For thousands of years governments have relied on spies to gather information about their enemies. WWII was no different but until the 20th century, most spies were men. During WWII, however, many women became active in the world of espionage. For this assignment you are to research and then write on the life of one of the following female spies during WWII: Yoshiko Kawashima, Hekmath Fathmy or Violette Szabo. In your report, mention how they came to be a spy, their involvement in espionage during WWII, and their fate once they were discovered. After having done research you should also provide opinion on whether or not your chosen spy actually helped the war effort for her side. Please provide a works cited to accompany your report.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Women as Spies during WWII
For thousands of years governments have relied on spies to gather information about their enemies. WWII was no different but until the 20th century, most spies were men. During WWII, however, many women became active in the world of espionage. For this assignment you are to research and then write on the life of one of the following female spies during WWII: Yoshiko Kawashima, Hekmath Fathmy or Violette Szabo. In your report, mention how they came to be a spy, their involvement in espionage during WWII, and their fate once they were discovered. After having done research you should also provide opinion on whether or not your chosen spy actually helped the war effort for her side. Please provide a works cited to accompany your report.
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ReplyDeleteHekmet Fahmy was a belly dancer in Egypt who danced as a part of tourist groups. She danced for Hitler and Mussolini in Cairo and then worked was contacted by her ex-boyfriend, John Eppler (a part of German intelligence in Egypt) to undermine the British troops. She was able to lust British High ranking soldiers because she had access to the most elite Egyptian and British society night clubs. She would lust commanders in order to receive useful information about war strategies. She was eventually caused of spying in 1942 and sent to prison for 2 years.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hekmet did help the efforts since she was able to get information out of high British commanders in a way that most male spies would not be able to. She was able to charm and get direct information out of the commanders of their plans and ideas in the future. She was able to get into the mind of the commanders, which even the best male spies could not accomplish by trying to listen in on private conversations. However, though I do think she helped the Germans, I don't think it was worth it for her personally to help out her ex-boyfriend Eppler in return for 2 years in prison. In other words, I think she helped the Germans to an extent, but she went against the beliefs of her own country and taking on this job did not benefit her personally.
http://socialnaustin.com/booty-spy-hekmet-fahmythe-fox-behind-the-desert-fox/
http://www.shira.net/about/hekmet-fahmy-newspaper.htm
http://www.belly-dance.org/hekmet-fahmy.html
Heckmath Fahmy (or Heckmet Fahmy) was a German spy who worked as a belly-dancer in Egypt. She used her charm and good looks in order to undermine the integrity of British military officials and gain information, which she then relayed to the German government. She was aided in her espionage duties by Johann Eppler, the main German intelligence agent in Cairo. She first came in contact by dancing for both Hitler and Mussolini, however was fully drawn into the espionage career through relations with Eppler. Eppler used Fahmy as a way to gain information through her intimate relationships with the British, which would then be relayed to Rommel, the leading German general in North Africa. In 1942, she was imprisoned on suspicion of spying for the Germans, however she was only in prison for two years (in many cases, espionage charges carry a death sentence).
ReplyDeleteIn the case of war, any sort of information regarding the enemy’s actions and movements is always welcome. As such, Fahmy’s actions and espionage was most certainly helpful to Erwin Rommel and the German Army. She was able to infiltrate and gain information in a way that was very difficult to stop. However, the German’s did lose the battle for North Africa, and as such it is difficult to say whether they would have lost if she was not involved in the actions. However, I think that her actions provided a serious roadblock to the British army and advances in Northern Africa.
Works Cited:
"Hekmet Fahmy - the bellydancer spy." Belly Dance Museum. N.p,, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. .
Violette Szabo became involved in espionage during World War II due to her husband, Etienne’s, death. His loss motivated her to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1941. She later offered her services to the British Special Operations Executive after an intense screening process, which included a series of interviews and a French fluency test. She was trained in a variety of fields before actually becoming active in the war, including unarmed combat, demolitions, explosives, and cryptography. In his book, one of her colleagues noted that Szabo was admired by men for her bravery and courage. On April 5, 1944, Szabo was deployed to German occupied France as the leader of a unit that sabatoged road and railway bridges. Szabo went under the code name “Louise” and provided instrumental information about German factories, which helped the British to establish their bombing targets. On April 30, 1944, she returned to England after a successful first mission. However, her second mission proved to be ineffective. On June 7, 1944 Szabo returned to France to sabotage German communication lines during Germany’s attempts to land at Normandy. She was travelling in a passenger car that had been stopped at an unexpected roadblock set up to find Kaempfe who had been captured by the resistance. At this checkpoint, there was a brief gun battle, at which her companion was able to escape during the chaos. Although it is not certain, it is thought that Szabo ran out of ammunition, and was subsequently captured. The story of the gunfight has been revised so many times that no one really knows what actually happened. In the German report, no one was reported wounded, but that may not be accurate. The matter is in question. She then entered custody by the SS at Limoges where she was interrogated for four days. She was moved to the Gestapo headquarters in Paris where she was once again interrogated and tortured. They moved her to Ravensbrueck concentration camp where she endured hard labor and malnutrition. On February 5, 1945 she was executed by firing squad. I do believe that the information that she was able to obtain helped the allies in their strategy of bombing the German factories. She provided the allies with bomb targets which was essential to their strategy. At Normandy, she could have been more successful if she had not been caught. It is hard to measure her success of that particular mission as she was not able to finish it. If she had been successful in sabotaging the German communication at Normandy, it would have greatly hurt the German army because communication was necessary for Germany to be able to put up a good fight.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
"The Execution of Violette Szabo." The Globe at War. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. .
"VIOLETTE SZABO - HISTORY OF THIS BRITISH SOE AGENT." VIOLETTE SZABO - HISTORY OF THIS BRITISH SOE AGENT. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. .
" ." Violette Szabo. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. .
"Violette Szabo." Spartacus Educational. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. .
"Violette Szabo." Violette Szabo. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. .
Violette Sbazo
ReplyDeleteViolette was born in Paris in 1921 and later moved to London with her family. She met her husband-to-be, Étienne Szabo, during the Bastille Day parade. They had one child during the course of their marriage, and Étienne, who was a French officer, was killed in action. After his death, Violette was recruited by the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) because 1) a friend mentioned her name to one of the members, 2) she was fluent in French, 3) she knew how to handle a gun and 4) she was athletic and strong. Some of the SOE members questioned her ability to perform at a high level, but she was accepted nonetheless. Violette underwent all of the intense training and her first mission was, along with one of her colleagues, to reorganize a French Resistance group in Rouen, France that Germans had previously broken up. This mission was successful and she was sent back to Limoges, France, to help a French Resistance group make plans of action right after D-Day occurred. When travelling in a car, she was stopped at a German road block, and after shots were fired, she was eventually captured by SS officers. Violette was given to the Gestapo in Paris, and was interrogated, tortured, and raped. She was then sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp, where she was forced to work and suffered malnutrition. Violette was executed at the age of 23 in the camp and then put into the crematorium. She died holding the hands of two of her fellow colleagues/Resistance members.
I think Violette definitely helped her side for the war. Since Britain and France (along with other countries) were allied, any action to help the French Resistance against Germany was an action that helped their whole side. Even though she was killed while serving the SOE, her missions (the first one especially) had a great impact since she reorganized/strengthened resistance groups in France.
"Behind Enemy Lines With Violette Szabo." Smithsonian.com. 20 Apr. 2013 .
"Violette Szabo." Violette Szabo. 20 Apr. 2013 .
"Violette Szabo." Wikipedia. 19 Apr. 2013. Wikimedia Foundation. 20 Apr. 2013 .
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/violette_szabo.htm
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/12/behind-enemy-lines-with-violette-szabo/
Violette Szabo lost her husband in war against the Germans, leaving behind a young daughter. Being a skilled shooter, fluent in French, and eager to dedicate herself after the death of her husband, she was recruited into the British SOE (Special Operations Executive). When recruited, she had to do many training camps at which she flew through with merit. She was then dropped into France by parachute and assigned to determine how many resistance forces were in place. She was very successful in establishing vital communication between underground leaders of the resistance groups and British Intelligence forces. After being so successful in the first mission, she sought out yet another. Reluctantly (for worries of her safety), they sent her back into France to continue to pass along and receive important information. However, during one of the meetings between her and the resistance leaders, there was a German patrol that caught them. As the few resistance leaders fled, Szabo stayed back to shoot down the German patrol, allowing for the resistance leaders to escape without harm. Unfortunately, she did not have enough ammo and was taken into custody by the German Patrol. When she was captured, they raped and tortured her in attempt to break her into giving information. When she didn’t give any they sent her to a concentration camp where she was further tortured. However, despite all the harm done, she never said a word. In result, her fate was to die as she was executed by the Gestapo in April 1945. In my opinion, I think that’s it’s hard to say if Violette helped her country being that we don’t know all the specific information she was exchanging between the French undergrounds and the British. However, since every research site has said that it was vital information, I believe it’s fair to say that she did. Having good communication during war is possibly the most important factor in succeeding. Therefore, being the link to keeping up the communication between the British and French undergrounds, which otherwise would have been cut off, is important. Every piece of information helps for strategy and future planning. She also helped by never giving away any information, even under immense pain.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spymuseum.com/pages/agent-szabo-violette.html
Violette Szabo was a British spy. She was born in 1922 to a French mother and a British father. She had spent time in France as a child and was fluent in French. She married a French captain in 1940, but he was killed in 1942 during the North Africa campaign, leaving her with a daughter. She signed up for unspecified war work after her husband’s death and was accepted into the Special Operation Executive as a courier. She was crack shot, but her instructors’ perceived her to be too temperamental, unsuited for the ruse and stability of spy work.
ReplyDeleteAs the war progressed, there was a higher demand for female couriers, so Violette Szabo was allowed to complete her training and go on missions. She was assigned as an assistant to Philippe Liewer, head of the SALESMAN circuit in Normandy. Liewer’s deputy had been arrested in Rouen, so Liewer could not return to London. Liewer stayed in Paris. Szabo travelled between Rouen and Paris to collect information. A few weeks later, all the information had been leaked. Liewer’s face was on Wanted posters around town and hundreds of resistors had been captured by the Gestapo. Liewer and Szabo returned to London.
Szabo had proven her usefulness with her first mission and was promoted. Her next mission was to establish a new SALESMAN circuit in western France. She was sent on the mission with Jacques Dufour. They sabotaged German communication lines so the Allied Normandy invasino would remain secret. During their mission, they were stopped by a SS roadblock. Szabo could not retreat because of previous injuries, so she told Dufour to go on. Szabo was captured by the SS and was taken to Limoges prison. Dufour successfully escaped and worked with Liewer to liberate Szabo, but she was transferred before her colleagues could save her. Szabo was subjected to interrogation at SS headquarters. It is assumed that she did not reveal anybody.
In August, she and fellow agents Denise Bloch and Lilian Rolfe were deported to a transit camp. Ten days later, the group was moved to Ravensbrück concentration camp, then to Torgau. Violette almost escaped, but an informer revealed her plans. She was transferred to Königsberg and forced to work on a runway through the brutal winters. Her group was transferred one last time to Ravensbrück, where they were executed.
Violette was posthumously awarded the George Cross, an MBE, the French Croix de Guerre (for heroic deeds), and the Médaille de la Résistance (French people’s resistance against the enemy). Although her time as a spy was short, she made quite impact on the French and the British citizens. The information she gathered was vital to the planning of the D-Day invasion.
She remained loyal to her countries and never revealed information. Violette Szabo is just one of the many honorable spies that governments have used to gather critical information and ensure national security.
Works Cited:
Spymuseum.com. " Master Spies: Violette Szabo." Spymuseum.com. Spymuseum.com, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
Perrin, Nigel. "Violette Szabo." Nigel Perrin. Nigel Perrin, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013.
Millar, Peter. "Violette, Woman at the Heart of the Legend." Web.EBSCOhost.com. EBSCOhost, 23 Jan. 2000. Web. 20 Apr. 2013.
Aisin Gioro Xianyu was born in 1907 as a Manchurian Princess of the Qing Dynasty. She was later adopted by her father's advisor Kawashima Naniwa, to receive a superior Japanese education and was renamed Yoshiko Kawashima. She received a good education, but had a troubled life. She publicly became a troubled women and openly a cross-dresser. She would cut her hair short and dress like a boy. She became known as "beautiful woman dressed as a man". However despite her troubled search for gender identity, she eventually settled down and married the son of the Mongolian General. But due to the troubled marriage she divorced three years later. Pushed by this separation and her already troubled mind, she turned towards military espionage. Employed by the Japanese military, she traveled to Shanghai. Posing as a Chinese soldier, a taxi driver, and even a Korean Prostitute (knowing Chinese officers liked Korean women) she was able to learn valuable information and relay it back to Japan. However, after the war had ended, she was discovered. She was arrested by the Chinese government and sentenced to death by shooting squad for being a Japanese spy and a traitor to China. Honoring her last wishes, she was but to death at Peiping's Bridge of Heaven, privately as to avoid embarrassment and publicity.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, Yoshiko Kawashima was a troubled woman who who could not seem to find peace or happiness in her life. As a result she turned to espionage, even though it was against her own country. Because most of her work is still unknown, her contribution to the war is largely a mystery. However she was was well known as a successful spy how was able to gain information from a Chinese soldiers, officers, and citizens. Information is the most powerful weapon in a war, and she was able to get it. Despite her tragic end, she was by far a very important figure in the war between China and Japan. She undoubtedly helped Japan achieve many victories and discovered many Chinese plans.
Works Cited
"Bauwens, Fabian. "Japan’s Modernization, Pan-Asianism, and the Fifteen Years War – The Case of Kawashima Yoshiko 川島芳子" Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Political Science Association, Omni Parker House, Boston, MA, Nov 11, 2010 . 2012-12-03." N.p., n.d. Web.
"CHINA: Noblesse Oblige." Time Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. .
"The Last Princess of Manchuria." Geocaching.com. N.p., 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. .
Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell was born in Paris, France. She moved to London and a few years later meet Étienne Szabo, and soon married. After she gave birth to her first child, her husband died of chest wounds from an earlier battle. "It was Étienne's death that made Violette, having already joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1941, decide to offer her services to the British Special Operations Executive (SOE)." She went through intensive training, "both Allied and German weapons, unarmed combat, demolitions, explosives, communications and cryptography." She was known to be loved by everyone both for her "courage and endless infectious cockney laughter."
ReplyDeleteViolette went on her first mission. "Her wireless reports to SOE headquarters on the local factories producing war materials for the Germans were important in establishing Allied bombing targets. She returned to England by Lysander on 30 April 1944, landing at RAF Tempsford, after an intense but successful first mission."
Her second mission, she was riding in a car and then all of the sudden a gun fight broke out. She stated it was an incident and very confusing.
After man days a torture from being interrogated, "she was moved to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where over 92,000 women died. Although she endured hard labour and malnutrition, she managed to help save the life of Belgian resistance courier Hortense Clews."
"Violette Szabo was executed, aged 23, by SS firing squad on or about 5 February 1945. Her body was cremated in the camp's crematorium."
Works Sited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
Violette Szabo was an undercover spy who worked for the Special Operations Executive in France during World War II. She was motivated to become apart of this agency after her husband passed away from gun wounds to his chest. She underwent all of the necessary things such as passing a French fluency test and going through a series of interviews to become a part of the SOE. She went on her first mission in 1944, when she completed the dangerous task of parachuting into German occupied France. She used the code name Louise to help conceal her identity. She worked closely with her partner Philippe Liewer to organize a resistance network that had previously been broken up by the Germans. Her first reports back to SOE helped create accurate bombing targets. Her second mission started out with the brave move to sabotage German communication lines. However, her second mission was brought to an abrupt stop. The car that she was a passenger in had aroused suspicions of some of the German troops. Although she fought for her life, she ran out of ammunition and was captured by the Germans. She was moved to a holding space in where she was interrogated for four long days, and then she was moved to a prison in Paris. Here, she endured torture, and further interrogation before being moved to a women’s labor camp where it was later reported that over 92,000 women lost their lives. She was executed by the camps soldiers and cremated there as well. She did a lot of work to help defeat the Germans in World War II. She was the second woman to be awarded the George Cross award and according to Odette Churchill, another SOE agent, “she was the bravest of us all.”
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
http://www.violetteszabo.org/
http://www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell was born in Paris on June 26, 1921 as the second child of a British taxi driver and a French mother. Violette was raised in Britain and married Étienne Szabo, a French officer, when she was 19. Shortly after the birth of their daughter Tania, Étienne died in battle.
ReplyDeleteViolette, already a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army, was then recruited into the British Special Operations Executive by Selwyn Jepson. In the SOE Violette excelled in skill training and was admired by her colleagues, however her superiors feared her courage and desire to put herself in danger were really suicidal and a reaction to her husband’s death. They assigned her anyways, though, and Violette, under the codename “Louise”, was dropped by parachute into France to determine how many resistance forces were in place. This mission was successful as she established communications between British intelligence forces and underground leaders while sabotaging road and railway bridges.
After returning to England Szabo was eager to be given another assignment. She was sent back into France to sabotage communication lines to keep Germany from knowing plans of the Normandy invasion and pass information to the French underground. She was successful, but was unfortunately captured after being interrupted by a German patrol. It is believed that Violette was able to cover for one of the French resistance leaders allowing him and all of the Marquis minders to escape, but she ran out of ammunition and was taken into custody.
In custody, Violette was tortuously interrogated but refused to give any information to her captors. She was then transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp where she was eventually killed. Szabo was later given the George Cross by the British government remembered for her courage and loyalty. Violette, by assisting communications with the British and French underground and helping to protect the planning of the D-Day invasion, was a valuable part of the war effort.
http://www.spymuseum.com/pages/agent-szabo-violette.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/
Violette Szabo was born in Paris, in 1922, and was raised in Britain by her French mother and her British father. She married at a young age and soon was left with a daughter of her own when her husband was killed in battle against the German. Later Violette developed her shooting skills and became a fluent French speaking asset to the French S.O.E. Selwyn Jepson recruited Violette, and her skilled single shot with a rifle, along with her striking beauty, she contributed to much progress to the French underground. “Her superiors were greatly concerned with her urgent desire to put herself in danger, possibly a psychological reaction to her husband’s death. They worried that she risked her life with a suicidal passion but they assigned her nonetheless” (Spy Museum). She later became a news correspondent, who would establish communications between underground leaders and British intelligence forces. She was arrested multiple times, but her talent and beauty was able to help her escape each time. She was eventually taken into custody when her gun ran out while shooting out German soldiers. This is when she truly proved her dedication to France. Though she was continuously beaten, raped and tortured, she refused to provide any information. Due to her passionate dedication she was sent to a concentration camp for more brutal torture. Through all of her suffering she remained silent. They then executed in April 1945. She was later awarded with the George Cross to honor her dedication and valor by the British government.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spymuseum.com/pages/agent-szabo-violette.html
Violette Bushell was born in Levallois, Paris on 26 June 1921. Her father was a British taxi fleet owner, and her mother was French. She was raised in Britain, but was fluent in French, and married Etienne Szabo at the age of 19. Etienne Szabo was a French Foreign Legion officer from Marseilles. They had a daughter, Tania, who was born in June of 1942. Just four months after Tania’s birth, Etienne was killed in action near El Alamein, Egypt. After Etienne’s death, Violette Szabo’s volunteered and was recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE) by Selwyn Jepson. The SOE discovered that Violette was a skilled shot with a rifle, but they were worried that she was too temperamental, risky, and lacked the stability required to perform as a spy. Even so, there was a growing need for female couriers, so they allowed her to complete her training and join the field. Violette was assigned to assist Philippe Liewer, who was the head of the SALESMAN circuit in Normandy. She was to determine how many resistance forces were in place and to establish communications between the underground leaders and British intelligence forces. They sabotaged road and railway bridges and sent the locations of the local factories that produced German war materials to the SOE. These became bombing targets while Violette assessed the damage and visited Philippe’s other local contacts. Violette Szabo was arrested twice by the French police on her way back to England. She was able to explain and talk her way out of trouble, and returned to England on April 30, 1944. Szabo had proved herself to be useful, so she was promoted to the rank of Ensign in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), which was a cover organisation used by female SOE agents. The SOE sent her on another mission with Philippe Liewer. Juliette Szabo and her partner both parachuted into France once more on the night of June 7th. She was to build a new SALESMAN circuit in Limoges and passed information to the French underground. While returning in a car with Jacques Dufour, there was an unexpected roadblock controlled by the Germans. As he fled, Violette provided cover for him using a Sten gun to shoot several officers. (This is not confirmed, there have been many debates on whether Violette was armed or not). She was captured by the Germans when her gun ran out of ammunition. Violette was taken to the SS headquarters in Limoges, where she was being held. Then, Violette was transferred to the Gestapo headquarters in Paris. She was raped, tortured, and interrogated about the SOE. It is reported that she did not give anyone away despite all of this. In August, along with Denise Bloch and Lilian Rolfe, other agents, Violette was deported to the Saarbrücken transit camp with 37 male prisoners. The women were transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp before moving to a smaller camp at Torgau. Violette was almost able to escape here, but her plans were revealed by an informer. In October they were moved again, and were taken to a derelict camp on the River Oder. Here they would work on building a new runway, and the winter was brutal while they worked. Violette, Denise, and Lilian returned to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where they were shot and then cremated. Violette Szabo was only 23 years old when she died. Violette Szabo did help the war effort by establishing critical communications between the French resistance and the British Intelligence. Also, during her first mission, Violette provided the British with the locations of German weapons factories as bombing targets, which gave the British an advantage.
ReplyDeleteSources:
http://www.violetteszabo.org
http://www.spymuseum.com/pages/agent-szabo-violette.html
http://www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
http://nigelperrin.com/violetteszabo.htm#.UXREkb9lre4
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/spies/a/women_spies_ww_2.htm
Violette Szabo
ReplyDeleteThis woman was born in Paris on June 26, 1921. She had a French mother and a British father whom was a taxi driver. Voilette Szabo grew up in Britain. When WW2 began she worked at a perfume counter. She was nineteen when she in love with a man named Etiene Sezabo whom was a French Officer. A few years later on the 21st of August 1940 Voilette Szabo married Etiene Sezabo at the age of just twenty one years old. Soon after their marriage Etiene was sent to North Africa to fight for the French. Sadly her husband died in October of 1942, in the second battle of El Alamien. The saddest part of his death was that he was never able to see the daughter that Voilette Szabo gave birth to a few months earlier named Tania. Voilette Szabo was devastated with this death and quickly seeked revenge. She became a worker in an aircraft factory, which produced British War planes. For her this wasn’t enough though as she wanted to have a greater influence on the war. This is when she decided to become part of the SOE.
Voilette Szabo was a great candidate for this position as she was a beautiful woman whom spoke fluent French. After some training Voilette Szabo was parachuted in the Cherbourg region, which was part of the German occupied France at the time. Through the communication with the British intelligence and the French underground she was able to get lots of important information to the allies. On her first trip she spied on many factories in France that were helping build Germans Army. She would tell the location of these factories so that they could be bombed by British war planes. Around a month later she came back to London.
On June 7, 1944 Voilette Szabo flew back into France. The day she arrived was a day after the Allies had started their invasion of Normandy, which was so called D-Day. Her job as a spy was to break German communications. Once she had arrived she set a relationship with the French Underground just like she had done before. One day she went on a mission with a man named Jacques Dufour. They were driving near the town of Salon-la-Tour when the met a German road block. Since they did not have the proper I.D and also had weapons in their car they had no choice, but to run. They quickly dashed out of the car to look for cover as they were being chased by many Germans soldiers. After an attempt to run in the woods Voilette Szabo could go no further as she was completely filled with exhaustion. For a solid thirty minutes Voilette Szabo fought against the Germans to the last bullet. She pulled the Germans attention toward herself so that her friend Jacques Dufour would not be arrested. Voilette Szabo was then taken by the German Police whom tortured and sexually assaulted her. Voilette Szabo was stubborn though and would not give any information to the German secret police. In the end of 1944 she was sent to a concentration camp named Ravensbruck. After months of very hard labor she was too weak to work any further. Since she was too weak the Germans shot her and burned her body in the Crematorium.
Voilette Szabo definitely helped the allies, as she is the one who gave the British Air force good effective targets that would hurt the German army. Her will to revenge the Germans for her husband’s death made her a risk taker that was willing to put her life on the line for the Allies. The part of Voilette Szabo that made her one of the best spies on the Allies side was that once she was captured by the Germans she did not tell them anything, even though she was being tortured and harassed. This strong part of her is what separated her from many other spies as many times once the spies were captured in WW2 they gave valuable information that basically ruined all the work they had done for their country.
Sources:
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/12/behind-enemy-lines-with-violette-szabo/
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_el_alamein.htm
http://www.violetteszabo.org/
http://www.spymuseum.com/pages/agent-szabo-violette.html
Hekmath Fathmy was a Egyptian belly dancer as well as a Germany spy during WWII. She would dance for Hitler as well as Mussolini in Cairo. She would seduce high British commanders and officials with her beauty and manipulative manner. She would be able to get top secret information out of the British commanders because she had access to all of the Egyptian and British night clubs where only the most important and highly esteemed officials would be. After gaining top secret data from the British, she would then report back to Rommel, who was the main German general in North Africa at the time. She started her espionage career not because she danced for Hitler and Mussolini, but because she had connections with a man named Johann Eppler. Johann Eppler was her ex-boyfriend and worked for German intelligence in Egypt. He was the man that first truly got her on the map in espionage. In 1942, she was imprisoned for two years because she was thought to be a German spy. Usually committing this crime during the war resulted in death.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that she contributed to the war efforts of the Germans. She valiantly sacrificed her safety by lusting British commanders in order to get vital information to the Germans. Though she truly helped the Germans, she didn't get anything in return for her heroic and helpful contributions. I feel like she got unfairly treated. She didn't benefit whatsoever from this sacrifice. It seems to me that she kind of threw her own personal life away to help her ex-boyfriend. It doesn't truly add up to me. Nevertheless, she definitely played a significant role in the war.
http://socialnaustin.com/booty-spy-hekmet-fahmythe-fox-behind-the-desert-fox/
http://www.shira.net/about/hekmet-fahmy-newspaper.htm
Yoshiko Kawashima was born in 1907 in Manchurian, China. She was brought up as a princess in the Qing Dynasty. Her birth name was Aisin Gioro Xianyu, but her father gave her to Kawashima Naniwa, who was someone close. Then she was renamed and became Japanese. She grew up with a Japanese education and with a good family. She however had social problems. She was very beautiful but did not know how to dress and ended up looking like the rest of the guys. She later on found her way and married a Mongolian prince, however that lasted for only a few years. She was finally done with doing nothing with her life, so she joined the military and became a spy. She went to China to go to start her new job as a spy. The Chinese police had accepted her and trusted her. She went undercover as a taxi driver, a Chinese solider, and a prostitute. She would report to the Japan military what the police officers would say that was suspicious. She told them confidential information. The Chinese government caught her when the war had ended. The Chinese government arrested her and her punishment was death. She was shoot in the back of the head at Peiping's Bridge of Heaven in 1948.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Yoshiko did help the war for Japan, because she did what her job asked her. She was so good at her job that she found out a lot of information from the Chinese military. She reported to the Japanese government a lot of information that helped them throughout the war. She helped Japan win more battles and giving China a surprise. She was a hero to her country, but a complete traitor to her native country.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiko_Kawashima
http://forums.allkpop.com/threads/i-am-intrigued-by-the-story-of-yoshiko-kawashima-princess-turned-spy.178841/
http://www.ipc.hokusei.ac.jp/~z00323/classes/history/projects/research/098_Yoshiko.html
http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/4/3/9/0/9/p439097_index.html
Mildred Gillars:
ReplyDeleteMildred Gillars aka Axis sally was a radio broadcaster in German during world war who would broadcast propaganda from Berlin to the U.S. and British troops on the frontline to make them feel homesick. Born Mildred Elizabeth Sisk to Vincent and Mae Sisk in Portland, Maine, grew up like any other american teen at the time, went to school and had a normal social life. When she was 16 her and her family packed up and moved to Conneaut, Ohio. After she graduated high school she went to college at Ohio Wesleyan University to study dramatic arts, but dropped out before graduating. After dropping out of college she moved to Greenwich Village, New York City in various menial labor positions to pay for acting lessons. She never accomplished anything in the field of acting and moved to Paris in 1929 to work as an artist’s model. In 1933 she moved to Algier and worked as a dressmaker's assistant. In 1934 she moved Dresden, Germany to study music and was employed by Berlitz School of language to teach English in Berlin. She held this job was her longest and ended in 1940 when she got hired by Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG), German State Radio to be announcer, the first job that she studies for. In 1941 the United States was telling US nationals to come home but she chose to stay because her fiance Paul Karlson, who was a German citizen and said that he would never marry her if she moved back to the United States. Shortly after she decided to stay Karlson was sent to the Eastern front and died while on the front line. When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941 Mildred broke down in front of her German colleagues about what she thought about the Japanese and how shocked she was that she lost discretion. She later realized that such an outburst could land her into a concentration camp so she wrote a speech as an oath of allegiance to Germany. After her outburst, she got downgraded to announcing records and participating in chats. Up until 1942 her broadcasts were apolitical, but this changed when Max Otto Koischwitz, the program director for the USA zone at RRG cast Mildred in his new show Home Sweet Home, to make the U.S. soldiers feel homesick. Even though this wasn’t conventional espionage, this was a clever tactic by the Nazi’s because Milrded would remind the U.S. soldiers of home and make them lose moral and homesick, Many soldiers didn’t realize that this was a german broadcast because Mildred was born and raised in the United States and English was her first language. This is an example of influential espionage, which played a big role in WWII. She was very obvious and even the U.S. attorney wanted her arrest. The problem was that they didn’t know her full name. A pilot that was held in a POW camp remembered that he was interviewed by a woman midge at the mike. According to the pilot she also went by the alias Barbara Mome. They then got a tip that a Barbara Mome was selling furniture at a second hand shop. The owner of the store was interrogated and told the U.S. agents where she lived. She was arrested on March 15, 1946 and indicted September 10, 1948 on 10 counts of treason. She was imprisoned until she was released on June 10, 1961. After converting to catholicism in prison she joined a advent and teached English, German and, French at St. Josephs Academy in Columbus. She was a big moral destroyer for the U.S. troops and helped the Nazi’s Final push after the U.S. and Britain invaded France on D-Day.
sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Gillars
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/233733/Mildred-Gillars
http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2011/05/axis_sally_ohio-born_mildred_g.html
Violette Bushell was born on June 26th 1921 in Levallois, Paris. Her mother was French and her father was a British taxi owner. Violette grew up in Britain and was fluent in French. At the age of 19 she married a man named Etinene Szabo who as a French officer. In 1942 they had a girl named Tania. Ethiene died in October 1942 in El Alamein, Egypt. Soon after her husbands death she became a part of the SOE. Violette was a good candidate for the job since she was a woman fluent in french. She was skilled with a rifle, but had a bad temper.She was a loose cannon as a spy, and her job was to determining how many resistance forces were in place and to establish communications between the underground leaders and British intelligence forces. They were supposed to sabotage the railway bridges and were sent to the local factories where German war materials were produced so the British could bomb them. Once she returned to London on June 7th she flew to France. Her job was interfere the German communications between underground leaders and British intelligence. She was eventually taken in by the Germans She was a passenger and there was suspicion so she then was captured by the Germans. She was interrogated and tortured and then later moved to the woman's labor camp. She was the "bravest of us all"according to to Odette Churchill and did so much work to help defeat the Germans during World War II
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
http://www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
http://www.violetteszabo.org/
One of the most hardcore women of World War 2 was Violette Szabo. Violette was born a Parisien but grew up in Britain, where most of her loyalty would lay. One could argue that her interest and passion for espionage and involvement in Britain's war efforts sprouted from her relationship with her dead husband, Etiene Szabo. Etien was a French officer. He was shipped out to El Alamein, where he died just after Violette gave birth. From that point on, Violette worked her butt off for her country. Like many women during WWII, she started out working on planes. She was quickly recruited for the SOE due to her top notch combat, analytical and french speaking skills, but most of all so her courage. Violette's first mission was to sabotage German railways, roads and bridges. The mission was successful. Unfortunately, Violette's second mission caused her discovery and execution. On her second mission, she tried to sabotage German plans. The Germans became suspicious of her and the two side got into a gun fight. Violette lost, and was executed by the Germans.
ReplyDeleteI think Violette contributed in the women's movement during WWII by setting an example of a strong independent woman who had peers that looked up to her.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
ReplyDeletewww.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
www.spymuseum.com/pages/agent-szabo-violette.html
Aisin GIoro Xianyu, who would later become known as Yoshiko Kawashimi, was born in Manchuria, China as a princess, but was given up for adoption to Naniwa Kawashimi, a Japanese espionage agent. Later, she moved with her new “father” back to Japan where she was given the name Yoshiko Kawashimi. Yoshiko was a very beautiful lady, but did not know how to dress properly or lady like and therefor often wore men’s clothes. In 1921, her biological father died and she had lost all ties to China. Soon after, Yoshiko moved to Tokyo to study in the arts of Judo and fencing. While in Tokyo, Yoshiko met Ganjuurjab, the leader of the Mongolian-Manchurian Independence movement. She soon married the man during 1927, but divorced two years later. After the divorce, Yoshiko moved to Shanghai and later met Ryukichi Tanaka, a Japanese intelligence officer. It was after meeting Tanaka when Yoshiko became a Japanese spy. Yoshiko soon became acquainted with the Chinese police force and joined the police as a spy. She also became a taxi driver, a prostitute, and even a mistress for one of the Chinese generals. With all of these jobs, Yoshiko was successful and able to manipulate the people around her to give her information about China’s politics and military strategies. Yoshiko was a spy for many years until the Second Sino-Japanese war. At this point, Yoshiko started to gradually disappear from society. After World War 2 ended, the Chinese caught Yoshiko and she was trialed for being a traitor against her mother country. Yoshiko was found guilty and later executed by being shot in the back of the head.
ReplyDeleteEven though Yoshiko was a troubled woman and led a very confusing lifestyle, she fulfilled her role as a spy the the utmost level. Information is vital during war, and Yoshiko was able to successfully gain it. Yoshiko played a very important part in the war and successfully helped her country, even if it wasn’t her “mother country”. She showed that she was dedicated and was able to gain information that others could not.
Citations:
Noshiro, Minako. "A Belle in Male Attire." Yoshiko Kawashima. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Panzer, Achtung. "Yoshiko Kawashimi." • Yoshiko Kawashima. N.p., 28 Aug. 2005. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
"Aisin Gioro Xianyu (1907-1988)." Alternate History Discussion Board - View Single Post - Yet Another "Famous People In Alternate Realities" Thread. Alternate History, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Violette Szabo was born in 1922 to a French mother and a British father. She married Etienne Szabo, and esteemed officer in the French forces, at the age of eighteen. She gave birth to her daughter Tania two years later. Etienne was killed in battle shortly after Tania’s birth, which left Violette devastated. She was good with a rifle, athletic, and strong willed, all of which led to her recruitment to the SEO in 1943. Her first mission was to parachute into Paris and travel out of the city in order to report on the status of underground resistance forces there. She discovered that the resistance network was compromised; upon making her way back to report her findings, she was arrested twice by French police. Her second mission was to pass along information about building a new resistance circuit around Limoges. She and her partner encountered an SS roadblock on the way. Violette covered for him, allowing him to escape. She killed several German officers before running out of ammunition and being captured. From there, she was taken to the Gestapo Headquarters. She was tortured, raped, and beaten, but did not divulge any information. She was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp where further torture ensued, but she still did not confess anything. In April of 1945, she was shot along with other prisoners. Her valor and strong will throughout her trial earned her the George Cross award, given in her honor by the British government in 1947.
ReplyDeleteWhile she was undoubtedly brave, Violette did not contribute to the overall war effort. Her first mission to provide information on resistance networks may have been helpful on a small scale, as forces could have been sent in for reinforcements and to help regroup, but that network was just one of many. Also, her second mission was never completed, due to the misfortune of her capture. However, her actions did not detriment the war effort, and her George Cross award is well deserved.
http://www.spymuseum.com/pages/agent-szabo-violette.html
http://www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
http://nigelperrin.com/violetteszabo.htm#.UXREkb9lre4
In 1906, Aisin GIoro Xianyu（爱新觉罗•显玗），A.K.A Yoshiko Kawashimi（川岛芳子）was born in the royal palace of the declining Qin Dynasty’s Prince, ranking the fourteenth in the family. When she was 6 years old, the Qin Dynasty demised and she was sent to a Japanese ronin named Naniwa Kawashima. Young Aisin was named Dongzhen, which means “the treasure in the east”, she was expected to revive the corrupted Qin Dynasty, which apparently is too much for a young girl like her. She went to Japan with her step father, and changed her name into Yoshiko Kawashimi. She lived and studied in Japan the whole time nothing big happened to her until she became a charming young lady. The surprising thing for everyone is that her “father” fell in love with Yoshiko, that he started to chase Yoshiko without considering he is such an old man and he is even her father. Of course Yoshiko refused her “father”, but she would never know this turns into a rape. Naniwa who was already 59 raped Yoshiko, which definitely remained a huge shadow in Yoshiko’s twisted life, that she determined her mind for revenge, however, to all the men in the world. Later, she was selected by Japanese Spy Agency because of her beauty and her status as an offspring of Qin Dynast’s royal family. She loves acting and dressing like a man that many people don’t even know that she was a lady during that time. She was outstanding during training so she was sent to China to work on espionage activities. Soon she became the leader of the spy agent in Northeastern China. She planned the assassination of Zuolin Zhang, who was the actually “king” of the Northeastern China. She also had an enormous effect on the establishing of the Japanese Manchurian government. After Japanese declared total war to China, she even showed more importance in stealing information from the Chinese resist power by using her charm. However, even Yoshiko was excellent as a spy; she still couldn’t save Japan from being defeated. In 1945, she was captured by the Nationalist army in Beijing. She was committed to an execution and according to the record during that time, she died on 25 March 1948, however some recent research indicated that she actually escaped from the execution and lived 30 years longer in a small village. Her death is still a mystery.
ReplyDeleteWork Cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiko_Kawashima
http://www.ipc.hokusei.ac.jp/~z00323/classes/history/projects/research/098_Yoshiko.html
http://baike.baidu.com/view/13683.htm
Violette Szabo was born on June 26, 1921 in Paris, France. Her full name was Violette Reine Elizabeth Buschell Szabo. She met her husband in London, and fell in love with very quickly him. They got married after only knowing each other for 42 days. Two years later, Violette had their first child, however her husband was killed in a battle, so he never got to meet their child. After her husband’s death, Violette received a letter asking her to come for an interview to become a spy for the SOE. She was inspired by her husband and his death to join the Special Opperations Executive in Britain, which is where she was recruited. She went through tests of her French, to show that she was fluent, and was given many interviews. Finally, she was inducted into the SOE and began her work as a spy. She was trained, and then went on her first mission with the code name “Louise”. This mission was very dangerous. She helped lead a Resistance group that the German’s had put a stop to. She gave reports to the SOE HQ, which helped them greatly in providing Allied bombing targets. She made it back to England alive on April 30th 1944. He second mission did not go as well as the first one. She was captured by German forces and sent to a concentration camp after being interrogated and tortured. She was executed there at age 23 on February 5, 1945. I think that Violette Szabo did really help Britain in the war, because not only did she gain valuable information about the German’s for her country, she also showed people that woman could do things that men could do, and that is something very important to the war, and even now after the war.
ReplyDeleteSources:
http://www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
http://www.violetteszabo.org
http://nigelperrin.com/violetteszabo.htm#.UXXUALT3D-Y
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/violette_szabo.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
Yoshiko Kawashima was born in Beijing, China as a princess in the Qing Dynasty. She was born on May 24th, 1907 and at the age of eight, she was adopted by a friend of her father’s. She was brought up in Japan and served for the Japanese as a spy during World War II. Yoshiko married in 1927 and divorced her husband in 1929. When she was living in Tokyo, she studied judo and fencing. She had a strange and difficult early life, including many different types of lovers and her father’s death in 1921.
ReplyDeleteYoshiko was known for looking like a tomboy and looking beautiful at the same time. Because she had a tomboy look, she frequently dressed as a man while she was working as a spy. This allowed her to get into exclusive groups more easily and helped with her job and missions. She became a spy after she visited Shanghai and met Ryukichi Tanaka, an intelligence officer. As a spy, she worked as a Chinese soldier, a prostitute, a taxi driver, and a schoolteacher. These multiple identities allowed her to get information about China’s military to help Japan. Kawashima became very popular and had books written about her and movies made about her. She was a great spy because she could assume many identities, both male and female, to acquire a good amount of information from many kinds of people. Her abilities benefited the Japanese very much and allowed them to have victories against the Chinese. However, she betrayed her home country and aided another country, which seems controversial. Though she went against her home country, she greatly helped Japan as a spy.
Kawashima was arrested by the Chinese government in 1948 as a traitor to the country. She was born as a Chinese citizen but spied for the Japanese against her home country. She was sentenced to death and killed by a shot to the back of the head at 40 years old. At first, people believed that an impersonator took her spot during the execution and Yoshiko was not actually killed, but this was found incorrect.
http://www.ipc.hokusei.ac.jp/~z00323/classes/history/projects/research/098_Yoshiko.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiko_Kawashima#Espionage_career
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,779709,00.html
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/New+files+suggest+famed+Manchurian+spy+was+executed.-a0217371856
Colton Bancroft
ReplyDeleteViolette Szabo
Violette Szabo was a French-British secret agent from 1941 to 1945. She was born the 26th of June 1921, and began working as an agent in 1941 after her love Étienne died from a chest wound in the Battle of El Alamein. To join she was tested on her fluency in French and had to attend a series of interviews. When she was accepted to the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), she underwent intense training so that she would be ready for anything. She then began her first mission on the 5th of April 1944 in German-occupied France near Cherbough. Her task was to make a study of Resistance possibilities in the Rouen area, which she completed however not without being caught. She had sent helpful radio reports back to England that was useful to allied bombers, however French police were able to arrest her. She was luckily freed and her second mission began on June 8th near Limoges. Here she sabotaged German communication lines preventing their attempt to stem the Normandy landings. In doing so she took part in a firefight killing several German soldiers. Unfortunately her gun ran out of ammo and she was discovered by the Germans. In this case she was unfortunately not so lucky. She was taken to German headquarters and tortured, however refused to give up information. In attempt to retain information she was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp were she still refused to give up her information. Because of this she was Executed by a firing squad and sent to the crematorium. Because of her bravery she was awarded the George Cross by the British government. In my opinion Violette Szabo did the best job she could have done. She did just as well if not better than any man would have done and was very helpful in gaining important information for the British. The only reason she died was because she had been giving cover fire for her companion so that he could escape. This was an incredible act of bravery and attempting to save this man is what got her killed. Had she fled instead of trying to help her companion, she might have survived.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
http://www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
http://www.spymuseum.com/pages/agent-szabo-violette.html
Violette Szabo was a French spy during WW2. She said she became a spy because "My husband has been killed by the Germans and I'm going to get my own back." Her goal as a spy was to obtain info about resistance possibilities in Rouen. She was caught in an ambush and she let Dufor, a member of the French resistance, escape at her own capture. She was tortured by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp. Before the German defeat, she was executed. I don’t think Violette helped the war effort much; all she did was find out how much information was known about Liewer so he wouldn’t get killed. She was just used to keep someone else safe, like a bodyguard..
ReplyDeleteSources: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SOEszabo.htm
http://nigelperrin.com/violetteszabo.htm#.UXYq-it4b6M
Violette Szabo was born in Paris, France on the 26th of June 1921 a high spirited and strong willed child. She became involved in Espionage after the death of her husband killed during action. She pledged she would get revenge for his death and eventually followed through with that promise when she became a French/British spy after being referred by a friend who had been denied a job as an agent. Despite the lack of full training, Violette was given a job as courier. Her first job however, went outside the described job description. She was assigned to work with Phillipe Liewer, head of a circuit in Normandy. While there, she acquired information about locations of German factories and also lead a group that destroyed roadways and bridges. She left france with Liewer after his circuit shattered before he could be found by German police. The factories were then targeted by bombs from Britain to destroy central forces and manufacturing plants of the enemy. Violette was later on promoted and moved to a woman's first aid organization that served as a front for several spies. She returned to France in 1944 to sabotage German communication lines but was caught by the SS while trying to retreat. Before her partners could get to her, Violette was transferred to Fresnes prison near Paris where she underwent intense interrogation but she remained silent. She was further moved to a concentration camp in Northern Germany where she was forced to work laboriously while suffering from malnutrition. She was moved one last time to Ravensbruck where the SS officers were killing off all spies before the camps had any chances of being liberated. Violette and two other spies were shot in the neck and then taken to the crematoria.
ReplyDeleteI think that Violette was a successful spy during WWII because of her selfless acts of loyalty under extreme pressure, and also for the information that she was able to gather that helped secure bombing locations that could cripple Germany. However, her untimely death left unfinished business that could have also aided in the taking down of Germany and the Axis Powers.
Sources:
Deletehttp://nigelperrin.com/violetteszabo.htm#.UXYWHCuG3lM
http://www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/12/behind-enemy-lines-with-violette-szabo/
Violette Szabo was one of the first James Bond's and she managed to do it as a woman, which at the time was a huge accomplishment. Being a female spy was actually not a disadvantage at all, she was able to work her way past some difficult obstacles and use her female characteristics to her advantage when dealing with men with useful information. Szabo was born in France, and raised and educated in Britain and had strong ties to both the ally countries. She married a French Officer who was active in WWII, he was killed in battle in 1942. After his death she wanted to get involved to help the allies win the war. She joined the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) and became involved in espionage. She only went on 2 short missions before being compromised, interrogated, sent to concentration camp and later executed. In her first mission she showed strong leadership skills by leading a group to bomb and destroy German railroads cutting off supplies for the war effort. She also identified many new locations for allied forces to bomb. In her second mission she was sent to the outskirts of France quickly following D-Day. Szabo and her crew was stopped at an unexpected German checkpoint and a firefight ensued. Szabo was captured and taken to a prison and later moved to Ravensbruck concentration camp where almost 100,000 women had died. She was interrogated and later executed. Szabo left an important mark with her leadership skills and her talent in espionage and combat, and was a key part to allied success in retaking France. More importantly, Szabo made it known that a woman can do just as good of a job as a man in espionage and in anything, which was an extremely important state for the time period.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo
www.violette-szabo-museum.co.uk/foyer.htm
Yoshiko Kawashima, originally named Aisin Gioro Xianyu, was born in Beijing and was the 14th daughter of Shanqi, who was the 10th son of Prince Su of the Manchu imperial daughter. Thus, she was a Manchu princess. At the age of eight, Aisin Gioro Xianyu was adopted to her father’s friend, Naniwa Kawishima, and renamed Yokisho Kawashima. At such a late age of adoption to be transferred from Chinese to Japanese culture, she did not assimilate well nor integrate well with the family. She was raped by her new father, and her biological father was no longer around after dying in 1921. Yoshiko was sent to a very top-of-the-line school and lived lavishly during her educational years. In 1927, Yoshiko married Ganjurrjab, the son of the Inner Mongolian Army General, Jengjurrjab. After divorcing two years later, Yoshiko met Japanese intelligence officer Ryukichi Tanka in Shang Hai who granted her work as a spy to expand his information networks. Under indication by Tanaka, Kawashima would approach Chinese officers and spy it information. This was often done in the dance hall. Yoshiko would often dress up as men in various disguises to both cover up her identity and work better with her co-workers. Yoshiko did this when she took an undercover mission in Manchuria. After the war, Yoshiko was arrested by the Chinese government. They said “Yoshiko is Chinese, but she acted as a spy used as a Japanese tool.” Yoshiko attempted to get her father to write a letter trying to convince the Chinese government that she was Japanese and simply had little choice about the spying. This was not successful and Yoshiko Kawashima was executed March 25th after the war. As a traitor to two countries, it is not surprising that she was abandoned by both countries. By giving away information to the Japanese, Yoshiko Kawashima must have helped her country in the war effort. However, after having been abandoned in some sense after the war, Japan must have not cared enough for her to have made a very large impact.
ReplyDeletehttp://krieger.jhu.edu/east-asian/events/east-asian/event/02/09/2012/L-Greenhouse%20113/T-Film%20Series/K-East/K-Asian/K-Studies/K-China/K-Japan/K-Political/K-Science/K-Women/K-%26/K-Gender/K-Studies/K-Film/K-%26/K-Media/K-Studies/dinner-a-movie-kawashima-yoshiko
http://yufind.library.yale.edu/yufind/Author/Home?author=Kawashima%2C%20Yoshiko%2C%201906%3F-1948.
http://www.ipc.hokusei.ac.jp/~z00323/classes/history/projects/research/098_Yoshiko.html
Violette Szabo was a British and French spy in 1944 when she was captured. In her younger years, she was a shopkeep in France. What got her into war and out of the shops was her husband, Etienne. He was part of the Allied war effort and died in 1942. She was already part of the auxiliary service then, so his death was the changing point in her life that made her go choose to be a greater help in the war effort. She offered her services to the allied intelligence agency and she was tested for fluency in French and was trained in many lethal fields of expertise. She was given her first mission in 1944 and it was a success. She successfully found the locations of critical German bombing targets. The mission led to countless successful bombings and weakened the German forces. She then went on her second mission the day after D-Day. She was quickly captured however and she was detained and tortured for the next year before she was killed in a German concentration camp. I think her effort was helpful to the overall war effort. Any man or woman who enlists in the military and does their job, even if they did not succeed, was still a help. I think she may not have been vital to the war effort, but the German bombing targets she disclosed I am sure were very useful.
ReplyDeleteWorks cited:
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Szabo