Marlene Dietrich's secret role in a women-only spy ring - and the brazen act that put a Nazi price on her head

UK Daily Mail ^ | 03/01/2025 | Ruth Walker

[DFG]

Marlene Dietrich made her way to a recording studio in the middle of New York’s Times Square, about to give one of the most audacious performances of her career.

The Berlin-born screen siren had renounced her German citizenship five years earlier, and become a proud American - a move that had so enraged Hitler, he’d put a seven-figure bounty on her head.

But Dietrich was undeterred, and went on to become a key figure in the US war effort, singing for Allied troops in Algeria, France, Italy, and Germany - often in extremely dangerous conditions.

What is less well-known is her role as part of a top secret team of ‘black propaganda’ specialists whose work helped break the Nazis’ stronghold in Europe.

And on the night of August 16, 1944, Dietrich wasn’t about to record just any album.

In her new book, The Propaganda Girls, author Lisa Rogak reveals that the classic songs on the set list were destined to be beamed into enemy territory - with their subtly altered lyrics written specifically to undermine the Germans and chip away at morale.

Lili Marlene, for instance. The German love song was based on a World War I poem written by a soldier who was missing his sweetheart back home.

But in Dietrich’s version, the soldier was dying, losing not just his love, but his life as well.

‘With one manicured hand Marlene caressed the silver microphone that could be easily mistaken for a grenade in the dark, while a Lucky Strike dangled from her other hand,' writes Rogak.

‘She lowered her head as if in prayer; she needed a moment to collect her thoughts. First, her family back in Germany. She knew that what she was about to do could be signing their death sentence.

[Bratch]

The more effective the Propaganda Girls were, the more furious Hitler became - and it seems Dietrich was his arch nemesis. He grew increasingly obsessed with capturing her, following her movements carefully - especially while she was touring the front lines.

'Indeed,' writes Rogak, 'during the Battle of the Bulge, as the Third Army moved into Germany, Marlene barely escaped with her life when a German counterattack struck only a kilometer away from her camp'.

But she refused to be cowed and claimed she was unafraid of death.

What did keep her awake at night, however, was the possibility of being taken alive and tortured.

‘They’ll shave off my hair, stone me, and have horses drag me through the streets,’ she said, ‘or worse, force me to talk on the radio’.

According to Rogak:

‘General George Patton had presented her with a pearl-handled revolver identical to his… leaving no doubt that he meant for her to use it on herself, if the circumstances required.’

[JesusIsLord]

Marlene Dietrich is The Laziest Girl In Town (below video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr0xRNo6Xaw

[Spacetrucker]

Incredible story for an incredibly lovely lady.

[FreedomPoster]

Patton did not have a pearl-handled revolver. The grips were ivory.

[redfreedom]

Imagine an actress being that patriotic today.

I appears she worked for the OSS propaganda machine. I don’t know if that was technically a spy, but I suppose so.

What I do know, based on documentaries, that the Brits used women as actual covert spies. It was a simple idea, that no one would believe a woman could actually be a spy. Yet they were so effective.

I personally know a person that was a covert spy. By looking at him, his background, what he looked like when active, one would never believe it. He simply does not look like the Hollywood stereotype everyone expects.

Many of these people are referred to as “Secret Squirrels”.

[jroehl]

Marlene dropped her nickers for many. A very complicated way to live.

[Savage Beast]

Lili Marlene is one of the most beautiful and iconic of all songs.

When I was an American army officer stationed in Germany twenty-five years after the end of World War II, standing alone at night in the dense fog, in Army uniform and overcoat, beneath a street lamp outside die Kaserne, I cherished the mystique and the romanticism of Lili Marlene as it played over and over in my head, I half-expecting, half-hoping that Marlene Dietrich would step out of the fog and say, in her beautiful, deep, soft German accent: Got a light, soldier?

I loved being a soldier. I loved Germany. I loved the American Army. I loved my countless German friends. I loved the beautiful German women; I still think about them often. I loved the splendid German men I knew and who were my friends.

However I still cannot understand how the nation of Beethoven and Eric Maria Remarque and so much more could descend into the nightmare of naziism.

A pilgrimage to Dachau intensified the horror and made it even more incomprehensible.

All I could do was promise God and myself that I would NEVER be a part of evil, that I would seek Truth and accept it wherever it might present itself, and that I would fight against evil until my last breath and beyond.

[rlmorel]

Hahahahaha...didn’t he make a comment once where he said something like “pearl-handled revolvers are for pimps”?

[rlmorel]

That song has an unusual draw for me as well. I have always found it interesting that nearly all armies adopted and sang the song...except for probably the Japanese!

[ansel12]

I can see some actresses being patriotic today, but something we see from some of the actresses of the distant generations of WWII is how complex their involvement is, those generations were deeper people.

This story and stories like Hedy Lamarr, Audrey Hepburn, and others reveal the depth of life in the past.

We saw some serious patriotism from celebrity women during the Vietnam War.

[ansel12]

Song
WW2 Vera Lynn - Lili Marlene
https://youtu.be/ZSMuTm649Hk?si=e9p6jgdWqdAPAyZC

[FreedomPoster]

That is my understanding.

Here:

“They’re ivory. Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl-handled pistol.”

Apparently the quote from the movie was from a real life answer to a question about his “pearl” handled pistols.

[Bigg Red]

MarQ

[FLT-bird]

Lili Marlene of course became a hit for the German army first. It was played by (Occupied) Radio Belgrade which could be picked up throughout Southern Europe and North Africa. It soon became a big hit with the Deutsches Afrika Korps and the British 8th army soldiers alike. My favorite version was the bitter and sarcastic version sung by the “D-Day Dodgers” who had to fight in the very tough Italian campaign.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTggFnpOHk4

[bray]

Remember when actresses were beautiful.

[JesusIsLord]

Remember when actresses were beautiful.

I would add: 'Remember when actresses loved America.'

[Chainmail]

You are correct: "They’re ivory. Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl-handled pistol.” -

Patton.

[fso301]

General George Patton had presented her with a pearl-handled revolver identical to his

It was ivory because only a pimp in a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would have a pearl handled pistol.

[dfwgator]

Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl-handled pistol.