Propaganda Girls author Lisa Rogak reveals some of the black propaganda material created by four women who spun the web of deception that helped win World War II.
Warring countries have been flinging propaganda at each other since time immemorial. The four women in my new book – Propaganda Girls: The Secret War of the Women in the OSS – excelled at creating what is known as black propaganda, which is intentionally designed to mislead the enemy, ultimately encouraging the military, civilians, and occupied populations to rise up against their oppressors and join the winning side.
Betty MacDonald, Zuzka Lauwers, Jane Smith-Hutton, and Marlene Dietrich – the famed German-American actress and singer – worked in the Morale Operations division in the European theater, across enemy lines in occupied China, and in Washington, D.C. Betty, Zuzka, Jane, and Marlene forged letters and “official” military orders, wrote and produced entire newspapers, scripted radio broadcasts and songs, and even developed rumors that undercover spies and double agents could spread to the enemy.
Use This Side
In the Rome office of the OSS, Zuzka worked with Saul Steinberg – who would later become a renowned cartoonist – and they became fast friends. Together they came up with an idea to make toilet paper featuring Adolf Hitler’s face. The Rome MO office had access to a neighborhood print shop, but like most black propaganda, the toilet paper had to look crude and amateurish, like a civilian could have created it with limited wartime supplies, or a disgruntled soldier. Steinberg carved out a picture of Hitler on a piece of linoleum with the words “Diese Seite Benutzen,” German for “Use This Side.” He and Zuzka hand-printed a number of rolls and gave them to OSS agents to distribute in German jeeps and latrines.
The League of Lonely War Women
In addition to brainstorming ideas with Steinberg, Zuzka also interrogated POWs, due to the five languages – including German – that she spoke fluently. While picking up intel about troop plans and positions in her interrogations, she could also measure soldiers’ psyches to gather new ideas for propaganda. “What bothers you most when you get news from home?” was one of her standard questions. Often, a POW would say he was worried about the possibility of air raids, the lack of food, and the safety of their loved ones. But when one young man told Zuzka that his biggest concern was that his girlfriend might be screwing another guy, she came up with the idea for the League of Lonely War Women, and wrote and designed the leaflet as soon
as she got back to headquarters:
Dear front soldier,
When will you come back on leave?
When will you be able again to forget the hard duties of a soldier and exchange them for a few days of joy, happiness and love?
Back at home we know of your heroic struggle; however, we do understand that even the bravest gets tired and that he needs a soft pillow, tenderness and healthy pleasure.
WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU
The leaflet featured a small drawing of two intertwined hearts, one with a key, the other with a keyhole, making the sexual implications hard to miss. A soldier was instructed to attach this drawing to his uniform or set it on a table in front of him in a cafe, and soon love-starved women in small towns all over Germany would be competing for the chance to take him home, give him a good meal, and take him to bed.
Over the next week, thousands of leaflets were printed up, smuggled into German-occupied parts of Italy, and then dropped in bars, restaurants, and hotels near military bases.
There are no details about how German women reacted to the bedraggled, gaunt, lice-infested soldiers who followed them all over town like lovesick puppies, but it’s likely that many of them wrote off the troops’ delusions as proof that the war had gone on far too long.
The leaflet even fooled several American newspapers, including The Washington Post, which ran a story with the headline “Free Love Offered to Nazis on Furlough.” When a colleague in the Rome office read the story, he remarked to Zuzka, “Can you believe these Germans?”
To which she replied, “Would you care to see the blueprint?”
Lili Marlene
The German-American singer and actress Marlene Dietrich went above and beyond to fight Hitler and the Nazis. She toured Europe with the USO, crossed enemy lines to accompany Army troops on dangerous missions, and visited as many Army hospitals as she could. After hearing about her bravery, OSS head Wild Bill Donovan came up with the idea to have Marlene record her most famous songs – twisting the lyrics to make them more melancholy – and broadcast them directly into Germany to manipulate the heartstrings of German soldiers and civilians alike. After a marathon recording session, her twelve songs – all in German – were beamed into Germany on regular rotation.
Shortly after, the Nazis started broadcasting their own version of “Lili Marlene” on German radio stations to counteract the effect of Marlene’s sultry voice.
A few years after the war, music impresario Mitch Miller convinced Marlene to re-record the songs, and Marlene Dietrich Overseas came out in 1951. Today, the album is a hard-to-find collector’s item.
Article by:Source: Sara Beth Haring
