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Mildred Harnack

War Hero

Birthday September 6, 1902

Birth Sign Virgo

Birthplace Milwaukee, WI

DEATH DATE Feb 16, 1943 (40)

#255,788 Most Popular

About

American woman who joined the Resistance movement in Nazi Germany and established the Russian spy organization Red Orchestra.

Before Fame

She studied at the University of Wisconsin, where she fell in love with a German exchange student. She married her fellow student, and the two moved to Germany.

Trivia

She and her husband organized the Red Orchestra, an anti-Nazi group that transmitted Nazi intelligence and war plans to the USSR.

Family Life

She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to a German immigrant family, and she grew up immersed in German language and culture.

Associated With

She was originally sentenced by the Nazi government to six years in prison. However, wanting to make an example of Harnack, Adolf Hitler ordered the courts to serve her with a death sentence.