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Britain’s Famous Spy-Sentenced to Death by Nazis
CHURCHILL, Odette (1912-1995) British spy during W W II. Also known as Odette Hallowes and Odette Sanson. Her code name was “Lise.” She was an agent for the United Kingdom’s clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during WWII. The purpose of the SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers especially in Germany. She was arrested 16 April 1943 by a spy hunter and spent the rest of the war imprisoned in Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. She was subject to 14 Gestapo interrogations and brutal torture. Her back was scorched with a red-hot poker, and all her toenails were pulled out. During 1943 she was condemned to death on two counts. Her response was: “then you will have to make up your mind on what count I am to be executed, because I can only die once.” Her wartime experiences and endurance of brutal interrogation is chronicled in books and a motion picture. She was one of the most celebrated members of the SOE and one of the few to survive Nazi imprisonment. She was the first woman to be awarded the George Cross by the United Kingdom and the Legion d’honneur by France. A fabulous, very scarce full signature “Odette Churchill” on an album page. On the verso three celebrities have signed their names. In fine condition.........$375.00
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