Sisters in Resistance
how a German spy, a banker's wife, and Mussolini's daughter outwitted the Nazis
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- 14,99 €
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- 14,99 €
Publisher Description
The extraordinary true story of how three women — a fascist’s daughter, a German spy, and an American socialite — raced against Hitler’s SS to get key evidence into the hands of the Allies.
In 1943, Edda Mussolini, daughter of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, gave her father and Hitler an extraordinary ultimatum: release her husband, Italy’s former foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano, from prison, or risk her leaking her husband’s diaries to the press.
Knowing the diaries would expose Nazi lies and create a foundation for war crimes prosecutions, Hitler and Mussolini vowed to do everything in their power to see the diaries destroyed — even if it meant killing Mussolini’s daughter. To do this, they ordered Hilde Beetz, a German spy, to seduce Ciano in prison in order to learn the diaries’ location. However, the seducer became the seduced, joining forces with Edda to try to save Ciano from execution. When this failed, Edda fled, with Hilde’s daring assistance, to keep Ciano’s final wish: to see the diaries published for use by the Allies.
Upon learning of Edda’s escape, the head of United States intelligence, Alan Dulles, sent in socialite Frances de Chollet, assigned by chance to a mission that would change her life. Her task was to find Edda, gain her trust, and, crucially, hand the diaries over to the Americans. Against all expectations, what developed was a rich and humanising friendship between the two women. Staying one step ahead of the Gestapo agents who were hunting Edda, together they succeeded in preserving one of the most important historic documents of World War II.
Containing all the detailed twists and turns of a spy thriller, this is the story of three women, each faced with unbearable pressures and weighty moral questions, whose lives were drawn together in one of the most unlikely rescues of World War II.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
University of Montreal literature professor Mazzeo (Eliza Hamilton) unravels a tangled knot of Fascist intrigue and family infighting in this riveting WWII history. At the center of the story are Italian foreign minister Galleazzo Ciano and his wife, Edda, Benito Mussolini's favorite daughter. In 1943, Ciano voted with the Fascist Party's Grand Council to oust Mussolini. His replacement was Ciano's archrival, Pietro Badoglio, who, in a bid to solidify his power, put Ciano under house arrest. This prompted Edda to approach a group of Nazi officials with a proposal: if they helped the Cianos flee to Spain, Edda would hand over her husband's diaries (which contained state secrets and unflattering depictions of Italian and German officials) so they could further their own aims with Hitler. After striking a deal, the family was betrayed and ended up in Germany, where S.S. agent Hilde Beetz fell in love with Ciano while seducing him into revealing the whereabouts of his diaries. Hitler eventually returned Mussolini to power and sent the Cianos back to Italy, where Ciano was executed in 1944. Soon after, Beetz brokered a deal between Edda and U.S. intelligence, which wanted Ciano's diaries for evidence against the Nazis in postwar trials. Mazzeo efficiently relates these complex events and renders empathetic portraits of the story's main players. WWII buffs will be enthralled.