Five of the greatest traitors in history
From the American showgirl who broadcast Nazi propaganda, to the Hungarian footballer who defected from communist Hungary for love, history is full of tales of people who have betrayed their countries.
Here are just five stories of treachery from the ±«Óãtv's Witness History programme.
1) Vidkun Quisling: Norway’s traitor
In December 1939, fascist Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling travelled to Berlin from Oslo for a secret meeting with Adolf Hitler.
Quisling suggested to Hitler that the British were planning to move into Norway for their own strategic needs.
Norway hadn’t been a concern for the Nazis but the meeting alarmed Hitler and within months Germany started its invasion of Norway.
From that moment, Quisling was consigned into history as a traitor. So much so, his name has become a byword for traitor in numerous languages.
2) Axis Sally: World War II traitor who broadcast for the Nazis
In 1949, Mildred Gillars – otherwise known as Axis Sally – became the first woman in American history to be convicted of treason.
The former Broadway showgirl broadcast antisemitic Nazi propaganda on German State Radio during World War Two. Her weekly shows were heard by thousands of American servicemen who gave her the nickname Axis Sally.
After her capture, a jury in Washington convicted her of treason.
3) Wang Jingwei: China's traitor or protector?
In 1937, Japan invaded China, committing atrocities including the Nanjing Massacre.
Wang Jingwei was a Chinese national hero and second-in-command of China’s ruling Nationalist Party. He wanted to negotiate with Japan but his colleagues wouldn’t listen. So he defected, and in 1940 he agreed to lead a Japanese-controlled puppet government in Nanjing.
Many Chinese have hated him ever since – his name is synonymous with the word ‘Hanjian’, a traitor to China.
4) Sándor Szűcs: The Hungarian footballer executed for love
The Magnificent Magyars were Hungary’s golden football team of the 1950s. But behind their shine lay a dark secret.
In 1951, defender Sándor Szűcs was executed for trying to defect from the communist regime.
The married centre-back had wanted to leave Hungary with his lover, singer Erzsi Kovács, who was also married.
They were arrested near the border after being set up by a double agent.
5) Jack Strong: Cold war traitor or hero?
During the 1970s, the US and Soviet Union were engaged in the Cold War.
The US, along with other Western countries, was a member of Nato, while the Soviet Union joined forces with central and eastern European countries in the Warsaw Pact.
After becoming frustrated with the way the Soviets controlled his country, Ryszard Kukliński, a Polish colonel, wrote to the US Embassy in Bonn, West Germany.
For the next 10 years, he would feed the CIA tens of thousands of pages of classified military secrets. His CIA secret-agent pseudonym was Jack Strong.
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Axis Sally: World War II traitor who broadcast for the Nazis
In 1949, Mildred Gillars became the first woman in American history to be convicted of treason
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French child evacuees of World War Two
In World War Two, tens of thousands of children left Paris to escape the threat of bombs
