Violette Szabo Research Paper

Before her marriage, she had worked in a department store, but women working outside of the home after marriage was rare before the start of World War II . Violette Szabo was forced to continue working when her husband was killed fighting against Rommel's forces in North Africa during World War II. She became determined to fight the Axis forces herself, breaking the traditional role of women of the time. When a British Special Operations Executive recruiter took notice of her due to her French language skills, she jumped at the opportunity to volunteer. She went through many months of training and was dropped into France to disrupt German communications. She met up with resistance forces and went on a mission with Jacques Dufour While traveling,

the two got into a shootout with a German blockade, and Szabo was captured. She was sent to the German Secret Police who interrogated, tortured, and sexually assaulted her, but she refused to give them any information. She was then sent on to several prisons and camps, ending up at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. There she met two other female spies, and they tried to devise ways to escape. All attempts failed, but she never gave up. When the Russians were closing in during the winter of 1945, Szabo and the two other female spies were taken behind a crematorium and killed. Violette Szabo was the first woman awarded the British George Cross. She gave her life for the Allied cause, at a time when women were just starting to find their place outside of the home.