In Propaganda Girls, biographer Lisa Rogak (Rachel Maddow) presents a well-researched, approachable, and captivating account of four women's lives and careers, each instrumental to the "black propaganda" efforts of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)--the precursor to the CIA--during World War II.
Rogak introduces Elizabeth "Betty" MacDonald, a reporter from Hawaii; polyglot Barbara "Zuzka" Lauwers; Jane Smith-Hutton, the wife of a naval attaché in Toyko; and actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (yes, that Marlene Dietrich). Rogak depicts the many trials these women faced, professionally and personally, in their journeys to work with the Morale Operations branch (MO) within the OSS, a division whose job was to break the spirits of Axis soldiers in both the European and Pacific arenas.
Propaganda Girls opens with a scene of defecting soldiers from Axis forces surrendering to Allied troops. The defeated soldiers brandished "leaflets, newspapers, and letters that had served as personal breaking points" and though "neither the Allied nor Axis soldiers realized it," many of the "documents that the defectors presented in surrender came from a common source." That source was the MO branch of the OSS, where Rogak's four subjects forged reports, newspapers, letters, and broadcasts cunningly contrived to counteract any victory narratives put forth by the Axis powers.
The work of these women was largely unknown and often unrecognized, although they shared a common purpose and tailored their tasks according to their skills and experiences. They developed their own methods to fight, to contribute to the war efforts beyond the limited ways in which women were expected to participate. Rogak takes readers behind the scenes as Jane navigated Tokyo at the beginning of the war, and as Marlene insisted on performing for soldiers at the front even when declared a target--even making recordings specifically encouraging German soldiers to surrender and defect. Rogak shows how Zuzka used her multilingual skills to interrogate defectors in order to glean information to start new rumors for the MO's black propaganda, and how Betty's former journalism career gave her the know-how to tell the stories that would encourage the surrender of the opposing forces.
These women found innovative and courageous ways to rebrand how the narrative of war was told even as it was happening in front of them. Rogak's sweeping work brings readers into their lives, and makes their stories known for the first time. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer
Shelf Talker: Lisa Rogak shines a light on the efforts of four long-overlooked women who were instrumental to the work of the OSS during World War II.