Barbara Lauwers worked in #OSS Morale Ops (MO) & developed propaganda programs to crush the enemy’s spirit.
bit.ly/2sjQtpQ
#OSS75
Barbara, born in 1914 in Božena Hauserová, earned a doctorate in law before she married & moved to America in 1941.
#OSS75
1943: Barbara became US citizen & same day joined @USArmy
“I hoped the service would be a great adventure. I didn’t want to miss it!”
#OSS75
@USArmy While @ Women’s Army Corps officers’ school, Barbara was singled out & sent to DC
She didn’t know it was for #OSS until she got there
#OSS75
1944: Barbara sent to Italy to attack morale of German army with:
rumors
fake orders
leaflets about unrest among its military leaders
#OSS75
Hours after German generals’ failed assassination attempt of Hitler, MO started working on what would become Operation Sauerkraut.
#OSS75
Barbara–fluent in German, English, Czech, Slovak, & French–was chosen to interview German prisoners @ a camp south of Naples.
#OSS75
Barbara picked prisoners to infiltrate frontline & distribute propaganda
She made new identities & helped them memorize their stories
#OSS75
4 days after Operation Sauerkraut launched, the German prisoners were ready for their mission.
#OSS75
Prisoners were dressed in German uniforms & given forged identity papers, firearms, survival supplies, & 3,000 pieces of MO material.
#OSS75
Prisoners nailed propaganda documents to trees & left them in streets.
They also brought back intel, like location of German troops.
#OSS75
Sauerkraut was so successful that it became an expanded & ongoing operation for duration of #WWII in Italy & later France.
#OSS75
Barbara’s League of Lonely War Women campaign claimed if soldier wore a heart on his lapel, a League member would offer companionship
#OSS75
Axis morale was undermined by insinuating that German soldiers’ wives or girlfriends were being promiscuous or unfaithful.
#OSS75
Barbara also produced propaganda convincing 600 Czech soldiers forced into German service to cross front lines into Allied territory.
#OSS75
Barbara earned Bronze Star for her #OSS work
It was presented to her on April 6, 1945 by the MO chief in Rome
bit.ly/2sjQtpQ
#OSS75
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.