Millard Gillars was born in Maine, but in 1934 she was living in Germany. In 1940, she got a job as an announcer for German State Radio. When the U.S. declared war on Germany, she declined to return because she was engaged to marry a German soldier. When he was killed on the Eastern Front, she began an affair with a radio producer. He made her the star of a program called “Home Sweet Home”. She played popular swing tunes and used her sexy voice to talk to the American soldiers between songs. The broadcasts were aimed at lowering morale and seeding doubts about the war effort. She spread defeatist propaganda and pushed anti-semitism and was harsh on FDR. Sometimes she made the GI’s wonder what their girlfriends and wives were doing with all those 4F men back in the States. The soldiers took this all in stride and liked her voice and the music. Although some called her the Bitch of Berlin, she became more famous as Axis Sally. When the war ended, she changed her name, but eventually an investigator tracked her down and she was arrested on Sept. 10, 1948. She was put on trial in 1949 for eight counts of treason. She was convicted on only one count. She had done a broadcast entitled “Vision of Invasion”. In this radio play, she portrayed an American mother who dreams of the horrible death of her son on a ship participating in the invasion of France. This got her sentenced to 10-30 years and a $10,000 fine. She was the first American woman to be convicted of treason. She was released in 1961.
Categories: Anecdote
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