
Axis Sally
The American Voice of Nazi Germany
Richard Lucas(Author)
Casemate Publishers
Published on 22. October 2010
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-935149-43-9 (ISBN)
Description
One of the most notorious Americans of the twentieth century was a failed Broadway actress turned radio announcer named Mildred Gillars (1900-1988), better known to American GIs as "Axis Sally." Despite the richness of her life story, there has never been a full-length biography of the ambitious, star-struck Ohio girl who evolved into a reviled disseminator of Nazi propaganda.
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Mildred had been living in Germany for five years. Hoping to marry, she chose to remain in the Nazi-run state even as the last Americans departed for home. In 1940, she was hired by the German overseas radio, where she evolved from a simple disc jockey and announcer to a master propagandist. Under the tutelage of her married lover, Max Otto Koischwicz, Gillars became the personification of Nazi propaganda to the American GI. Spicing her broadcasts with music, Mildred used her soothing voice to taunt Allied troops about the supposed infidelities of their wives and girlfriends back home, as well as the horrible deaths they were likely to meet on the battlefield. Supported by German military intelligence, she was able to convey personal greetings to individual US units, creating an eerie foreboding among troops who realised the Germans knew who and where they were. After broadcasting for Berlin up to the very end of the war, Gillars tried but failed to pose as a refugee and was captured by US authorities. Her 1949 trial for treason captured the attention and raw emotion of a nation fresh from the horrors of the Second World War. Gillars's twelve-year imprisonment and life on parole, including a stay in a convent, is a remarkable story of a woman who attempts to rebuild her life in the country she betrayed.
Written by Richard Lucas, a freelance writer and lifelong short-wave radio enthusiast, Axis Sally: The American Voice of Nazi Germany is the first thoroughly documented look at this mythologised figure of World War II.
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Mildred had been living in Germany for five years. Hoping to marry, she chose to remain in the Nazi-run state even as the last Americans departed for home. In 1940, she was hired by the German overseas radio, where she evolved from a simple disc jockey and announcer to a master propagandist. Under the tutelage of her married lover, Max Otto Koischwicz, Gillars became the personification of Nazi propaganda to the American GI. Spicing her broadcasts with music, Mildred used her soothing voice to taunt Allied troops about the supposed infidelities of their wives and girlfriends back home, as well as the horrible deaths they were likely to meet on the battlefield. Supported by German military intelligence, she was able to convey personal greetings to individual US units, creating an eerie foreboding among troops who realised the Germans knew who and where they were. After broadcasting for Berlin up to the very end of the war, Gillars tried but failed to pose as a refugee and was captured by US authorities. Her 1949 trial for treason captured the attention and raw emotion of a nation fresh from the horrors of the Second World War. Gillars's twelve-year imprisonment and life on parole, including a stay in a convent, is a remarkable story of a woman who attempts to rebuild her life in the country she betrayed.
Written by Richard Lucas, a freelance writer and lifelong short-wave radio enthusiast, Axis Sally: The American Voice of Nazi Germany is the first thoroughly documented look at this mythologised figure of World War II.
Reviews / Votes
"With the advent of film and radio, propagandists discovered a whole new world in which to disseminate information, accurate or not, preying on the psyches of enemy soldiers. . . . Whether she was naive or just an attention-starved actress, Mildred Gillars will always be remembered as the infamous 'Axis Sally.' She began to believe the Nazi propaganda she was spewing over the radio and, as the author states, 'paid a heavy price for that delusion.' * WWII HISTORY * This is a compelling, often poignant story, brilliantly told by Richard Lucas, of one of the most notorious Americans of the 20th century - a woman who betrayed her country for love, paid the price, and is buried in an unmarked grave in her native Ohio since her death in 1988. * educationviews.org * Playing "Midge", an American broadcaster with a deep, sultry voice, she played big band jazz record and exhorted American GIs to quit fighting with England against Germany. She warned that their wives and sweethearts back home were being unfaithful, that they would be wounded or killed in a senseless war, that the real conflict should be with the Bolsheviks (Communists), and she blamed the Jews. Transcripts were introduced at her trial for treason starting in January 1949, after being held in prison since March 1946. * Book Bit * ...a fascinating story of a woman who was so focused on herself and her show business dreams that she was easily convinced to broadcast and work at odds with her own country. * Windy City Times * ...the first full-length biography of Mildred Gillars, and it reveals the mostly untold story of the unfilled Broadway showgirl who found international fame as the notorious mouthpiece of the Third Reich in broadcasts aimed at millions of GIs. * King Features Syndicate * Lucas acknowledges that Gillars 'accepted the Nazi worldview', was 'wilfully blind' to the plight of the Jews and insisted on remaining in the limelight even after it became clear that the Allies would win the war. Nonetheless, he believes she should not have been tried - let alone convicted - for treason. In hindsight, he writes 'the punishment meted out to Axis Sally seemed like a quaint relic of a bygone national morality. * The Jerusalem Post * ...reveals the mostly untold story of the unfulfilled Broadway showgirl who found international fame as the notorious mouthpiece of the Third Reich in broadcasts aimed at millions of GIs. * Payson Roundup * ...examines one of the most infamous characters of the Second World War... The human drama which is history is filled with tragic contingencies or "what ifs. * Iron Mountain Daily News * ...fascinating, well-researched account * Publisher's Weekly * ... to hear 'Axis Sally' -- as she was dubbed by American GIs -- was to hate her. She was the original shock-jock of radio propaganda, delivering daily doses of discouragement and dismay in the congenial Midwest tones of her Northeast Ohio upbringing. * www.kimelli.nfshost.com * This is definitely a book worthy of any fan of biography's attention, as this startling character reaches the limelight at last. The included appendix of transcripts of her shows prove this to be a valuable document for WW2 historians too, while anybody will find this comprehensive, and more than readable. * www.bookbag.co.uk * Lucas (1)s thorough biography does not exculpate Gillars from the wrong that Axis Sally did, but explains what might be a story incredible in fiction, about how a down-on-her-luck stage-struck middle-class woman got caught up in the Nazi machine just because she wanted to be a star. Oh, and wanted to stick it to the Jews and those fighting at their behest. She accepted the Nazi world view, but it was clear by her trial that she was deluding herself that she was no propagandist and had done nothing against her country. These delusions along with those about her lovers and her artistry caught up with her eventually. It (1)s a sorry story, and an essential one for those interested in the history of the war. * The Commercial Dispatch *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
16-pg photo section
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-935149-43-9 (9781935149439)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2013
Casemate
€18.18
Available for download
