BIOGRAPHY

Noor Khan from Women Heroes of WWII

Kathryn J. Atwood

About the Author Kathryn J. Atwood has written several historical books about heroic women. She also blogs on subjects such as the history of and World War II, as well as the history of pop music. She has contributed to the Midwest Book Review, Women’s Independent Press, and many other publications.

BACKGROUND In Nazi-occupied regions, local Resistance movements fought to protect victims of the occupying forces, and at the same time, damage or weaken the Nazis by any means possible. The British, Americans, and Soviets allied themselves to these movements by providing equipment and support.

1 oor , the daughter of an Indian-born father and N an American mother, was born in , the capital city of NOTES Imperial , on New Year’s Day, 1914. It was fitting that Noor should have been born within steps of the Kremlin, a building that had been built for the royal tsars of Russia. Her great-great-great- grandfather was the royal , called the Tiger of Mysore, a Muslim ruler who had fought bravely for his lands and people. 2 Noor grew up in , just a few miles from , where she lived in a house called Fazal Manzil, or the House of Blessings. There she learned music, art, and poetry. She also learned a great deal about , the religious and meditative philosophy that

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. her father and his friends followed. 3 After graduating from the University of Sorbonne, Noor began to write and illustrate children’s stories. She was planning to create an illustrated children’s newspaper, which would be called

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UNIT 3 Independent Learning •NoorInayatKhan UNIT 3Independent Learning 8 7 6 5 4 Poland onSeptember1,1939,andthewholeworldchanged. tanksrolled into Bel Age—”theBeautiful Age”—when Hitler’s 2. 1. from placetoavoidbeingdetectedbythelistening hide whotheyreally were. Becausetheradiooperatorstraveled that were disguisedaslaundryvans,bakers’vans—anythingto capture radiooperators.TheGermanteamsworkedoutofvans were usingadevicecalledlisteningmachinetolocateand work. Teams ofGermans,manythemdressed inplainclothes, member oftheResistancebutespeciallyforthose doingradio occupied France. became thefirstfemaleradiooperatortobesentintoNazi- in France.Theyreally had nochoicebuttosendherin.SoNoor her knewthatthere wasa desperateneedformore radiooperators certain shewouldbeagoodagent. And eventhosewhodoubted she break undertorture andgiveoutimportantinformation? would happenif shewas caught byactualGestapoagents?Would seem strong enoughtowithstand areal interrogation. What splashed withcoldwater, androughly questioned.Shedidn’t interrogation inwhichshe waswokeninthemiddleofnight, seemed veryfragile,andshemiserablyfailedherfakeGestapo instructors hadseriousdoubtsaboutherpersonality. She directly withResistanceworkers inNazi-occupiedFrance. for theF(French)-Section oftheSOE,sectionthatworked because shewasanativeFrench speaker, shewasperfectforwork since shehadalready been trainedinradiotransmission. And London. Noorwasanexcellentcandidateforthistypeofwork someone totransmitmessagesviaMorsecodefrom Franceto always aneedforradiooperatoramongtheagents;thatis, occupied countriestofightasecret butdeadlywar. There was organization thatsentitsagentsintomanydifferent Nazi- different typeofwar. already beennoticedbyanorganization thatwaswaging avery the battleagainstHitler. Whatshedidn’trealize wasthatshehad would notbecontentuntilshecouldmore directly involvedin type ofradiobyMorsecode. After awhile,Noorrealized thatshe trained asaradiooperator, communicatingthrough aspecial support totheRoyal Air Force (RAF).Itwashere thatshewas Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), anorganization thatprovided to hinderhiminsomeway. ShejoinedtheBritishWomen’s

Gestapo anti-Semitic Although Noor’s skillswere impressive, someofherSOE Although Noor’s Noor abhorred Hitler’s anti-Semitic Noor abhorred Hitler’s She chosetoworkoutofParis,adangerous placeforany apparent fragility,Despite Noor’s othersintheSOEwere The SpecialOperationsExecutive,ortheSOE,wasaResistance

(guh STAH poh) Nazi secret police. secret Nazi poh) STAH (guh

(AN tee suh MIHT ihk) hatred and prejudice against the Jewish people. Jewish the against prejudice and hatred ihk) MIHT suh tee (AN 1 idealsandwasdetermined 2

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 12 11 10 9 had contactedtheGestapo andagreed tobetraya Britishagentshe there tomeether. A womantheGermansreferred toas“Renée” named Pierre Cartaud,whowasworkingfortheGestapo, would happen,shemakeplanstoreturn toLondon. SOE couldsendareplacement. Onceshewasassured thatthis her return toLondon.Butshewasstillhesitantleaveuntilthe agents knewthattheGestapowasclosinginon Noor andurged followed ortheovertures oftoo-friendlystrangers.Herfellow possessed akeenintuitionthatalertedhertothe dangersofbeing locations andbecauseshewasaveryfastradiooperator. Shealso down becauseNoorwascareful totransmitfrom manydifferent months Noorsuccessfullyeludedthem.Theyfailedtotrackher supply oftorpedoes. and communicatedtheexactspotwhere theNaziswere hidinga obtain weaponsandmoneyformembersoftheFrench Resistance, papers, pinpointedexactpositionsforairplanedrops, helped airmen escape,arrangedforfouragentstoobtainfalseidentity 1943, Noorsentandreceived messagesthathelped30 Allied D-day—was lessthanoneyearaway. BetweenJulyandOctober London, wasabsolutelycriticalatthistime.The Allied invasion— SOE offices andFrench leaderGeneralCharlesdeGaulle,bothin again. CommunicationbetweentheFrench Resistance,andthe to resume operations,Noor begantotransmitradiomessages arrested. be asingleradiooperatorleftinParis. All theothershadbeen right away. Sherefused, believingthatif sheleft,there wouldn’t London forherownsafetyandtoldthataplanewouldbesent radiotransmissions,urgently askedhertoreturn to from Noor’s The SOEoffice inLondon,whichfoundoutaboutthiscatastrophe circuit. workers includingmostofthoseinvolvedwithNoor’s Almost immediately, theGestapoarrested hundreds ofResistance important, addresses ofcurrent French Resistancemembers. the Gestapohadfoundwiththemincludednamesand,most apart. Severalagentshadbeenarrested, andtheinformationthat Noor arrivedinParis,theirwholecircuit (Resistancegroup) fell soon hadmore pressing issuestoworryabout.Ten daysafter agent. ButwhateverdoubtstheymayhavehadaboutNoor, they shy, naivepersonalityseemedatoddswiththatofasuccessful agents,especiallyonthebusystreets ofParis. dangerous: peoplewere oftenstoppedandsearched bysuspicious teams, theyhadtocarrytheirradioswiththem,whichwasvery One daywhenNooropenedherapartmentdoor, aFrench man The Gestapoknewthere was aradiooperatorinParis,butfor Officials attheSOEagreed, andwhenitwasrelatively safe newParisianassociatesalsothoughtthather Many ofNoor’s UNIT 3 Independent Learning •NoorInayatKhan UNIT 3Independent Learning NOTES

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UNIT 3 Independent Learning •NoorInayatKhan UNIT 3Independent Learning 16 15 14 13 12 . was tobetransferred toahigh-securityprisonin called possible. A callwasmadetoBerlin,theGermancapital: Noor She refused. Itwasherduty, shesaid,totryescapeif atall asked tosignapromise thatshewouldnevertrytoescapeagain. symbol (forvictory)andanRAFonher wall. Shewas them. crashing intoanearbyhouse.TheGestapoburst inandcaptured they madeonelastattemptbyswingingdown thesheetsand that itwasclosedoff. Gestapoagentswere everywhere. Desperate, were foundempty. Theescapeeslooked downtheroad andsaw them. Perhaps Noorandthe otherswere notvisible,buttheircells her fellowspieswere lying flat,hopingthatnoonewouldsee They alsoflashedsearchlights allovertheroof where Noorand would rush tocheckthattheprisonerswere stillintheircells. went off. Wheneverthathappened, theguards at84 Avenue Fochs some sheetstheyhadtiedtogether. roof andwere ready toletthemselvesdowntheground using all thebarsoftheircellsloosened.Eventuallythey reached the a screwdriver andpassed itbetweenthemuntiltheyhadgotten and togethertheyplannedadaringescape.Theymanagedtoget there were twoSOEagentsalsoimprisonedattheheadquarters, of hercelltoseeif shewould getaresponse. Shediscovered that questioning, tobetrayherfellowresistance workers. for doingso.Shethenrefused, throughout anentire monthof death. Shecompliedbutwasimmediatelyangrywithherself to comein,tellingherthataslipoff theroof would meancertain Noor, walkingontheroof, tryingtoescape.Hepersuadedher bathroom nexttohersandlookedoutthewindow. There was her request forabathseemedsuspicious,sohewentintothe door. TheGestapoagentincharge ofinterrogating Noorthought screamed attheguards whentheywouldn’tallow her toclosethe prisoner. Shedemandedtheprivilegeoftakingabathand to 84 Avenue Fochs,theGestapoheadquartersinParis. standing asfarawayfrom Nooraspossible.Shewastakenbycar call, askingforassistance.Whenhelpfinallycame,Cartaudwas pulled outagunandthreatened tokillherwhilehemadeaphone and bitingathiswristsuntilhewasbleedingheavily. Finally, he woman, hewasverywrong. Shefoughthimviolently, clawing agreed. knew intotheirhandsif theywouldpayher100,000francs.They Back insidehercellat84 Avenue Fochs,NoorscratchedaV Suddenly Allied planesflewoverhead, andtheair-raid siren One dayNoordecidedtotapaMorsecodemessageonthewall Housed inacelltheheadquarters,Noorwasdifficult If Cartaudthoughtitwouldbeeasytoarrest thisslim,petite

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 19 18 17 and movedtoDachau bowl: “Iamleaving.”Shewastakenfrom theprisonthatnight for nearly10months,Noorscratchedonefinalmessageonher words ontothebottomsoftheirfoodbowls. and severalfemaleprisonersexchangedmessagesbyscratching encourage herself bymeditatingandthinkingofherfather. She cuffs chainedtogether. Shebecamequitedepressed buttriedto confinement, herfeetandhandshandcuffed andbothsetsof 3. one ofthemostcourageousagentsSOE. gentle womanwhogrew up there, awomanwhoturnedouttobe a militarybandplaysoutsidethehouseinhonorofartistic, is aplaquededicatedtoNoor. And everyBastilleDay, July14, war. happychildhoodhome, JustoutsideofFazalManzil,Noor’s to NoorandtheotherSOEagentswholosttheirlivesduring plaques andmemorialsinGermanyGreat Britaindedicated somewhere otherthanonabattlefield.There are alsomany George Cross, Great Britain’shighestaward forcourageshown de Guerre (Cross ofWar), andGreat Britainawarded herthe there wouldbenotraceofthem. They were allshotthenextdayandtheirbodiesburnedsothat

Dachau On September11, 1944,afterhavingbeenchainedatPforzheim The Pforzheimwarden wasordered tokeepNoorinsolitary But Noorwasnotforgotten. Franceawarded herthe Croix

(DAH kow) Nazi concentration camp. concentration kow)(DAH Nazi 3 withthree otherfemaleBritishagents.

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