Sisters in Resistance: How a German Spy, a Banker's Wife, and Mussolini's Daughter Outwitted the Nazis

Sisters in Resistance: How a German Spy, a Banker's Wife, and Mussolini's Daughter Outwitted the Nazis by Tilar J. Mazzeo

In 1944, news of secret diaries kept by Italy's foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano had permeated the public consciousness. What wasn't reported, however, was how three women -- a fascist leader's daughter, a German spy, and an American socialite -- risked their lives to ensure the diaries would reach the Allies, who would later use them as evidence against the Nazis at Nuremberg.

In 1944, Benito Mussolini's daughter, Edda, gave Hitler and her father an ultimatum: Release her husband, Galeazzo Ciano, from prison, or risk her leaking her husband's journals to the press. To avoid the peril of exposing Nazi lies, Hitler and Mussolini hunted for the diaries for months, determined to destroy them.

Hilde Beetz, a German spy, was deployed to seduce Ciano to learn the diaries' location and take them from Edda. But the seducer became the seduced. Hilde converted and became a double agent, joining forces with Edda in an attempt to save Ciano from execution. When this failed, Edda fled to Switzerland with Hilde's daring assistance, determined to keep Ciano's final wish: to see the diaries published for use by the Allies. When American spymaster Allen Dulles learned of Edda's escape, he sent in socialite Frances de Chollet, an "accidental" spy, and told her to find Edda, gain her trust, and, crucially, hand the diaries over to the Americans. Together, they succeeded in preserving one of the most important documents of WWII.

Drawing upon in-depth research and first-person interviews with people who witnessed these events, Mazzeo gives readers a riveting look into this little-known moment in history and shows how, were it not for the active participation of three courageous women, certain convictions at Nuremberg would never have been possible.

Grand Central Publishing, 1st Edition, 1st Printing, 2022