02 Mar Women in WWII
Beyond Rosie: Women in World War II ~ a panel at the exhibit at The Museum of History and Holocaust Education at Kennesaw State University
This week I attended an excellent program called “Beyond Rosie: Women in World War II”, a traveling exhibit at the Kennesaw University Museum of History and Holocaust Education. On hand was a real Rosie who worked in the Savannah shipyards!
Education & Outreach Coordinator Richard Harker did an overview, assisted by ten “Beyond Rosie” panels, of the different ways that women contributed to and were affected by the war.
There were two panels that particularly interested me. One was about women who participated in the “Secret War” … the OSS, the SOE. My mother worked for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services.)
The other was about women in the Resistance. The woman that most intrigued me was Mildred Fish Harnack, born 1902 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mildred was lecturing in German literature at what is now the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee when a young man from Germany accidentally walked into her class. He was smitten, they were married, and Mildred and Arvid Harnack moved to Germany. It was 1929.
Life in Germany in the 1930’s was difficult if you were not a dedicated Nazi. Mildred and Arvid both became resistance fighters, were eventually arrested by the Gestapo and then executed. Mildred Harnack is the only American woman known to be put to death under Hitler’s direct order. To be specific, this young lady from Milwaukee, Wisconsin went to the guillotine.
I found an excellent documentary about her life at the Wisconsin Public Television site. After you watch the main film you may want to browse through several others including this one by a documentary producer searching for more answers to her life both in the U.S. and abroad.
Finally, Mildred Harnack is being recognized for her heroism.
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