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Early May 1940. Nazi Germany launches its Blitzkrieg across Western Europe, crushing France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in a matter of weeks. As Paris falls and France surrenders, a new reality takes hold—one of occupation, fear, and collaboration.
Amid the chaos, one man makes a choice that will cost countless lives.
Harold Cole, a British soldier and career conman, refuses evacuation during the Dunkirk retreat and remains in occupied France. Posing as an intelligence officer, he infiltrates resistance networks and escape lines meant to save Allied soldiers. But behind the mask lies betrayal.
Operating in cities like Lille, Marseille, and Paris, Cole builds trust—only to destroy it. His actions lead to the arrest, torture, and death of at least 150 resistance fighters and Allied agents, many at the hands of the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police.
From fraudster to collaborator, from escape-line operative to SD informant, Cole’s story is one of deception, manipulation, and devastating consequences.

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“British Traitor Who Betrayed 150 to the Gestapo: Harold Cole”

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Transcript
00:00When World War II began, Harold Cole saw an opportunity where others saw danger.
00:05In early 1940, while serving with a British expeditionary force in France,
00:10he was promoted to sergeant and put in charge of the non-commissioned officer's mess fund.
00:15True to his past, he stole the money, reportedly planning to spend it on prostitutes.
00:21Arrested and imprisoned, he found himself behind bars as the German Blitzkrieg,
00:26the Lightning War, swept across France.
00:30During the chaos of the Dunkirk evacuation, his guards released him,
00:34and instead of escaping to Britain, Cole decided to remain in occupied France.
00:39In the city of Lille, he began operating under yet another false identity.
00:44Driving a stolen black Peugeot, he entered the black market scene
00:48and introduced himself to the locals as a former Scotland Yard detective,
00:53who had once served as a bodyguard to Wallace Simpson, before she became the Duchess of Windsor.
01:00Discover the full story on worldhistory.tv
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