Heroine of The Resistance

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28222, 9 March 1957, Page 3

Heroine of The Resistance

Carve Her Name With Pride. By George Newnes.

During World War II Nora Kahn, known as ’’Madeleine,” was the first woman operator to be infiltrated into France. The standards she set were of the very highest. Many other women agents followed her and nearly a third of them suffered the same tragic fate. Among them was Mrs Villctte Szabo or “Corinne” as she was known to the Resistance. Of her, "Odette” writes on the dust sheet of this moving book, "She was the bravest of us all.”

Born in a humble home in London of an English father and a French mother. Violette Bushell —for that was her name before her marriage—was not noticeably an outstanding girl. Beneath the surface, however, she enjoyed living with an element of danger and could always cope with any situation. During the early years of the war, she met and married a Frenchman. After a short while together, he was killed in the fighting in North Africa. After the birth of her daughter Tania,; Violette accepted the offer she I had been made of becoming a secret agent in France. Her work in that capacity was outstanding. She was caught finally in an ambush with one companion. Her stand against a few hundred men of a leading Panzer Division who closed in on her was in the highest traditions of a soldier. It allowed her companion to get; away. After suffering severe torture, she was sent to Ravcnsbruck. held there until near the end of the war and then shot. Her bravery is cited in “The White Rabbit.” It was she who brought water during an air raid to the men in the train taking them all into Germany. Her story is moving in the extreme and should be read widely. The quality of .character and the power to resist evil of this girl is inspiring.