Mildred elizabeth gillars

Mildred 'Axis Sally' Gillars taunted U.

Following her capture in post-war Berlin , Gillars became the first woman to be convicted of treason against the United States. Along with Rita Zucca she was nicknamed " Axis Sally ". At 16, she moved to Conneaut, Ohio with her family. Gillars then moved to Greenwich Village , New York City, where she worked in various low-skilled jobs to finance drama lessons. She toured with stock companies and appeared in vaudeville but she was unable to establish a theatrical career. In , she moved to France and lived in Paris for six months.

Mildred elizabeth gillars

It was and Axis Sally was, once again, on the air. Shortwave radio enthusiast Richard Lucas, doing promotional work for his new book on the infamous American broadcaster employed by the Nazis, did a double take when he saw her name surface, via Google Alert, on a neo-Nazi website. So it started to worry me quite a bit. Years earlier, Lucas had come across an online trove of the real broadcasts hosted by Axis Sally, whose messages were scripted by her married German lover to sow discord in the American armed forces and the homefront during the war. A freelance writer, Lucas used the recordings as an opportunity to dive into the true story of the woman behind the name, one Mildred Gillars. He combed through declassified federal documents and newspaper archives to write the first full-length biography on Axis Sally and her Reich Radio broadcasts—programs that ultimately made Gillars one of the few people ever convicted for treason in the United States. People are not black and white; there are all kinds of tradeoffs that lead them to become who they are. Lucas is currently working on his next book about journalist and broadcaster Dorothy Thompson. For her part, Gillars vacillated easily between playing hot swing-era, big-band hits and denouncing the Jews, Franklin Roosevelt and the British on air. Growing up, she had dreams of becoming an actress. Success never came. By the age of 31, disillusioned by her lack of theatrical success in New York, she followed a British-born man Jewish, as it happened to his posting in Algiers, where it appears that they were lovers, says Lucas. After mother and daughter met up in Budapest, the women traveled on, fatefully, to Berlin.

The job proved lucrative—she was one of the highest paid staff members—and it satisfied her desire for recognition.

Nicknamed "Axis Sally" by her American soldier listeners, she was found guilty of treason in a United States court after the war and spent twelve years in prison. Gillars was born on November 29, She was born as Mildred Elizabeth Sisk in Portland, Maine, to Mae Hewitson Sisk, a painter, and Vincent Sisk, an indifferent husband and father who didn't cherish the idea of having children. When Gillars was seven years old, her father abandoned the small family. When she was eleven, her name was changed to Mildred Gillars, after her mother officially divorced Vincent Sisk and married Dr. Robert Bruce Gillars, a dentist. The family eventually moved to Ohio.

Mildred 'Axis Sally' Gillars taunted U. Her program was filled with hateful rhetoric directed against U. President Franklin D. Her radio broadcasts were heard not only by U. Girls, watch out! Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and northwestern Europe listened to her broadcasts from to at the height of World War II. They instantly recognized both her distinctive voice and appealing format that encompassed Big Band-era tunes played by a live orchestra. Gillars began working at the German State Radio in as an announcer. He threatened to leave her if she returned to the States, so she stayed in Germany despite advice the following year from the U.

Mildred elizabeth gillars

From the deserts of North Africa to the Normandy beaches, GIs listened to the sensual voice of an American woman broadcasting over the radio for Nazi Germany. As the men tried to imagine the mysterious beauty behind the microphone, the swing music she played kept them tuning in. She cultivated a persona of worldly allure, ready to welcome the boys and understand their troubles. The reality behind the voice was less glamorous. One was the willing mouthpiece of her mentor and lover, while the other collaborated with the Nazis for financial gain. But both women became enmeshed in the collective memory of American soldiers and sailors as one indelible figure: Axis Sally. They, like the women who broadcast for Japan under the name Tokyo Rose in the Pacific theater, entertained their audience despite ham-handed attempts to break the morale of Allied soldiers. I think the effect is directly opposite. We get an enormous bang out of her. We love her.

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If she was hobnobbing with Himmler, says Lucas, that implied she had access to inner circle information. In contrast, Gillars never asked for nor received a pardon. For her part, Gillars vacillated easily between playing hot swing-era, big-band hits and denouncing the Jews, Franklin Roosevelt and the British on air. On May 6, , Mildred was hired as an American announcer on Reichs-RundfunkGesellschaft, the German State Radio Network in Berlin, introducing various entertainment programs, displaying an inborn, natural talent for live broadcasting. Woerheide organized wanted posters with Gillars' picture to put up in Berlin, and the breakthrough came when he was informed that a woman calling herself "Barbara Mome" was selling her furniture at second-hand markets around the city. The Washington Post. In addition, she selected the music for mass, coached choir singers, and worked in the garden outside her barracks. Wikimedia Commons. London: Quercus. Laughlin, tells the judge that he wants to call President Harry S. World War II. State Department that American nationals return home. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Gill, Sarah Prince. Gilles Picot, Seigneur de Gouberville.

Nicknamed "Axis Sally" by her American soldier listeners, she was found guilty of treason in a United States court after the war and spent twelve years in prison. Gillars was born on November 29, She was born as Mildred Elizabeth Sisk in Portland, Maine, to Mae Hewitson Sisk, a painter, and Vincent Sisk, an indifferent husband and father who didn't cherish the idea of having children.

Her last broadcast was on May 6, , just two days before the surrender of Germany. Archived from the original on March 7, Axis Sally Gillars guilty of treason today Girls, watch out! Gillars' wartime broadcasts and trial are the subject of the legal drama American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally. Her captors even allowed her leave outside detention for Christmas She became eligible for parole in but did not apply until Woerheide organized wanted posters with Gillars' picture to put up in Berlin, and the breakthrough came when he was informed that a woman calling herself "Barbara Mome" was selling her furniture at second-hand markets around the city. In Europe, Gillars still tried to become a famous actress but, once again, her ambitions were thwarted. Day , until she was conditionally released from custody on December 24, ; however, she declined to leave military detention. Sent to the Federal Reformatory for Women at Alderson, West Virginia, Gillars quickly settled into prison life again, but because of her superior airs she was generally disliked by her fellow inmates.