SHE HAD TO GO BACK TO PLAYING "BABY SHARK" SO SHE WOULD SMILE.
>>> ALL RIGHT.
NOW TO A REMARKABLE STORY FROM
WORLD WAR II THAT’S GETTING SOME
WELL DESERVED ATTENTION NOW.
THE BOOK DETAILS THE HEROISM OF
THE WAR’S MOST DECORATED SPY.
NBC’S STEPHANIE GOSK IS HERE
WITH MORE.
WITH MORE. THIS IS NOT A STORY I HAD HEARD
OF.
OF. >> ME EITHER.
THIS IS A GREAT BOOK, AND I
DON’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME TO READ
BOOKS.
BOOKS. THIS IS A GREAT BOOK.
BRILLIANT, BEAUTIFUL, AND
FEARLESS.
FEARLESS. SHE USED TO FIGHT AGAINST THE
NAZIS.
NAZIS. FEW PEOPLE HAVE HEARD HER STORY.
THAT’S ABOUT TO CHANGE.
I HAD
I HAD I HEADED TO NEW YORK’S CITY’S SK
SCAPE MUSEUM TO SIT DOWN WITH
THE AUTHOR.
THE AUTHOR. SHE IS NOT WELL KNOWN BUT SHE
SHOULD BE.
SHOULD BE. THE FRENCH NATIVE TURNED BRITISH
OPERATIVE WAS THE MOST HIGHLY
DECORATED WORLD WAR II SPY.
HER LITTLE KNOWN STORY IS
BROUGHT TO VIVID LIFE IN A NEW
BOOK.
BOOK. HOW DID YOUR GRANDMOTHER HAVE
THAT COURAGE?
THAT COURAGE? >> I THINK IT WAS INSTILLED IN
HER FROM A VERY EARLY AGE.
HER GRANDMOTHER SAID YOU MUST DO
YOUR DUTY, AND THAT WAS
THROUGHOUT HER LIFE.
>> Reporter: AT THE TIME IN
NAZI-OCCUPIED FRANCE, FEMALE
SPIES WERE RAISING LESS
SUSPICIOUS THAN THEIR MALE
COUNTERPARTS.
COUNTERPARTS. FLUENT IN ENGLISH AND FRENCH,
SHE WAS EXACTLY WHO THE ALLIES
NEEDED.
NEEDED. >> THEY WERE SABOTEURS.
THAT WAS THEIR JOB.
THEY WERE TO BLOW UP THE GERMAN
BRIDGES AND AMMO DUMPS AND
BARGES AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
>> Reporter: ODETTE WAS A
COURIER, THE SECOND DEADLIEST
JOB FOR THE ALLIES.
42% WOULD BE KILLED.
EXPLAIN TO ME HOW DANGEROUS IT
WAS ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
THEY COULDN’T STAY IN THE SAME
PLACE.
PLACE. THEY HAD MULTIPLE IDENTITIES.
WHENEVER THEY MOVED, THEY WERE
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH GERMAN
OFFICERS AND GESTAPO, RIGHT?
>> SHE IS SENT TO MARSEILLE
WHERE IT’S TEEMING WITH GERMAN
SOLDIERS AND GESTAPO.
>> Reporter: THE BOOK DETAILS
THE OPERATIONS IN VICHY, FRANCE,
BUT ALSO THE ROMANCE THAT
DEVELOPS.
DEVELOPS. >> THEY ARE COVER IS A COUPLE.
ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER AND
THEY FALL IN LOVE.
>> Reporter: PRETTY SOON THEY
WEREN’T ACTING LIKE A COUPLE?
>> YES.
>> YES. >> Reporter: THEIT COMES TO AN E
WHEN THEY WERE BETRAYED AND
ARREST BID THE NAZIS.
IN
IN THE GUESS TAPESTAPO TORTURED HER
INCLUDING RIPPING OUT EACH OF
HER TOENAILS.
HER TOENAILS. THERE ARE SCENES THAT I HAD A
DIFFICULT TIME READING AND SHE
WAS NOT MY GRANDMOTHER.
>> HER TIME IN THE BUNKER WAS
REALLY EXPLAINED, AND I ALSO
FELT SUCH LOVE FOR HER KNOWING
THAT SHE GOT THROUGH THAT,
KNOWING WE WERE COOKING CHICKEN
SOUP TOGETHER, SHE WAS THE ONLY
ONE CONDEMNED TO DEATH OF HER
COME LADS AND
RADS
RADS COMRADES AND SHE SURVIVED.
HER COMRADES DIDN’T MAKE IT.
THE WOMEN SHE TRAINED WITH.
THE WOMEN SHE BONDED WITH.
THE WOMEN THAT SHE BECAME REALLY
GOOD FRIENDS WITH DIDN’T MAKE IT
BACK.
BACK. >> Reporter: SHE NEVER GAVE THE
GERMANS ANY INFORMATION AND FOR
YEARS SHE ENDURED THE REST OF
THE WAR IN RAVENS BROOK, THE
NOTORIOUS NAZI CONCENTRATION
CAMP WHERE UP TO 100,000 WOMEN
WERE KILLED.
WERE KILLED. NEAR DEATH HERSELF WHEN THE WAR
ENDED, SHE RETURNED HOME TO
ALMOST IMMEDIATE PRAISE AND
CELEBRITY.
CELEBRITY. A MOVIE MADE ABOUT HER HEROISM.
>> THESE VOLUNTEERS KNOW AND
LOVE HER.
LOVE HER. >> Reporter: AS WELL AS MEDALS,
BECOMING THE MOST HIGHLY
DECORATED ALLY SPY.
>> SHE WON THEM ALL.
FRANCE’S HIGHEST HONOR.
SHE CLEANS UP.
>> Reporter: AS HER
GRANDDAUGHTER, HOW PROUD DOES
THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?
>> EXTRAORDINARILY PROUD AND
HONORED, AND HONORED TO CARRY --
MY MIDDLE NAME IS ODETTE.
I’M EXTREMELY HONORED TO CARRY
THAT NAME.
THAT NAME. >> SHE MARRIED PETER BUT THE
WARTIME ROMANCE WOULDN’T LAST,
NOR WOULD THE CELEBRITY.
NOW HER STORY IS BEING REVIVED
AS AN INSPIRATION NOT JUST FOR
ODETTE’S FAMILY, BUT FOR ALL OF
US.
US. DID YOU THINK, OH MY GOD, IF I
WAS IN THAT SITUATION, I DON’T
KNOW, WOULD I HAVE DONE IT
MYSELF?
MYSELF? >> SHE WAS SO BRAVE.
IT REALLY SHOWED HOW HORRIFIC MU
HUMANITY CAN BE AND IT REALLY
SHOWS WITH WHATEVER SITUATION,
IF YOU JUST PUT YOUR HEART INTO
IT, YOU CAN FIND STRENGTH.
>> WOW.
>> WOW. >> INCREDIBLE THE STORY THAT
NONE OF US KNEW.
>> WHILE YOU READ IT YOU TRY TO
PUT YOURSELF IN THAT PLACE AND
YOU THINK, GOD, THE PEOPLE THAT
DID THAT, THE HONOR AND DUTY
THAT THEY FELT TO GO AND PUT
THEIR LIVES AT RISK, SHE LEFT
THREE DAUGHTERS BEHIND IN
ENGLAND WHEN SHE WENT AND WORKED
AS A SPY IN NAZI-CONTROLLED
FRANCE.
FRANCE. >> LIKE SAVANNAH SAID, I HOPE