Four from the O.S.S!

Rogak, Lisa.  Propaganda Girls: The Secret War of the Women in the O.S.S.  New York: 

        St. Martin's Press, 2025.  ISBN: 9781250275592. 

How much do you know about the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the World War II predecessor to the CIA? Want to learn more, then join Lisa Rogak as she twines the tales of four women who worked in the Morale Operations branch of the OSS.

 

Lisa Rogak opens with background chapters on each of the four women in Propaganda Girls - Elizabeth "Betty" McDonald, Jane Smith-Hutton, Barbara "Zuzka" Lauwers, and Marlene Dietrich.  The background chapters lay the groundwork and motivation of why each woman volunteered to be part of the OSS's black propaganda operation.  The next several rounds of chapters laid out the various jobs they held and how each of these jobs whether in Washington D.C., in India, China, Italy, or France managed to aid the Allied cause while raising havoc with the Axis forces.  For example, Zuzka had toilet paper created with the image of Hitler's face and the German phrase "Use this side" airdropped behind enemy lines.  She also used POWs to sneak behind German lines in Italy with pamphlets saying that the war was over and Kesselring was in charge.  Betty used her skills as a newspaper reporter to create newsletters dropped on Japan and behind the lines in China to create division in the enemy population.  Jane used her hard-earned knowledge the Japanese language and culture to hold "rumor mill" sessions that proposed various rumors to be spread by spies and to create black propaganda items.  Marlene was involved  radio broadcasts from London that were beamed to Allied troops, but picked up the Germans as well.  She was also in the MUZAK Project which had popular American songs sung in German by German artists.  Marlene recorded 12 songs, some with special lyrics, for the program.  Years later, all 12 songs were released as an album.  Finally, Lisa Rognak covers the lives and careers of all four women after the end of the war.

So, if you are looking for a readable, well-documented account of some of the women who worked for the OSS, pick up Propaganda Girls and settle in for the ride.