the girls who charmed nazis

the dutch resistance fighters who flirted with death and used their sexuality to kill enemies of the state

(hey girlies! every tuesday i will release a post about an interesting woman or queer person from history we never learned about, yet transformed their society. hope u love it! xo)

there is an episode of Industry (on hbo) i always think about. in it, yasmin is a young trader struggling to secure clients. meanwhile she is consistently belittled by her older male boss who makes her go on salad and coffee runs while the male traders just… trade. after a few failed client relationships, a female colleague, daria, tells yasmin she’s doing it all wrong: “stop selling like a man when you’re not one. you have empathy.”

yasmin then starts her calls by earnestly asking potential clients about their day, taking an interest in their conversations and giving them life advice with a hint of flirtation. for these men with money - who often have everything but genuine relationships - this was a game changer. they’re hooked. yasmin gains clients.

yasmin, played by marisa abela, in HBO’s Industry (source: movie news net)

growing up as a woman you’re taught that to succeed in a man’s world, you must play by the rules. but those rules are written by men for men. we operate on a different plane with a different set of skills. and harnessing men’s underestimation of us isn’t demeaning: it’s knowing the cards you’ve been dealt and playing them instead of trying to change your whole hand.

no one knew this better than hannie, freddie, and truus.

freddie and truus oversteegen were teen sisters living in the Netherlands when a scary man in a neighboring country began getting power. his name was adolf hitler and he had big dreams of expanding his territory to accommodate the growing german population.

in may 1940, the nazis brutally invaded the netherlands and the dutch army surrendered. the nazis brought with them changes such as: legalizing antisemitism, shuttering jewish newspapers, forcing jewish people to out themselves by wearing a star of david at all times.

now reread that last part and tell me if it sound familiar.

freddie and truus were not ones to sit around while the world around them shifted into darkness. even as children, they distributed anti-nazi brochures with their mother and vandalized signs calling for dutch men to fight for the nazis. by 1940, freddie and truus were 14 and 16 respectively, and were recruited to join the dutch resistance army.

freddie and truus oversteegen were recruited for the dutch resistance, after the resistance commander showed up to their homes dressed as a nazi, demanding the whereabouts of jewish people. they refused. (source: women’s museum of california)

within the resistance, the sisters meet hannie schaft. hannie was a former law student who began attending secret gatherings in her university to make sense of the nazi chaos permeating their lives. after the law requiring jewish people to reveal themselves was instated, hannie swiped ID cards from non-jewish people and passed them out to her jewish friends. she handed out pamphlets of the resistance and stole weapons from german soldiers.

freddie and truus were jealous of hannie. she was beautiful with striking red hair, and until her joining the movement, the sisters were the only girls of the group. but the jealousy melted away as the girls bonded on their shared passion of anti-fascism.

the girls formed an instant bond and complemented each other perfectly. school-educated hannie taught the sisters german and english. freddie - a virgo - meticulously planned the missions. and truus stepped up as leader.

hannie, truus, and freddie. (source: bbc)

the girls’ youth was their superpower. they could go around freely without inciting suspicion from men which meant they could transport weapons and messages to other resistance fighters. they went even harder. the girls began wearing pigtails and makeup on their missions. as nazi soldiers flirted and laughed at them they discovered something incredible: that not only are they absolute baddies but that men not taking them seriously would work to their advantage.

the plan was in action. truus would wear red lipstick, pigtails and flirt with a high-ranking german official. the pick-me act worked. truus acted a little drunk and told the german officer they should go for a walk in the woods. he said yes, of course he did. in the woods, freddie hid with a resistance fighter. upon truus and the german officer’s arrival, they shot the officer point blank.

after a few such missions, the girls shifted their focus to killing dutch soldiers who collaborated with the nazis. they always fled the scene, but not before nazis would catch a glimpse of hannie’s striking red hair.

in 1944, hannie was caught and imprisoned, eventually sentenced to death. the nazi who shot her initially only grazed her temple. allegedly she said, “i’m a better shot than you.” those were her last words.

in 1945, three weeks after hannie’s death, the germans surrendered. freddie and truus never revealed how many soldiers they actually killed. they dealt with trauma and they missed their friend. in 1996, truus started the national hannie schaft foundation to honor her friend. freddie worked with her. the sisters died within two years of each other, 2016 and 2018.

In 2014, freddie, left, and truus were awarded the Mobilization War Cross by the dutch prime minister. (source: time)

during their missions, the girls would dress up in bright makeup, pigtails, and sported a flirtatious demeanor. they sported a look society called “moffen girls” - a derogatory term for women who were “friendly” with german occupiers. moffen girls was used as an insult by men and women alike and were publicly shamed. all while the girls actually did something.

moral of the story? sluts get the job done.

(sources: history.com, bbc, heyalma.com, marina amarel on substack)