Jane Anderson (January 6, 1888 – May 5, 1972) was an American-Spanish war reporter journalist who broadcast

Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...

in Germany during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She was indicted on charges of treason in 1943, but charges were dropped after the war for lack of evidence.

Early life and career

Born Foster Anderson, her father, Robert M. "Red" Anderson was a close friend of the showman

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age ...

. Her mother, Ellen Luckie Anderson, came from a wealthy and prominent Atlanta family. She lived with her grandparents in the small town of

Demorest, Georgia Demorest ( ) is a city in Habersham County, Georgia, Habersham County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 2,022 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 1,823 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 cen ...

, and attended Piedmont Academy until she was expelled in 1904. She then attended Kidd-Key Women's School, a finishing school in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. She moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1909, where she lived until 1915. There she married

Deems Taylor Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American composer, radio commentator, music critic, and author. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." He was e ...

, the composer, in 1910. The marriage ended in divorce in 1918. While in New York, she became a successful writer of short stories, which were published in national magazines from 1910 to 1913. She then traveled to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in September 1915 where she remained until 1918, writing articles and reports for the London ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

''. As a war correspondent, she suffered

shell shock Shell shock is a term that originated during World War I to describe symptoms similar to those of combat stress reaction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which many soldiers suffered during the war. Before PTSD was officially recogni ...

from a visit to the British trenches in France in 1916. She was a lover of the novelist

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...

, who used her as the model for his heroine, Doña Rita, in ''

The Arrow of Gold ''The Arrow of Gold'' is a novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1919. It was originally titled "The Laugh" and published serially in ''Lloyd's Magazine'' from December 1918 to February 1920. The story is set in Marseille in the 1870s during the ...

'' in 1919. In 1922, she returned to Europe as a correspondent for the

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

and

Hearst Newspapers Hearst may refer to: Places * Hearst, former name of Hacienda, California, United States * Hearst, Ontario, town in Northern Ontario, Canada * Hearst, California, an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, United States * Hearst Island, a ...

. In October 1934, she married a Spanish nobleman in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Count Eduardo Alvarez de Cienfuegos, and settled with him in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Falangist supporter

The

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

(1936–1939) broke out on July 18, 1936, and Anderson covered the struggle for the London ''Daily Mail'', reporting from the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

side. On September 13, 1936, she was captured and imprisoned by the Republican side, held as a fascist spy, and tortured. However, in October 1936, Anderson's release was secured by the intervention of U.S. Secretary of State

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevel ...

and the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

assisted her return to the United States. Her experiences in Spain moved her political allegiance to the far right. She wrote and lectured on the Spanish Civil War to promote the

cause of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

, who eventually won the war with German and Italian military assistance. She returned to Spain in 1938, worked for the

Falangist Falangism () was the political ideology of three political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española, the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS), and afterwa ...

Spanish Ministry of Propaganda, and came to the attention of the ''

Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft The Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG; ''Reich Broadcasting Corporation'') was a national network of German regional public radio and television broadcasting companies active from 1925 until 1945. RRG's broadcasts were receivable in all parts o ...

'', the German state radio, which offered her a post in Berlin in 1940.

Propaganda for Nazi Germany

Anderson began broadcasts from Berlin on April 14, 1941, and when Germany declared war on the United States on December 11, American citizens were repatriated from Germany although Anderson chose to stay there. Until March 6, 1942, she broadcast Nazi propaganda via short wave radio for the German State Radio's U.S. Zone, the Germans giving her the name "The Georgia Peach." Her radio program was broadcast two or four times weekly and each broadcast began and ended with the slogan "Always remember progressive Americans eat

Kellogg's Corn Flakes Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). Originally invented as a breakfast food to counter indigestion, it has become a popular food item in the American diet and in the United Kingdom wher ...

and listen to both sides of the story" while a band played ''Scatterbrain''. In her programs, she heaped praise on

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and ran "exposés" of the "communist domination" of the

Roosevelt Roosevelt most often refers to two American presidents: * Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919, president 1901–1909), 26th president of the United States * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945, president 1933–death), 32nd president of the United State ...

and Churchill governments. She specialized in interviews, one being with her co-worker, the British traitor

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born Fascism, fascist and Propaganda of Nazi Germany, Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the World War II, Second World War. After moving from ...

. She was removed from her position as a commentator after material in her March 6, 1942, broadcast was successfully used by U.S. counterpropaganda when she revealed elite Germans were still dining in luxury despite widespread food insecurity in Germany. She then appears to have been inactive until her return to her propaganda work in 1944, when she made a few broadcasts reporting the brutality of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

on the Eastern Front.

Arrest

When Germany surrendered in May 1945, Anderson hid out in various locations in Germany and Austria. Finally, on April 2, 1947, she was arrested in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, Austria, and placed in U.S. military custody.

Charges of treason

On July 26, 1943, Anderson was indicted ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

'' by a District of Columbia grand jury on charges of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, along with Fred W. Kaltenbach,

Douglas Chandler Douglas Chandler (May 26, 1889 – after 1970s) was an American broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during World War II. He was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1947 but was released in 1963. Early life Born in Chicago, Ill ...

Edward Delaney Edward Delaney (1930 – 22 September 2009) was an Irish sculptor born in Claremorris in County Mayo in 1930. His best-known works include the 1967 statue of Wolfe Tone and famine memorial at the northeastern corner of St Stephen's Green in D ...

, Constance Drexel, Robert Henry Best, Max Otto Koischwitz and

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

. On October 27, 1947, however, the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equ ...

dropped all charges for lack of evidence. From a United States Government Office memorandum dated June 14, 1946:

It is true that she could be classified as a political commentator, although not a very effective one, but as she apparently stopped her broadcasting activities shortly after our entry into the war it does not appear worthwhile that further efforts be made to develop our case against her, notwithstanding the fact that she was indicted for treason in 1943.

A further factor was that Anderson had been a Spanish citizen by marriage since 1934.

Later life

Anderson was released from custody in Salzburg in early December 1947. She then went to live with her husband at

Almoharín Almoharín () is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2018 census ( INE), the municipality has a population of 1,838 inhabitants. The village's economy is primarily agricultural, with many inhab ...

in the postwar world of

Falangist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in ...

. In the early 1960s, they moved to Cáceres, where she gave private lessons in English and German. After her husband's death, she moved to Madrid where she died in 1972.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Jane 1888 births 1972 deaths 20th-century American women journalists American expatriates in Germany American fascists American broadcasters for Nazi Germany American people of the Spanish Civil War American women radio hosts American women civilians in World War II American torture victims German radio personalities Radio personalities from Atlanta Radio during World War II Women in Nazi Germany People charged with treason American people imprisoned in Spain Prisoners and detainees of the United States military