Obscure WWII Facts

Dietrich von Choltitz, appointed Military Governor of Paris in 1944, received direct orders from Hitler to destroy the city - "Paris must not fall into the hands of the enemy except as a field of ruins." Von Choltitz simply didn't detonate the explosives planted under the Eiffel Tower, bridges, and cathedrals. He surrendered the city intact to General Leclerc. Hitler called him a "traitor" but Paris was saved.

Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish architect, issued "protective passports" to Hungarian Jews, saving an estimated 100,000 lives. He housed Jews in buildings declared Swedish territory. When Soviets liberated Budapest, they arrested him as a "capitalist spy." He disappeared into the Gulag. Soviet records suggest he was executed in 1947 at age 34.

Princess Noor Inayat Khan, pacifist children's book author, became Britain's first female radio operator in France. Despite being told she wasn't suited for espionage due to "lack of cunning," she refused to leave when others evacuated. Captured, she never broke despite torture. She was executed at Dachau, last words "Liberté." The Gestapo called her "dangerous" despite her gentle appearance.

British intelligence floated a dead body off Gibraltar with fake invasion plans. "Major William Martin" (actually a homeless man who died from poisoning) carried documents suggesting invasion of Greece, not Sicily. Hitler moved 40,000 troops to Greece. The Allies took Sicily with 60% fewer casualties than expected. The body was dressed as an officer, equipped with love letters, and a £1 note for "taxes."

General Henning von Tresckow, a key conspirator against Hitler, arranged for 200 Jews to escape after Kristallnacht. He told his staff "Anyone who sees a Jew and doesn't help them is already complicit." He helped smuggle Jews to Switzerland. He attempted to kill Hitler with a bomb in March 1943 - it failed. He committed suicide when the July 20 plot failed.

SOE agent Forest Yeo-Thomas, codename "White Rabbit", was captured and tortured by the Gestapo. He escaped by stealing keys, walked 300 miles to Paris, and made it back to Britain. He insisted on parachuting back into France and was captured again. At Buchenwald, he survived by pretending to be a Polish officer. He was the inspiration for James Bond.

Virginia Hall, with a wooden leg from a hunting accident, became the most dangerous Allied spy. Known to Germans as "The Limping Lady," she organized French Resistance cells, escaped over the Pyrenees in winter, and parachuted back into France at 40. The Gestapo called her "the most dangerous of all Allied spies." She received the Distinguished Service Cross - the only civilian woman in WWII.

Frank and Rochelle Sutin were Jewish teenagers hiding in forests. Frank claimed to be a "skilled tailor" to avoid execution - the Nazi commander wanted uniforms. Frank, who had never sewed, made perfect uniforms. Rochelle cooked for the partisans despite never having cooked. They survived by lying about skills they didn't have. After the war, they married in a displaced persons camp.

Polish soldier Witold Pilecki voluntarily entered Auschwitz as prisoner 4859, organized resistance from inside, escaped after 947 days with a full report, then fought in the Polish Home Army, and finally in Allied forces. He is one of few people to voluntarily enter a concentration camp to gather intelligence. His report was disbelieved by the Allies.

Oradour-sur-Glane wasn't the only French village to face tragedy. Le Chambon-sur-Lignon saved 5,000 Jews by hiding them in farms and monasteries. When Nazis came, villagers simply evacuated everyone to the hills. The entire Protestant community, led by Pastor André Trocmé, never lost a single refugee. "We did what we had to do" - Trocmé.

Erik Hanussen, a Jewish psychic, predicted Hitler's rise and fall. He ran a "Hall of Occult" in Berlin. He correctly predicted the Reichstag fire. When Nazis came to power, Hanussen was seized by SA stormtroopers. His predictions had become dangerous. He was tortured and shot in March 1933, the first prominent Jewish victim after Hitler became Chancellor.

Major General Eduard Bloch was Hitler's Jewish childhood doctor. Hitler granted him "Schutzbrief" - special protection. But Bloch wasn't Jewish - his wife was. More shocking: Field Marshal Erhard Milch, Deputy of the Luftwaffe, had a Jewish father. Hermann Göring falsified Milch's birth certificate, declaring "I decide who is Jewish!"