Axis Sally
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Axis Sally was the generic nickname given to women radio personalities who broadcast English-language propaganda on behalf of the European Axis Powers during World War II. These included:
- Mildred Gillars, a German American who broadcast for Nazi Germany.[1][2] She was "the first woman in US history to be convicted of treason"[3] by the United States and following her arrest in Berlin, "on 8 March 1949 was sentenced to ten to thirty years' imprisonment."[3]
- Rita Zucca, an Italian American who broadcast for Fascist Italy.[4][5]
On their radio shows, the two Axis Sally personalities would typically alternate between swing music and propaganda messages aimed at American troops. These messages would typically emphasize the value of surrender, stoke fears that soldiers' wives and girlfriends were cheating on them, and point out that the Axis powers knew their locations. American soldiers listened to Gillars' broadcasts for the popular music, even as they found her attempts at propaganda "laughable".[4]