Diversion audio. A note this episode contains descriptions of violence that may be disturbing for some audiences. Please take care in listening. This series is based on historical characters and real events. Some dialogue has been imagined for dramatic purposes when no primary source material is available. Virginia Hall's predicament was pressing a spy working for the Nazis. She knew his father Akhn real name Robert Alesh, had exposed her identity to the enemy. Now she had to get out
of France and into Spain. And that meant an excruciating climb over thirty miles of tumultuous mountain terrain. It meant crossing the Pyrenees. Well, it's it's a chain of mountains. It stretches from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean like a kind of belt, and it's a very natural border between France and Spain. It's very wild. That's Edwards Sterton, a BBC broadcaster who made a commemorative track across the Pyrenees some seventy years after Virginia Hall, and gosh it was brutal.
I mean it really really was brutal. Some of it you're almost climbing they put some guide ropes in so you can hold yourself up, but just scrambling up rocks, and it made you realize what it must have been like for the people who did that during the war. After his track, Sterton wrote a book called Cruel Crossing Escaping Hitler Across the Pyrenees about the people who fled occupied Europe via this mountain range during World War Two.
And I think that there is a strong sense that the memory of what happened then, under the extraordinary heroism that people and generosity of spirit actually that people showed, needs to be remembered. The Pyrenees claimed many lives once the Nazis took over France, as French immigrants downed Allied soldiers and Jewish Europeans attempted to flee over the mountains.
They were the back door who occupied Europe because if you think about it, once the Germans had moved in and occupied France and taken Belgium and Holland and so forth, there was no other way out of Europe. You couldn't go east because you bumped into Germany. There was the sea, but that was extremely perilous. So the Pyrenees was really the only sort of the emergency exit, if you like.
In the trek with arduous to say the least, some froze to death, some suffocated from the lack of oxygen that came with the heights, Some fell into a rocky grave. Others got lost and were never heard from again. That's nothing to say of the avalanches that plagued the mountains every year. And on top of all that, there was always the risk that you'd be captured by the Germans. Edwards Sterton remembers the story he heard about a child
whose mother carried her across the mountain range. They had one extraordinary memory that had come down to her from her mother who carried her across the mountains, which was that she cried as a child, as a childhood in freezing cold temperatures and up in the mountains, and the guide said, stop your child crying, because otherwise it'll alert
the Germans to where we are. And if you can't stop it crying, I'm going to shoot it, which I mean sounds awful, But that kind of thing went on in the high mountains in what were very extreme conditions where everybody was risking their lives. Virginia knew that attempting to try alone would mean death, especially given that she'd
be hiking with her prosthetic leg. Luckily, Peppignon, the town she'd landed in, had a resistance contact she knew fairly well, a man known to her by his code name Jill Bear. So I say to my friends, if you didn't want the calf, you shouldn't have paid for the cow. Ah Mo, my dear and darling a y surprise trip to Papignon looking for some mountain air. You don't know the it? Can you get me over? You want to take the hike? I do so, Junior? Can you find me a guide?
Jor It's funny how faith works. Of course I can get you a guide? Was the right price. I want to introduce you to my friends Antoine Jean, and they are desperate to get over the mountain as well. But they've come to me a bit empty pocketed. Virginia couldn't help but feel betrayed. How could Gilbert be so avaricious when four lives were at steak? But there's been news recently of additional Germans entering France to defend against the
oncoming American forces. Fears were growing everywhere money would be even harder to come by. Gilbart was one of Virginia's best contacts who specialized in shepherding runaways out of the country, but it always came with a price. What were you thinking, Gil seventy francs seventy tho you mean Rice Mark? You intend to win the wall? Don't you? What good will gentleman money be? Then? Funk, that's as much as I
can do. Oh, I could have the five of us bound together and rolled into the nearest sort of gestapo. Whichever works better for your wallet. Gilly, you've got the deer. Enjoy your trip. I would bundle up if I were you. I'm Steven Talty and from Diversion. This is good Assassin's Season two. Being killed would be the easy part. Being tortured would be the hard part. Our intel suggests she is behind many of the prison bricks all over the country.
She's dangerous, so sabotage plus a little espionage paramilitary operations make things blow up. The message for Captain Bobby and I believe I have found the nest of the Limping Lady. Episode seven. Escape into the mountains late in the night of November eleven, Virginia found herself in a car with a three fleeing Frenchman driven by her context you'll bear to the nearby town of Lava Lenai, where their guide across the mountains was waiting for them. The ride was
mostly silent. Virginia felt shame emitting from the other passengers, Henri, Antoine and Jean. They didn't seem like men who wanted to accept any kind of charity. They arrived in love Alena, and Virginia was introduced to their guide, a tall, secular Basque man introduced as one. When he saw that one of the hikers was a woman. Once sneered, muttering a curse of annoyance in Spanish to Gilbert. Virginia responded to One's insult in Spanish, embarrassing him and quickly shutting him up.
It wasn't the best first impression, but Virginia couldn't help herself. The route they would be taking over the Pyrenees was dangerous, and one was unconvinced that a woman could handle the journey. I think the pass were extremely picky about who they took, precisely because it was so dangerous and they were risking their own lives. So I collet you imagine any child doing this on foot. To be honest, it's it's too tough. That's Edwards Sterton again. Being a guide or passer was
incredibly dangerous. If they were found out they you know, things could be very, very nasty. Indeed, and many of them who worked or went off into camps in Germany, a lot of them died. A lot of them died
in really awful ways. The Germans had a system called noc To, Niebel, Knight and Fog, which meant that people just disciplined into the system of concentration camps and nobody knew where they were, which of course was intended to frighten anybody considering going on to the wrong side and joining an escapeline and helping people to get over over the Pyrenees. The next morning, November twelve, One woke up his crew by handing them knapsacks with food for the track.
He informed the four that they'd each be responsible for rationing their own meals and they couldn't bring anything extra as the added weight would slow them down. One gave them the impression he was a real mountain man, as cold and hard as the rocky exteriors he navigated for a living. Virginia quickly realized that she'd have to hide her false leg from one the entire trip, as there'd be no way he'd bring her along if you found out that, in addition to being a woman, she was
also disabled. As the five march to the beginning of the trail, one peppered them with facts about this part of the Pyrenees. The highest peak was estimated to be about eleven thousand feet, the range had cleaned over thirty lives just that year, and there were rumors you could hear the ghostly cries of the lost in the gusts of wind that blew up from the valleys below. From everything we know about her, Virginia Hall was not a
superstitious person. By all accounts. She was very rational, even skeptical. Still, she couldn't help but listen for whispers in the wind as they began their mountain ascent of the Pyrenees. Deep deep snow, very very cold, absolutely routal conditions. I would think Edwards Sterton again, you certainly freeze to death, no question about it. It's difficult to convey quite what it's
like when it gets really really cold. Think of your worst, your coldest cold day, and then multiply it by a hundred and remember, of course, that you are trying at the same time to track very difficult to rain. Many didn't make it, and a lot of those who did make it tell stories of terrible choices. Either when your when your friend is exhausted, do you leave him? Or do you do you try and bring it with you with you. It didn't take long before discomfort and fatigue
began to creep in. It took the group several hours to hike uphill through the Orgay Valley in Virginia. Stump and began to feel rut raw. She could feel it blistering against the course wood of her false leg, but knew that stopping would reveal her disability too early. She realized she couldn't ignore this reality for much longer. If she could just make it to the midpoint of the journey before she revealed anything to want, at least at that point, he wouldn't risk turning back. The people of
Marseille are established. According to Alicia Radio at the large number of troops the Germans are pouring into the city each day so far has brought a larger block than the day before. Sixty contingents are expected. All available housing accommodation has been requisited. Just days before Virginia began this mountain escape in November, the Nazi regime had in fact extended its occupation and formal governance of France with a
further invasion of France's southern quote unquote reazone. So by this time, some two years into the Nazi occupation, even the mountain ranges were patrolled by the Germans, especially at night. They've built a number of tiny three man ports at various checkpoints throughout the Pyrenees, which allowed them to capture escape bees and fugitives and quickly process their papers for
deportation to concentration camps. Juan plan so the group was mostly traveling in the evening and morning hours for the long stretches with little natural cover. That way, hiding would be easier if necessary. It was just one rule, never fleet from the group. If I losed you for even a minute, forever, it's not my job to find you. It was one of the few things that Juan would say the entire trip. He was stoic, no nonsense, but
something about him made Virginia's highly attuned sensors suspicious. Luan wasn't a member of the resistance. He was just one of Gilbart's contacts, and Virginia hadn't had time to check his background. It was entirely possible that he could be leading them right into the hands of the enemy. He had already been paid, and there was nothing stopping him from taking bribes from the Nazis. Once the idea popped
into her head, Virginia couldn't get it out. She imagined finally reaching the highest peak of the Pyrenees, straining every muscle in her body to make the ascent, only to be handed over to the waiting, sickening smiles of Robert Alesh and Klaus Barbie. She could practically hear Unlesha's voice taunting her. I thought you were smarter than this, miss Oil, and yet you are delieve it to me with your
fisthy tail between your legs. She noticed that much of wh trail seemed to follow closely along a winding mountain stream. Virginia decided that if he tried anything funny, she could take the knife she brought along to defend herself and put some of her s O E combat training to good use. Then maybe she could guide the men herself along the stream until they reached Spain. She was ready to do it, but watching one on the trail and noting again his enormous size and strength, she prayed one
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you listen to podcasts. The track was proving brutal. Juan had led to four travelers out of the most dangerous German hot zones, but now they faced an elemental disaster, deep heavy snow that devoured every step they took. This was especially tough for Virginia, whose wooden leg was of almost no use. For stub was mangled, bloody, and splintered, and she couldn't push it against the fallen snow floor
that came up as high as her knees. She instead had to move forward on her good leg and quickly followed behind in a sidestepping motion that got one's attention. He must have found it strange, but he didn't come now. If you haven't already gotten a clear picture of Virginia Hall as a tough, badass spine, the fact that she's managing this harsh, miserable mountain expedition with prosthetic leg should
bring it into focus. At a pass between the mountains, one noted they were at about eight thousand feet, so they'd have to be mindful of their breathing. He informed them a substantial break would be coming soon. Size of relief came from the frozen exhausted room. Up ahead, one pointed out an old habit he used for his trips. Inside, he promised they'd find shelter and beds. The trio men were ecstatic. Virginia, on the other hand, knew this would
be the perfect place for an ambush. Still she didn't really have another option. The cabin wasn't significantly warmer than what they trudged through for hours, but it did protect them from the snow and wind. There are cuts for everyone. Get some rest. We have to be on our feet. Soon. I'll make a fire. A fire will attract that engine, won't it. It'll be small. The wind will hide the smoke. Again,
alarm bells sounded in Virginia's head. She had learned to trust her gut and had served her well, and her guts were telling her something was wrong. But the screen they had seemed to be following had fallen away. Her foot and hands were frozen. If one was a trader, there was really nothing she could do. She wouldn't win a physical fight with him, and even if she did, she either freezed to death in the cabin or be
lost in the mountains. Her best plan was to just play along with Wan and hope for the best, as Edward Sterton explains, and once you're at the top, stomping is not an option. You know. You can't just take a break. You have to keep going. After one finally warmed the cabin with a fire, Virginia waited for the men to fall asleep. Then she checked her bad leg. Her stump was blistered and swollen, with blood oozing through
the sock. She cleaned it as best she could and carefully replace the dressing, all the while wincing an extreme pain. After she dressed the wound, she attempted to get some sleep, keeping her knife under her knapsack. If someone attacked, it was within arm's reach and she would go down fighting. Virginia's later reports on Robert alesh imply he was always
top of mind for her. She had made a thrilling life for herself as a spy, and he had almost single handedly stolen it away, forcing her to flee France and her work with the Resistance. It isn't a stretch to think that on this perilous journey he appeared to her in dreams and nightmares, still in hot pursuit. If only you were smarter, you could have said so many No, no, mae Hello. Virginia had fallen asleep and slept like a
rock for four hours. It took her a minute to register that Juan was addressing her with her code name, It's time to go. She hadn't been attacked or turned over to the Gestapo. Robert Alesh was nowhere to be found. In silence and embarrassed, Virginia prepared for the rest of the trip. They packed up and returned to the trail. After a few hours of hiking, the group arrived at
a small village nestled in a valley. One claimed to know a family living in the town and said that they had offered up their home to any Resistance fugitives. It was the first time Virginia heard Juan actually referenced the Resistance, and this allowed some of her paranoia to dwindle away gusts. They arrived at the home of a young couple named Philippe and and Marie. Their last names have been lost to history belief and a Marie invited
the group in and treated them like family. Virginia had never been more elated to see civilization in her life. But Leap also allowed Virginia to use his radio to contact London so she could update them on her status through the mountains. Using Morse code, Virginia informed the s OE of her whereabouts there was a safe house midway
where the famous radio transmission took place. That's Judith Pearson, an expert on Virginia Hall who wrote The Wolves at the Door, The True story of America's Greatest female Spine. She radioed to London saying that she was out of France and in Spain and halfway to where they would catch the train to Madrid. And they asked her if she was having any problems, and she replied, Cuthbert is giving me trouble. And they responded, if Cuthbert is a bother,
have him eliminated. And of course no one knew that Cuthbert was the name of her leg. Virginia felt like the worst of her journey was behind her. There was only one more stretch to go. In Virginia's hellish hike over the Pyrenees Mountains, the group said goodbye to their hosts and began their descent into lush, green Spanish valleys. Finally, they had crossed the French border and made it into Spain. Now they had to be wary of Spanish border guards.
At this point late in Spain's international allegiances were nebulous. Spain, on the other side, of course, was neutral during the war, neutral and leaning towards Germany at the beginning. Spain had initially declared neutrality in the war, but offered volunteers to fight alongside the Germans against the Soviet Union, and sometimes they made life difficult for people who came over the mountains.
In some cases they even sent them back. However, Spain was wary of fighting against the US, who was an important trade partner, and they were terrified of an assault from the British. Virginia wouldn't have to worry about German troops on patrol in Spain, though she'd have to scrutinize citizens individual loyalties. Virginia's party managed to cross over the border without incident and arrived at their destination, the small town of San Juan de las avedisas One led them
to a local safe house. When he informed them that he'd be returning the next morning, his departure was anything but sentimental. Virginia thanked him with some extra funds. He thanked her and returned, and then he was gone. Virginia couldn't help but be in awe of his survival skills as he disappeared back into the mountains that almost killed her. Now they needed to catch a train out of town to Barcelona after the break in a scene. The train's
departure to Barcelon lonac is at the next morning. S OE informants had given Virginia this time because they noted that the Spanish police didn't patrol the station that early, they could easily get through without official passports. If true, this would be a break for Virginia, who hadn't had time to forge fake documents before fleeing Leone. It wasn't the type of careful prep Virginia usually adhered to, you stop,
but she'd been misinformed. The station did in fact have four guards on duty, and they couldn't help but notice a limping woman leading around three foreign looking men. They were questioned, and when they couldn't provide the proper paperwork, all four were arrested at gunpoint. Okay, let's go move it. Virginia was separated from the group for questioning because she didn't know the men personally, she didn't know their histories.
The police drilled her for hours. She refused to answer the questions, saying only that she wished to speak to someone in the American embassy. Her requests were denied. Get in there. This is how Virginia Hall came to be in a Spanish prison on November, just two trains away from safety in London. She had come so far. She had built a new resistance faction in France, she had stopped numerous German plots and saved numerous British and French lives.
She had out maneuvered her adversary and Robert lash one of the Gestapo's favorite spies, and now she was locked up. She feared these local officers would contact others, discover she was wanted, and hand her over to the Germans to collect the price on her head. She had no moves to play, no hidden tools of escape or weapons to surprise her captors. It fell like the end of the road. All she could do was pray they wouldn't, in fact,
discover what she really was. And although Virginia Hall was a spy of great skill and talent, she had little experience with prayer. That was Robert Alesh's expertise. Coming up on the next episode of Good Assassins, I want to speak to the American embassy. I'm an American. There was no way she would survive even if they were able to infiltrate her back into the country, and there were too many things against her. Interrogation is not something that
I grow tired of. I mean, by this point, by especially, you pretty much know that if you're an active asistance and you get caught, you're going to suffer the greatest consequences. If you have any questions for us about Good Assassins, if you're curious about some aspect of Virginia Hall story, or have any comments on the podcast, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at good Assassins at Diversion audio dot com. Make sure you spell assassins correctly. Again,
that's good Assassins at Diversion Audio dot com. We'll try to answer your questions on a future episode. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at diversion pods. Good Assassins is a production of Diversion Audio in association with I Heart Podcasts. This season is hosted by Stephen Talti and written by C. D. Carpenter, Produced and directed by Kevin Thompson for Real Jet Packs Productions. Story editing by Jacob Bronstein with editorial direction from Scott Waxman. Addition research and
reporting by Sophie McNulty. Theme music by Tyler Cash featuring the voices of michaela Is Caerdo, Raphael cork Kill, Lenna Klingerman, John Pierkes, Andrew polk or Lock, Cassidy Monouel Felciano, Sean Gormley, Matthew Ament, and Steve Rautman. Sound design, mixing and mastering by Paul Goodrich. Sound editing by Justin Kilpatrick. Executive producers Jacob Bronstein, Mark Francis and Scott Waxman for Diversion Audio. Diversion Audio