Axis Sally: The American Voice of Nazi Germany (49 page)

¹⁴⁷
William Russell,
Berlin Embassy
, London: Elliott & Thompson, 2003, pp. 27–8. Reprinted from the 1941 edition published by E.P. Dutton.

¹⁴⁸
Leni Yahil,
The Holocaust: The Fate of European Jewry
. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990, p. 292.

¹⁴⁹
Ibid.

¹⁵⁰
Although the story would be later discounted as concocted to assist her defense, the timing of this interview coincides with the beginning of the German effort to infiltrate the United States with saboteurs known as “Operation Pastorius.” Hitler had been pressuring Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the Abwehr (German military foreign information and counterintelligence) as early as the autumn of 1941 to initiate sabotage efforts aimed at crippling the industrial might of America. Walter Kappe, head of the German-American Bund until 1937 and Abwehr agent, was responsible for recruiting English-speaking agents who had previously resided in the United States. The Germans eventually ferried agents via U-boat to the coast of the United States and deposited them on the beaches of Long Island and Florida. The agents’ mission was to find work in critical war-related industries and plan sabotage attacks that would cripple the production effort for weeks or months. The eight were arrested in June 1942 and tried by a secret tribunal at the Justice Department in Washington DC. Six went to the electric chair in August of that year. It is not unreasonable to assume that the German government would have an interest in recruiting a woman who could blend into American society so easily.

¹⁵¹
Statement of Erwin Christiani, op. cit. c

¹⁵²
Ibid.

¹⁵³
Ibid.

¹⁵⁴
In fact, Mildred’s half-sister Edna Mae Herrick resided in Ohio at that time.

¹⁵⁵
New York Times
, 24 February 1949, p. 5 and
Washington Post
, 24 February 1949, p. 4.

¹⁵⁶
Ibid.

¹⁵⁷
US v. Mildred Sisk (Gillars).
US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Case 10, 187. October Term, 1949. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Administration, p. 35.

¹⁵⁸
Research notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” op. cit., p. 39.

¹⁵⁹
US v. Mildred Sisk (Gillars).
US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, op. cit., p. 36.

5. Smiling Through

¹⁶⁰
William L. Shirer. “The American Radio Traitors,”
Harper’s
, vol. 187, October 1943, p. 400.

¹⁶¹
Research notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” John Bartlow Martin Papers, Library of Congress Manuscript Collection, Washington DC, p. 43.

¹⁶²
Gerhard Keiper and Martin Kroger (eds),
Biographisches Handbuch des
deutschen äuswartigan Dienstes 1871-1945
, Band 2, 2005, p. 596.

¹⁶³
John Bartlow Martin, “The Trials of Axis Sally,”
McCall’s,
June 1949, p. 112.

¹⁶⁴
Washington Post
, January 28, 1948, p. 11.

¹⁶⁵
Research notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” John Bartlow Martin Papers; con densation of
U.S. v. Gillars (Sisk)
Trial Transcript, Library of Congress Manuscripts Collection, Washington DC.

¹⁶⁶
United States Court of Appeals.
Gillars v US
. October term, 1949. No. 10, 187. pp. 9–10.

¹⁶⁷
Ibid., p. 47.

¹⁶⁸
Ibid.

¹⁶⁹
Shirer, op. cit., p. 398.

¹⁷⁰
Gillars v US
, United States Court of Appeals decision, pp. 9–11.

¹⁷¹
Washington Post,
January 28, 1949, p. 11.

¹⁷²
Ibid.

¹⁷³
Ibid.

¹⁷⁴
Research notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” John Bartlow Martin Papers, Library of Congress Manuscript Collection, Washington DC, p. 42.

¹⁷⁵
Ibid.

¹⁷⁶
Ibid.

¹⁷⁷
Research Notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” op. cit., p. 53.

¹⁷⁸
Joseph Goebbels, “Nation, Rise Up, and Let the Storm Break Loose,” translated from “Nun, Volk steh auf, und Sturm brich los! Rede im Berliner Sportpalast,”
Der steile Aufstieg
(Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP, 1944), pp. 167–204. Courtesy: German Propaganda Archive, Calvin College.

¹⁷⁹
David Clay Large,
Berlin.
New York: Basic Books, p. 344.

¹⁸⁰
Research notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” condensation of
US v Gillars (Sisk)
trial transcript, op. cit., p. 48.

¹⁸¹
Ibid.

¹⁸²
Ibid.

¹⁸³
Department of Corrections, District of Columbia Jail, Memorandum from Supt. Curtis Reid to the Director, June 17, 1950, p. 1.

¹⁸⁴
John Bartlow-Martin, “The Trials of Axis Sally,” op. cit., p. 111.

¹⁸⁵
Research notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” op. cit., p. 42.

¹⁸⁶
Ibid., p. 56.

¹⁸⁷
Ibid., p. 55.

¹⁸⁸
Ibid.

¹⁸⁹
Horst J.P. Bergmeier and Rainer E. Lotz,
Hitler’s Airwaves
, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997, p 44

¹⁹⁰
Department of Justice Press Release, Francis Biddle Papers, Georgetown University Library, Washington DC, August 26, 1943, p. 3.

¹⁹¹
Statement of Erwin Christiani, Memorandum from US Army European Command Intelligence Division to the Director of Intelligence, General Staff, US Army, October 6, 1948, p. 2.

^*
Christiani does not specify the exact month of the 1943 suicide attempt but the pressures on Mildred reached critical mass with her discovery of Erna Koischwitz’s pregnancy on the day before the child’s birth, followed by the horrible death of both mother and infant. On the afternoon of the fatal air raid, Mildred, the Professor and Stella sat in a Berlin movie house watching a film.

6. Did You Raise Your Sons To Be Murderers?

¹⁹²
John Carver Edwards,
Berlin Calling,
New York: Praeger Publishing, 1991, p. 205.

¹⁹³
Transcription by author of “Medical Reports” broadcast, February 24, 1944, College Park MD: Archives II, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

¹⁹⁴
Ibid. p. 57.

¹⁹⁵
Bergmeier and Lotz (1997), pp. 82–3.

¹⁹⁶
Research Notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” Abridged transcript of
US v.
Gillars (Sisk)
, John Bartlow Martin Papers, Washington DC: Library of Congress Manuscript Division, p. 44.

¹⁹⁷
Research Notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” John Bartlow Martin Papers, op. cit., p 59.

¹⁹⁸
Ibid. p.63.

¹⁹⁹
Ibid.

²⁰⁰
“American Prisoners of War in Germany,” Washington DC: Military Intelligence Service, US War Department, November 1, 1945.

²⁰¹
Ibid.

²⁰²
FBI File #61-811, Statement of James Capparell, April 26, 1948, College Park MD: NARA, p. 5.

²⁰³
FBI File #61-811. Statement of Robert Ehalt, April 26, 1948, College Park MD: NARA p. 3.

²⁰⁴
Ibid.

²⁰⁵
Transcription by Author of “Medical Reports” audiotape, February 24, 1944, College Park MD: NARA.

²⁰⁶
Transcript of “Medical Reports” broadcast, Federal Communications Commission, Silver Hill, MD, October 6, 1944. John Bartlow Martin Papers. Washington DC: Library of Congress Manuscript Division.

²⁰⁷
US Court of Appeals Decision,
Gillars v. U.S.
, October Term, 1949, No. 10, 187, p. 14.

²⁰⁸
Ibid.

²⁰⁹
Transcript of William Scofield audio interview from “Berlin Calling” radio program, National Public Radio, produced by WUGA-FM, Athens, GA.

²¹⁰
“Axis Sally Remembered” by Paul F. Mosher,
100
th
Infantry Division Association
magazine, November 2000, p. 53.

²¹¹
Ibid.

²¹²
John Bartlow Martin. “The Trials of Axis Sally,”
McCall’s
, June 1949 p. 112.

²¹³
Ibid.

²¹⁴
Cpl. Edward Van Dyne. “There’s No Other Gal Like Axis Sal.”
Saturday Evening Post
, January 15, 1944.

²¹⁵
Bergmeier and Lotz (1997), p 128.

²¹⁶
Ibid.

7. Survivors of the Invasion Front

²¹⁷
Research Notes for “The Trials of Axis Sally,” John Bartlow Martin Papers, op. cit., p. 71.

²¹⁸
FBI Bureau File No. 100-232559. Statement of Michael Evanick to FBI, April 24, 1948, p. 9.

²¹⁹
Ibid., p. 11.

²²⁰
United States Court of Appeals.
Gillars v. United States
. October Term, 1949. No. 10, 187, p. 12.

²²¹
Ibid., p. 13.

²²²
FBI Bureau File No. 61-44. FBI interview with Clarence Marion Gale, April 21, 1948, p. 8.

²²³
Ibid., p. 9.

²²⁴
FBI interview with Donald Rutter, May 4, 1948, p. 4.

²²⁵
FBI File No. 61-44. FBI interview with Clarence Marion Gale, April 21, 1948, p. 8.

²²⁶
FBI File No. 61-222. MCG. Statement of Carl Zimmerman to FBI, May 27, 1948, p. 2.

²²⁷
Ibid., p. 5.

²²⁸
Survivors of the Invasion Front
broadcast, August 22, 1944, NARA. Zimmerman did not recall Gillars identifying herself in his statements to the FBI; however, it is clear from the broadcast that he calls her “Midge.”

²²⁹
FBI File No. 61-222. MCG. Statement of Carl Zimmerman to FBI, May 27, 1948, p. 4.