Mildred Gillars

Mildred Elizabeth Gillars (; November 29, 1900 – June 25, 1988) was an American broadcaster employed by Nazi Germany to disseminate Axis propaganda during World War II. Following her capture in post-war Berlin, Gillars became the first woman to be convicted of treason against the United States. In March 1949, she was sentenced to ten to thirty years' imprisonment. Gillars was paroled in 1961. Along with Rita Zucca she was nicknamed "Axis Sally". Early life Born Mildred Elizabeth Sisk in Portland, Maine, she took the surname Gillars in 1911 after her mother remarried. Her family resided in Bellevue, Ohio where her father was a dentist. At 16, she moved to Conneaut, Ohio with her family. In 1918, she enrolled at Ohio Wesleyan University to study dramatic arts, but left without graduating. Gillars then moved to Greenwich Village, New York City, where she worked in various low-skilled jobs to finance drama lessons. She toured with stock companies and appeared in vaudeville but she was unable to establish a theatrical career. Gillars also worked as an artist's model for sculptor Mario Korbel but was unable to find regular employment. In 1929, she moved to France and lived in Paris for six months. In 1933, Gillars left the United States again, residing first in Algiers where she found work as a dressmaker's assistant. In 1934, she moved to Dresden, Germany to study music and was later employed as a teacher of English at the Berlitz School of Languages in Berlin.