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The Lost Women Spies S01E04 (2025) [Full Movie] [Full Episodes]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.
02:01Doctor Cypher, Major Thomas, J.P.
02:04She deadly is less stupid than a junior at the tent.
02:04That is not really good.
02:08But nobody is on the side.
02:09Short 참 job is the highest point.
02:10You can't do it alone.
02:10You can't do it alone.
02:13You can not do it alone.
02:13You can't do it alone.
02:15It's not a longer level of war.
02:17You can't do it alone.
02:19You can do it alone.
02:20No.
02:23You can't do it alone.
02:25You can do it alone.
02:25It's not good.
02:31It's the 28th of April, 1945, the Ravensbrück concentration camp for women in northern Germany, 90 kilometers north of Berlin.
02:45SOE agent Odette Sansom is in solitary confinement.
02:50Where is she? Come on, I need her now!
02:54But 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, and they've got the Americans and the British from
03:07the other side.
03:10Himmler has given the order that all witnesses to the horrors of the camp must be killed.
03:20The man who has come for Odette is Fritz Surin.
03:26Get up!
03:28Move!
03:30Yes! Up, up, up!
03:33Yes!
03:35Out! Out!
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 labor programs that the women would be sent out into, the roundups for the executions, and also
03:53the 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!
04:03Odette is about to see daylight for the first time in six months.
04:08But her life hangs in the balance.
04:12Move!
04:12Come on!
04:21Odette is about to see daylight for the first time in six months, but her life hangs in the balance.
04:21Surin flees the Soviet liberation of his camp.
04:25Driving south of Berlin, towards the U.S. army line.
04:33As the Red Army and the Americans get closer to Ravensbrück, the commandant, Surin, panics.
04:40Because at this point, he knows he is going to get captured by one army or the other, and he's
04:47going to make that decision himself.
04:49He's going to pick a side, and so he goes for the Americans and the British.
04:53This is who he aims for.
04:57Surin takes Odette with him, believing she is the perfect bargaining chip to win him freedom.
05:06When Odette was captured, she gave the surname of her network chief, Churchill, 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, the niece of Winston Churchill!
05:46Don't 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 that not only is she not Churchill's niece or any relation to him,
06:21but she's an SOE agent, and 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 is to steal Surin's bag containing his personalised pistol.
06:41She hands him over to the Americans, watches while he's taken in,
06:45takes his bag, which 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.
09:29And finally, Ravensbrook.
09:32Karlsruhe.
09:34Karlsruhe.
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
10:41question as 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,
11:46full of life and full of hope
11:47and excitement for their missions,
11:49suddenly in this horrible world,
11:51having experienced some 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.
12:06Thanks 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,
12:22she does kind of have maternal qualities here
12:26in her investigation.
12:34Vera has the prison in 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 northeastern 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 to be kept out of combat,
13:09out of war
13:10and treated with some level of humanity.
13:12Ravensbrück was a particular horrific site
13:16to end up in.
13:20It's from here
13:21that three agents,
13:23including Yvonne Basden
13:24and Odette Sansom,
13:27have come back alive.
13:33Ravensbrück is also the last known location
13:36for young mother and widow
13:39Violet 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.
14:02There is a generally held sense
14:04that Nor, amongst the others,
14:06might be alive.
14:10And so she realises too
14:12that there is a tremendous amount
14:13of pressure on her
14:14that if she is going to find
14:15her missing agents,
14:16she is going to have to do it fast.
14:20Vera 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.
14:39The 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 hit-and-run
15:10missions and they were
15:11deploying in these
15:11Willis jeeps,
15:13which were very manoeuvrable
15:14and nimble,
15:14and they were heavily armed
15:15with mounted machine guns.
15:17And the idea was to
15:18carry out these 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
15:35387 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
15:49issues 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,
16:05whether in uniform
16:07or out of uniform,
16:08whether fighting
16:09or not fighting,
16:10whether trying to surrender
16:11or not,
16:12would be kept alive
16:13only for as long
16:14as it took the Gestapo
16:15and the SAS
16:16to interrogate them
16:17and find out what they knew,
16:19and then they would be
16:20shot out of hand.
16:24In other words,
16:25murdered.
16:28And what that meant
16:30for 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
16:58the 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
17:19individuals
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
17:28unshakable moral compass.
17:30His sense of right and wrong
17:31is absolutely inflexible.
17:37Barkworth has commandeered
17:39a private villa,
17:40the Villa Degler,
17:43in Garganau,
17:44near Karlsruhe,
17:46on the edge
17:47of the Black Forest.
17:51And he is here
17:52on a special mission
17:54for the SAS.
17:59On the 12th of August 1944,
18:02an SAS team was dropped
18:04behind 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
18:18and 31 soldiers
18:19were captured.
18:26After months
18:27of interrogation,
18:30the soldiers
18:31were taken to the woods,
18:33stripped,
18:34and shot.
18:38Such a loss of life
18:39would have a profound effect
18:41on everyone
18:42in the SAS.
18:44When you are serving
18:46in a unit like 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
19:01about those kind
19:02of 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,
19:40the Nazi intelligence agency
19:42in Paris.
19:45A man Vera also believes
19:47may know
19:48what 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
20:22and what the soldiers
20:22of the SAS went 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.
20:35But 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,
20:59Charles Bushell.
21:02Violet has a child
21:04called Tanya
21:05and Bushell wants
21:07to know when
21:07the 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
21:45this 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
22:11to ask questions
22:12and starting
22:12to push for 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.
22:34And Vera
22:36has another problem.
22:38She has a new boss.
22:43Head of SOE F section
22:45Morris Buckmaster
22:47has returned
22:48to his civilian role
22:49of public relations manager
22:51at the Ford Motor Company.
22:54He is replaced
22:55by new broom
22:56Vera.
22:59Captain Norman Mott.
23:01Please,
23:02have a seat.
23:04A man who comes
23:05from the SOE
23:06security section
23:08and whose main interest
23:10is in keeping things secret.
23:13Mott doesn't help
23:15Vera very much.
23:16He doesn't see this
23:17as the sort of
23:18passionate 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
23:30to have some sort
23:31of contact
23:32or interrogate
23:34the heads
23:34of 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
23:42told that
23:43this 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
23:58for Vera.
23:58She doesn't know
23:59how much power
24:00she will have
24:00to carry on
24:01this 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
24:08or gone
24:08or any evidence
24:10of them
24:10is wiped out.
24:11So the timing
24:12is 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
24:22to go to Germany
24:23and speed up
24:24the hunt
24:24for her missing spies.
24:30Letters from
24:31agents' relatives
24:31asking difficult questions
24:33puts pressure
24:34on the home office.
24:38and after months
24:39of lobbying
24:40Vera gets
24:41her answer.
24:44Vera will be given
24:46the rank
24:46of flight officer
24:48in the Women's
24:49Auxiliary Air Force
24:50allowing her
24:51to travel
24:52to Germany.
24:56But she is told
24:57that she has
24:59just four days
25:00to demonstrate
25:01she can get results.
25:15December 1945
25:19Vera's destination
25:20is Berlin
25:23a capital city
25:24in ruins
25:28a city conquered
25:29by the Soviet Union
25:33in among the destruction
25:35of Germany
25:36Vera has
25:37just a few days
25:38to prove her worth
25:40to the war office.
25:46Vera's first mission
25:47is to identify
25:48the grave
25:49of F-Section's
25:50male agent
25:51Clement Marc Jumeau
25:53who is believed
25:54to have died
25:55of tuberculosis
25:56at a hospital
25:57north of Berlin.
25:59Many women
26:00were sent to Germany
26:01post-war
26:01but mostly
26:02in secretarial roles
26:03or in a way
26:05to assist
26:05with the men
26:06of the armed forces
26:07who were trying
26:08to reconcile
26:09Germany
26:10but Vera was there
26:11in a totally
26:11different capacity.
26:13She had a mission
26:14that she wanted
26:14to fulfil.
26:20And although
26:21she was probably
26:21very nervous
26:22and had a sense
26:23of trepidation
26:24she really had
26:25to mask that
26:26and to go forward
26:27with an air
26:28of confidence
26:28and to prove
26:30that she was
26:31the right person
26:31to uncover
26:32the stories
26:32of the missing
26:33agents.
26:34But Vera
26:36has a problem.
26:37Jumeau's grave
26:38is most likely
26:39in Soviet-controlled
26:40Germany
26:41north of Berlin.
26:43After the fall
26:44of Germany
26:45the country
26:46is 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
26:57in Buch
26:58Vera 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
27:29there is no chance
27:30that Mott
27:30and the war office
27:31would allow her
27:32to continue
27:33her investigations.
27:36But then
27:37Vera addresses
27:39the sentry
27:39in Russian.
27:43Something the sentry
27:44would not
27:45have been expecting.
27:48They come
27:49to a Russian
27:49checkpoint
27:50and she speaks
27:51in Russian.
27:52and it must
27:52have been a 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 somehow
28:07not only speaks Russian
28:11but she does so
28:12with a level of fluency
28:13that the sentry
28:14that the sentry
28:15that the sentry
28:15lets them through.
28:18Vera is able
28:19to continue her journey
28:20into the Soviet zone
28:21thanks to her
28:23unexpected ability
28:24to speak Russian.
28:36At 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
29:06Ravensbrück.
29:16Ravensbrück
29:17the women's camp
29:2590 kilometers north
29:27of Berlin.
29:32Ravensbrück is
29:33this hideous camp
29:35which was set up
29:36specifically
29:37to hold women
29:38and tens of thousands
29:40of women died there.
29:42I think over 50,000
29:43women were imprisoned
29:44there.
29:48Ravensbrück is
29:49of particular interest
29:50to 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 seems
29:59to be the 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
30:11is the camp
30:12which Odette
30:13left alive.
30:15It is also
30:16the last known
30:16location
30:17of Vera's
30:18missing agent
30:19Violette Sabo
30:20along with two others
30:22Lillian Rolf
30:23and Denise Bloch.
30:27Soeren holds
30:28the 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.
30:38Vera'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 women
31:01were at the camp?
31:06There were no English women
31:08at the camp.
31:11Odette is English.
31:14She was a special prisoner
31:16for whom I had
31:18special responsibilities
31:20because we thought
31:21she was related
31:22to Churchill.
31:25So the other
31:26English women
31:28how many
31:29were there?
31:32I already told you
31:34there were
31:36no others.
31:38I have testimony
31:40that there were.
31:48Answer me!
31:52I have nothing else
31:54to say.
32:00Soeren offers
32:01Vera
32:02nothing.
32:12without any new evidence
32:14without any new evidence
32:15Vera leaves Ravensbrück
32:16and returns to London
32:18empty-handed.
32:29back in London
32:30back in London
32:31Vera gets some news
32:32that could prevent her
32:33from ever finding
32:34her agents.
32:35Have a read please.
32:40She is informed
32:42that F section
32:43is to be closed down
32:45permanently.
32:48Norman Martin tells
32:49Vera that she's
32:51to wind down,
32:52she's to close
32:53the office
32:53and really
32:54nobody's very
32:55interested in what's
32:56happening to these
32:56agents of hers.
33:02There is no sense
33:04that there should be
33:05accounts from
33:06surviving agents
33:07which is what we see
33:08from other military
33:09intelligence departments
33:11so there's no
33:12accountability,
33:14there's no learning
33:15from the mistakes
33:16of the past.
33:18SOE was so embarrassed
33:20by some of its mistakes
33:21that it was just
33:23going to hush
33:23everything up
33:24and close it down
33:25as quickly as possible.
33:28If F section
33:29is shut down
33:30it would see Vera
33:32without the mandate
33:33to find her
33:34lost women spies.
33:36They would remain
33:37missing,
33:39presumed dead.
33:41But for Vera
33:42this wasn't acceptable.
33:43It wasn't fair.
33:45It wasn't fair on them.
33:46It wasn't fair on their families.
33:47And so she was determined
33:49to find out
33:49what had happened
33:50particularly to the
33:52young women agents
33:53that she had personally
33:54sent to France.
34:04What Vera needs
34:05is new evidence
34:07that will shock her bosses
34:08into letting her continue.
34:21Vera receives word
34:23from SAS Major Barkworth
34:25about evidence
34:26from a secret
34:27concentration camp.
34:30A camp
34:31that has been liberated
34:32and filmed
34:33by US forces.
34:37Known as
34:39Natzweiler Struthof
34:40the camp is hidden
34:41in the Vosges mountains
34:42of eastern France
34:44close to the German border.
34:52It is the only camp
34:54the Nazis build
34:55in France.
34:57A camp built
34:59to destroy
34:59the French resistance.
35:05On the 7th of December
35:061941
35:07Hitler passes an order
35:10code named
35:11Night and Fog.
35:14This secret order
35:15means anyone
35:16believed to be
35:17endangering
35:18German security
35:19can be abducted
35:20at night
35:21and without trial
35:22taken
35:23to Natzweiler.
35:26People would be
35:27according to the
35:28Nazi order
35:29turned
35:30into mist.
35:33It's a way
35:34of punishing people
35:35that was more feared
35:37than any other.
35:41But it's what
35:42Barkworth includes
35:43next in his report
35:45that has the most
35:46shocking impact
35:47on Vera's hunt
35:48for her lost
35:49women spies.
36:01Vera reads
36:02Barkworth's
36:03interrogation report
36:04of a former
36:05prisoner
36:06at Natzweiler
36:07Franz Berg.
36:28Berg tells
36:29Barkworth
36:29he worked
36:30in the
36:31crematorium
36:31as a stoker.
36:34one day
36:35in July
36:361944
36:37Berg
36:38and the
36:38other stokers
36:39are told
36:40to expect
36:40some English
36:41women.
36:45From his
36:46crematorium
36:47cell
36:47he witnesses
36:49their arrival.
36:55Franz gives
36:57a detailed
36:58deposition.
36:58he describes
37:00these English
37:01women who
37:01come
37:02and on the
37:02night
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
37:10by 9.30
37:11p.m.
37:13They'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 the
37:23English women.
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.
37:42Then they heard
37:42the crematorium
37:43doors being
37:43shut and they
37:45knew it was
37:45all being fired
37:46up.
37:49After that
37:50there's silence.
37:54It's horror
37:56at what these
37:57girls would have
37:57gone through.
37:58There is no
37:59way when they
38:00prepared them
38:00for their
38:00training,
38:01for the torture
38:02that might
38:03lie ahead,
38:03they would
38:04have envisaged
38:05something like
38:05this.
38:10After being
38:10shown Vera's
38:11photographs of
38:12her missing
38:13spies,
38:14Berg says
38:15that he
38:15believes one
38:16of the women
38:16brought to
38:17the crematorium
38:19is Noor
38:20Inayat Khan.
38:25Vera would
38:25have been
38:26absolutely
38:27horrified 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
39:02her women.
39:11Berg's
39:12testimony
39:12makes
39:13disturbing
39:13reading for
39:14the British
39:15security
39:15services.
39:23Whitehall
39:24would be
39:24deeply
39:24troubled
39:25by the
39:25evidence
39:26that
39:26Vera
39:27is
39:27actually
39:27gaining
39:28of the
39:28sheer
39:29horror
39:29of the
39:30concentration
39:30camps
39:31because
39:31let's
39:31not
39:31forget
39:32that
39:33the
39:33public
39:33don't
39:34know
39:34that
39:35women
39:35were
39:36sent
39:36behind
39:36enemy
39:37lines.
39:39Whitehall
39:39would not
39:40want
39:40this
39:41highly
39:41secret
39:42organisation,
39:43the
39:43SOE,
39:43knowledge
39:44of it
39:44to come
39:45out,
39:45but even
39:46more
39:46sensitive
39:47and
39:48potentially
39:49a public
39:49outcry
39:50to hear
39:51that women
39:51had been
39:52dropped
39:52into these
39:53dangerous
39:54areas
39:54and that
39:55some of
39:55them
39:56hadn't
39:56come
39:56back
39:56and
39:57had
39:57been
39:57horrifically
39:58tortured.
40:00After
40:00seeing
40:01Berg's
40:01testimony,
40:02MI6
40:03agreed to
40:04fund
40:04Vera
40:04for another
40:05three months
40:06of
40:06investigations
40:07in the
40:08hope
40:08that
40:08Vera
40:09can
40:09keep
40:09the
40:09story
40:10of
40:10the
40:10lost
40:10women
40:10spies
40:11out
40:12of
40:12the
40:12public
40:13eye.
40:16Vera
40:17heads
40:17back
40:18to
40:18Germany.
40:41Vera
40:42is
40:42assigned
40:42to
40:43the
40:43war
40:43crimes
40:43unit
40:44at
40:44the
40:44British
40:44Army
40:45headquarters
40:45in
40:46Germany.
40:48The
40:48war
40:48crimes
40:49unit
40:49was
40:49based
40:49at
40:50Bad
40:50Ornhausen
40:51which
40:51was
40:51the
40:51headquarters
40:52of
40:53the
40:53British
40:53Army
40:54on
40:54the
40:54Rhine
40:54so
40:55it
40:55was
40:55a
40:55very
40:56important
40:56place
40:57and
40:58the
40:58war
40:58crimes
40:58unit
40:58was
40:59really
40:59trying
40:59to
40:59find
41:00high
41:00ranking
41:00Nazis
41:01people
41:02who
41:02would
41:02have
41:02been
41:02involved
41:03in
41:04what
41:04we
41:04would
41:04call
41:04war
41:04crimes
41:05so
41:05with
41:06executions
41:07with
41:07maltreatment
41:08of
41:08prisoners
41:09with
41:09the
41:09concentration
41:10camp
41:10system
41:11in
41:11general
41:11and
41:12the
41:12idea
41:13would
41:13not
41:13only
41:13be
41:13to
41:13find
41:14these
41:14officers
41:15but
41:15also
41:16to
41:16find
41:16evidence
41:17about
41:17crimes
41:18against
41:18humanity
41:19that
41:19they
41:19had
41:19committed
41:20so
41:20various
41:21murders
41:22or
41:23procedures
41:24that
41:24they
41:24had
41:25followed
41:25that
41:26were
41:26against
41:26the
41:27Geneva
41:27Convention
41:30Vera
41:31will
41:31support
41:31the
41:32British
41:32judges
41:32in
41:33their
41:33evidence
41:33gathering
41:40Vera's
41:40main
41:40role
41:41within
41:41the
41:41war
41:41crimes
41:41unit
41:42was
41:42to
41:42trace
41:42the
41:43missing
41:43SOE
41:44agents
41:44and
41:45her
41:45job
41:45would
41:45be
41:45to
41:46trace
41:47them
41:47as
41:47best
41:47she
41:48could
41:48this
41:48was
41:48going
41:48to
41:49be
41:49exceptionally
41:49difficult
41:50for
41:50her
41:50as
41:51the
41:51prisoners
41:51were
41:52classified
41:52as
41:53night
41:53and
41:53night
41:53and
41:54fog
41:54so
41:55most
41:55records
41:55would
41:56technically
41:56have
41:57disappeared
41:57if
41:58they'd
41:58ever
41:58been
41:58kept
41:58in
41:58the
41:59first
41:59place
41:59but
42:00her
42:00job
42:00was
42:01to
42:01trace
42:01them
42:01through
42:02the
42:02various
42:02prison
42:02systems
42:03that
42:03they'd
42:03been
42:03through
42:04had
42:04they
42:04gone
42:05into
42:12going
42:12to
42:12be
42:13the
42:13case
42:16Vera
42:17begins
42:17by
42:18tracing
42:18back
42:18her
42:19agents
42:19whereabouts
42:19before
42:20they
42:21get
42:21to
42:21the
42:21camp
42:22at
42:22Natsweiler
42:24and
42:25her
42:25attention
42:25turns
42:26to
42:26a
42:26witness
42:27who
42:27could
42:28hold
42:28the
42:28key
42:29it's
42:30a
42:30name
42:30given
42:31to
42:31Vera
42:31by
42:32Odette
42:32Sansom
42:33it
42:34is
42:34the
42:34chief
42:34warder
42:35of
42:35Karlsruhe
42:36prison
42:37Fräulein
42:38Becker
42:44Vera
42:44leaves
42:45the
42:45war
42:45crimes
42:46office
42:46headed
42:47for
42:47Karlsruhe
42:48prison
42:48in
42:49the
42:49hope
42:49that
42:49finding
42:50Becker
42:50might
42:51give
42:51her
42:51the
42:51information
42:52she
42:53needs
42:56Fräulein
42:57Becker
42:57would
42:57have
42:57been
42:58really
42:58important
42:58for
42:58Vera
42:59to
42:59get
42:59her
42:59hands
43:00on
43:00she'd
43:00been
43:00identified
43:01in
43:01one
43:01of
43:01the
43:01affidavits
43:02of
43:02the
43:02surviving
43:03agents
43:03anyway
43:04and
43:04Vera
43:05needed
43:05to
43:05go
43:06out
43:06and
43:06find
43:06her
43:07because
43:07as
43:08the
43:08chief
43:08wardress
43:08she
43:09would
43:09have
43:09received
43:09all
43:10new
43:10prisoners
43:10coming
43:11into
43:11Karlsruhe
43:12she
43:12would
43:12have
43:13met
43:13them
43:13personally
43:13taken
43:14away
43:14their
43:15personal
43:15effects
43:16made
43:16a
43:16record
43:17of
43:17what
43:17they
43:17were
43:17but
43:18she
43:18would
43:18have
43:18also
43:18recorded
43:19their
43:19names
43:20so
43:20be
43:21they
43:21real
43:21names
43:22or
43:22their
43:22aliases
43:23she
43:23would
43:24have
43:24recorded
43:24the
43:24names
43:24of
43:25the
43:25SOE
43:25women
43:25going
43:26into
43:26that
43:26prison
43:34on
43:35on
43:35arrival
43:35at
43:35the
43:36prison
43:36Vera
43:37discovers
43:37that
43:38Fräulein
43:38Becker
43:39hasn't
43:39even
43:40left
43:40her
43:40post
43:42as
43:42chief
43:43warder
43:45Vera
43:46can
43:46now
43:47begin
43:47her
43:49questioning
43:52Karlsruhe
43:53was
43:53technically
43:54a
43:54civilian
43:55prison
43:55so
43:55it
43:56wasn't
43:56really
43:56used
43:57for
43:57political
43:57prisoners
43:58which
43:58arguably
43:58the
43:59SOE
43:59agents
44:00were
44:00when
44:01they
44:01arrived
44:02at
44:02Karlsruhe
44:02they
44:03were
44:03put
44:04into
44:04solitary
44:04confinement
44:09food
44:10would
44:10have
44:10been
44:10pretty
44:11grim
44:11and
44:12very
44:12scarce
44:13they
44:13would
44:13have
44:13only
44:13had
44:14the
44:14clothes
44:14they
44:14were
44:14standing
44:15up
44:15in
44:15and
44:16we
44:16know
44:16that
44:16the
44:16cells
44:17were
44:17quite
44:17sparse
44:18a
44:18single
44:18bed
44:19maybe
44:19a
44:19bucket
44:19for
44:20a
44:20toilet
44:20so
44:21it
44:21was
44:21a
44:21very
44:22grim
44:22place
44:26I
44:27didn't
44:27want
44:27them
44:27here
44:27this
44:28is
44:29a
44:29regular
44:29prison
44:29not
44:29for
44:30political
44:30like
44:30them
44:31they
44:32should
44:32never
44:32have
44:32been
44:32here
44:45them
45:08yes
45:09yes
45:12all of them
45:16and
45:17and
45:17and they
45:17left
45:17and they
45:18July 1944
45:21no
45:23the one
45:24you mentioned
45:24Adette
45:25she left
45:26then
45:27the others
45:28it was
45:28later
45:28in the
45:29year
45:31so
45:32these
45:32seven
45:33in the
45:33photographs
45:34they didn't
45:35leave
45:35in July
45:36that's what
45:37I said
45:37they left
45:38later
45:41I need to
45:42see your
45:42records
45:43now please
45:44we don't
45:45have any
45:47I can't
45:47imagine that
45:50the French
45:52when they
45:52came they
45:53destroyed
45:53everything
45:53smashed it
45:54all up
45:57all gone
46:07thank you
46:09Fraulein
46:09Becker
46:10I'm sure
46:11I'll see you
46:12again soon
46:17Vera
46:17doesn't have
46:18the written
46:19records she
46:19needs
46:20as evidence
46:21but she
46:22does have
46:22something
46:23more
46:23important
46:25Becker's
46:26testimony
46:26directly
46:27contradicts
46:28the evidence
46:29of the
46:29crematorium
46:30stoker
46:30at
46:31Natsweiler
46:31Franz Berg
46:34Berg
46:35stated that
46:35four women
46:36are killed
46:37at the
46:37Natsweiler
46:38camp
46:38in July
46:391944
46:40but Becker
46:42claims that
46:43including
46:43Noor
46:44seven of
46:45Vera's
46:45lost women
46:46spies
46:46are still
46:47in
46:48Karlsruhe
46:48prison
46:49later
46:49than
46:50July
46:501944
46:51so
46:52those
46:53women
46:53could not
46:54have been
46:54the ones
46:55killed
46:55at
46:56Natsweiler
46:57Vera
46:58already has
46:59an eyewitness
47:00testimony
47:00from Natsweiler
47:01saying that
47:02Noor is
47:02dead
47:03and now
47:03she has
47:04another
47:04eyewitness
47:04testimony
47:05saying no
47:05that is
47:06not true
47:06she is
47:07here
47:07she needs
47:08some
47:09sort of
47:09corroborating
47:10evidence
47:10to prove
47:11where
47:12Noor is
47:12one way
47:13or the
47:13other
47:15Vera
47:16leaves
47:16Becker
47:17and
47:17Karlsruhe
47:18with
47:19the
47:19chance
47:19that
47:20some
47:20of
47:20her
47:20lost
47:21women
47:21spies
47:22could
47:22still
47:23be
47:23alive
47:24leave
47:26to
47:27her
47:28to
47:28her
47:53her
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