The Dark Story of "Axis Sally", the American Who Told U.S. Soldiers Their Wives Were Cheating

She greeted American soldiers with "Hi fellows," played the records they missed from home, and told them their wives and sweethearts were out with other men. They called her Axis Sally. In 1949, the United States tried her for treason on eight counts and convicted her on one. Mildred Gillars was born in Portland, Maine, in 1900. She wanted a life on the stage and never found one. By 1940 she was in Berlin, under contract to German State Radio, and she became its highest-paid announcer. Her scripts were written by Max Otto Koischwitz, a former New York professor and her lover. In 1944 she walked into hospital wards and prison camps to interview wounded and captured Americans, claiming to work for the Red Cross. This documentary lays out her life the way the government laid out its case: the charge, six exhibits from her life, the cross-examination and the verdict. It explains why, of everything she broadcast over five years, the jury convicted her for a single program, and it is honest about what the record cannot explain. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Voice on the Radio 1:10 The Charge: Treason, 1949 2:14 Exhibit One: The Girl Who Wanted a Stage 3:27 Exhibit Two: The Road to Berlin 4:18 Exhibit Three: The Contract and the Men 5:48 Exhibit Four: Home Sweet Home 7:43 Exhibit Five: The Names and the Red Cross 9:16 Exhibit Six: The Broadcast That Convicted Her 10:51 The Woman Under a False Name 12:24 Cross-Examination and Verdict 14:48 After the Verdict 15:49 Your Verdict The jury gave its verdict in 1949. What is yours? Was she a lonely woman who followed the wrong men, or an adult who chose her side and was paid well for it? Tell us in the comments. SOURCES U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 3 Gillars v. United States, 182 F.2d 962 (D.C. Cir. 1950) U.S. Army (army.mil), history article on Mildred Gillars HistoryNet, article on Mildred Gillars and her trial Under False Names tells the stories of the traitors, spies and double agents of the Second World War, for historical and educational purposes. This channel does not endorse or glorify the Nazi regime or any of its propaganda. Archival photographs and footage are used for documentary commentary. Subscribe to Under False Names for a new full documentary every week. #AxisSally #WW2History #MildredGillars