed with
38:53Berg's
38:53testimony
38:54from
38:54Natzweiler,
38:56Vera heads
38:57to her
38:57superiors.
38:59She will
39:00not give
39:01up on her
39:02women.
39:11Berg's
39:12testimony makes
39:13disturbing
39:13reading for
39:14the British
39:15security
39:15services.
39:23Whitehall would
39:24be deeply
39:24troubled by the
39:25evidence that
39:26Vera is actually
39:27gaining of the
39:28sheer horror of the
39:30concentration camps,
39:31because let's not
39:31forget that the
39:33public don't
39:34know that
39:35women were
39:36sent behind
39:36enemy lines.
39:39Whitehall would
39:40not want this
39:41highly secret
39:42organisation,
39:42the SOE,
39:44knowledge of
39:44it to come
39:45out, but
39:46even more
39:46sensitive and
39:48potentially a
39:49public outcry to
39:50hear that women
39:51had been dropped
39:52into these
39:53dangerous areas
39:54and that some
39:55of them hadn't
39:56come back and
39:57had been
39:57horrifically
39:58tortured.
40:00After seeing
40:01Berg's testimony,
40:02MI6 agree to
40:04fund Vera for
40:05another three
40:05months of
40:06investigations in
40:08the hope that
40:08Vera can keep
40:09the story of the
40:10lost women spies
40:11out of the
40:12public eye.
40:16Vera heads
40:17back to
40:18Germany.
40:41Vera is
40:42assigned to
40:43the war crimes
40:43unit at the
40:44British Army
40:45headquarters in
40:46Germany.
40:48The war crimes
40:49unit was based
40:49at Bad
40:50Urnhausen, which
40:51was the
40:51headquarters of
40:53the British
40:53Army on the
40:54Rhine, so it
40:55was a very
40:56important place.
40:57And the war
40:58crimes unit was
40:59really trying to
40:59find high-ranking
41:01Nazis, people who
41:02would have been
41:02involved in what
41:04we would call war
41:04crimes.
41:05So with
41:06executions, with
41:07maltreatment of
41:08prisoners, with
41:09the concentration
41:10camp system in
41:11general.
41:12And the idea would
41:13not only be to
41:14find these
41:14officers, but
41:15also to find
41:16evidence about
41:17crimes against
41:18humanity that
41:19they had
41:19committed.
41:20So various
41:21murders or
41:23procedures that
41:24they had
41:25followed that
41:26were against
41:26the Geneva
41:27Convention.
41:30Vera will
41:31support the
41:32British judges
41:32in their
41:33evidence
41:33gathering.
41:40Vera's main
41:40role within the
41:41war crimes unit
41:42was to trace the
41:43missing SOE
41:44agents, and
41:45her job would
41:45be to trace
41:47them as best
41:47she could.
41:48This was going
41:48to be exceptionally
41:49difficult for
41:50her, as the
41:51prisoners were
41:52classified as
41:53Nacht und
41:53Nabel,
41:54Night and
41:54Fog.
41:54So most
41:55records would
41:56technically have
41:57disappeared if
41:58they'd ever been
41:58kept in the
41:59first place.
41:59But her job was
42:01to trace them
42:01through the
42:02various prison
42:02systems that
42:03they'd been
42:03through, had
42:04they'd gone
42:05into camps, and
42:06not only to
42:07trace them, but
42:08to trace the
42:08people responsible
42:09for their
42:09imprisonment and
42:11murders, if
42:12that was going
42:12to be the case.
42:16Vera begins by
42:18tracing back her
42:19agent's whereabouts
42:20before they get to
42:21the camp at
42:22Natsweiler.
42:24And her
42:25attention turns to
42:26a witness who
42:27could hold the
42:28key.
42:29It's a name given
42:31to Vera by
42:32Odette Sansom.
42:33It is the chief
42:34warder of Karlsruhe
42:36prison, Fräulein
42:38Becker.
42:43Vera leaves the
42:45war crimes office,
42:46headed for Karlsruhe
42:48prison, in the hope
42:49that finding
42:50Becker might give
42:51her the information
42:52she needs.
42:56Fräulein Becker
42:57would have been
42:58really important for
42:58Vera to get her
42:59hands on.
43:00She'd been identified
43:01in one of the
43:01affidavits of the
43:02surviving agents
43:03anyway, and Vera
43:05needed to go out
43:06and find her, because
43:07as the chief
43:08wardress, she would
43:09have received all
43:10new prisoners coming
43:11into Karlsruhe.
43:12She would have met
43:13them personally, taken
43:14away their personal
43:15effects, made a record
43:17of what they were.
43:18She would have also
43:18recorded their names.
43:20So be they real names
43:22or their aliases, she
43:23would have recorded
43:24the names of the
43:25SOE women going
43:26into that prison.
43:34On arrival at the
43:36prison, Vera discovers
43:37that Fräulein Becker
43:39hasn't even left her
43:40post as chief
43:43warder.
43:45Vera can now begin
43:47her questioning.
43:52Karlsruhe was
43:53technically a civilian
43:54prison, so it wasn't
43:56really used for
43:57political prisoners,
43:58which arguably the
43:59SOE agents were.
44:01When they arrived at
44:02Karlsruhe, they were
44:03put into solitary
44:04confinement.
44:09Food would have been
44:10pretty grim and very
44:12scarce.
44:13They would have only
44:13had the clothes they
44:14were standing up in
44:15and we know that the
44:16cells were quite
44:17sparse, a single
44:18bed, maybe a bucket
44:19for a toilet, so it
44:21was a very grim
44:22place.
44:26I don't want them
44:27here.
44:28This is a regular
44:29prison, not for
44:30politicals like them.
44:31They should never have
44:32been here.
44:45Them?
45:07Yes.
45:11All of them.
45:16And they all left in
45:18July 1944.
45:21No.
45:23The one you
45:24mentioned, Adette.
45:25She left then.
45:27The others, it was
45:28later in the year.
45:31So these seven in the
45:33photographs, they didn't
45:35leave in July.
45:36That's what I said.
45:38They left later.
45:41I need to see your
45:42records.
45:43Now, please.
45:44We don't have any.
45:46I can't imagine that.
45:50The French.
45:52When they came, they
45:53destroyed everything.
45:54Smashed it all up.
45:58All gone.
46:08Thank you,
46:09Fraulein Becker.
46:10I'm sure I'll see you
46:12again soon.
46:17Vera doesn't have the
46:18written records she needs
46:20as evidence, but she does
46:22have something more
46:23important.
46:25Becker's testimony
46:26directly contradicts the
46:28evidence of the
46:29crematorium stoker at
46:31Natsweiler, Franz Berg.
46:34Berg stated that four
46:36women are killed at the
46:37Natsweiler camp in July
46:391944.
46:41But Becker claims that,
46:43including Noor, seven of
46:45Vera's lost women spies are
46:47still in Karlsruhe prison
46:49later than July 1944.
46:51So those women could not
46:53have been the ones killed
46:55at Natsweiler.
46:58Vera already has an
46:59eyewitness testimony from
47:00Natsweiler saying that
47:02Noor is dead.
47:03And now she has another
47:04eyewitness testimony saying,
47:05no, that is not true.
47:06She is here.
47:07She needs some sort of
47:09corroborating evidence to
47:11prove where Noor is, one
47:13way or the other.
47:15Vera leaves Becker and
47:17Karlsruhe with the chance
47:19that some of her lost
47:21women spies could still
47:23be alive.
47:27Yeah.
47:29Yeah.
47:34Yeah.
47:40Yeah.
47:43Yeah.
47:44Yeah.
47:45Yeah.
48:12Transcription by CastingWords
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