Salt of the Earth

• The Suppression of Salt of the Earth. How Hollywood, Big Labor, and Politicians Blacklisted a Movie in Cold War America, by James J. Lorence. University of New Mexico Press: 1999. ISBN 0-8263-2027-9 (cloth), ISBN 0-8263-2028-7(paper).

Noam Chomsky interview with political activists, excerpted from Understanding Power, The New Press, 2002.But I do think the film is double-edged. It’s certainly energized a lot of activism. I think it did a tremendous amount of good just for East Timor alone [the film includes extensive coverage of the unreported East Timor genocide as a case study of Edward Herman’s and Chomsky’s “Propaganda Model”5]. And it’s had a good impact in other respects. But it also has this negative aspect, which seems to me almost unavoidable. But you wanted to say something more …CHOMSKY: Yeah, but that’s because other people are doing important things and I’m not doing important things — that’s what it literally comes down to. I mean, years ago I used to be involved in organizing too — I’d go to meetings, get involved in resistance, go to jail, all of that stuff — and I was just no good at it at all; some of these people here can tell you. So sort of a division of labor developed: I decided to do what I’m doing now, and other people kept doing the other things. Friends of mine who were basically the same as me — went to the same colleges and graduate schools, won the same prizes, teach at M.I.T. and so on — just went a different way. They spend their time organizing, which is much more important work — so they’re not in a film. That’s what the difference is. I mean, I do something basically less important — it is, in fact. It’s adding something, and I can do it, so I do it — I don’t have any false modesty about it. And it’s helpful. But it’s helpful to people who are doing the real work. And every popular movement I know of in history has been like that.

See also[edit]

	Latino and Hispanic American portal
	Organized labour portal

• The Hollywood Ten, documentary film
• Jencks Act
• Jencks v. United States
• Labor history
• The Ladies Auxiliary of the International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers

Later history[edit]

Juan Chacón as Ramon Quintero.

The story of the film's suppression, as well as the events it depicted, inspired an undergroundaudience of unionists, leftists, feminists, Mexican-Americans, and film historians. The film found a new life in the 1960s and gradually reached wider audiences through union halls, women's centers, and film schools. The 50th anniversary of the film saw a number of commemorative conferences held across the United States.^[15]

The "Salt of the Earth Labor College" located in Tucson, Arizona is named after the film. The pro-labor institution (not a college, per se) holds various lectures and forums related to unionism and economic justice. The film is screened on a frequent basis.^[16]

Around 1993, Massachusetts Institute of Technology linguistics professor and political commentatorNoam Chomsky praised the film because of the way people were portrayed doing the real work of unions. He said, "[T]he real work is being done by people who are not known, that's always been true in every popular movement in history...I don't know how you get that across in a film. Actually, come to think of it, there are some films that have done it. I mean, I don't see a lot of visual stuff, so I'm not the best commentator, but I thought Salt of the Earth really did it. It was a long time ago, but at the time I thought that it was one of the really great movies—and of course it was killed, I think it was almost never shown."^[17]

Blacklistees[edit]

Herbert J. Biberman was part of the Hollywood Ten blacklistees, and his wife, Gale Sondergaard's successful film career ended. Michael Wilson, the film writer, and Paul Jarrico, the producer, were also blacklisted. The Hollywood ten was a group of men who were blacklisted for allegedly/potentially being Communists, and who, because of this labeling, were unable to find work in Hollywood for many years. Revueltas suffered the wrath of the Red Scare. During the filming of Salt of the EarthRevueltas was arrested by immigration officials on an alleged passport violation and was forced to return to Mexico. It was after that exile she was labeled a Communist. The rest of Salt of the Earth had to be filmed using a double for Revueltas. She never worked on an American film again. Revueltas once said that "[s]ince [the INS] had no evidence to present of my 'subversive' character, I can only conclude that I was 'dangerous' because I had been playing a role that gave status and dignity to the character of a Mexican-American woman."^{[citation needed]}

In Crowther's New York Times review of Salt of the Earth, he says, "Salt of the Earth is, in substance, simply a strong pro-labor film with a particularly sympathetic interest in the Mexican-Americans with whom it deals. True, it frankly implies that the mine operators have taken advantage of the Mexican-born or descended laborers, have forced a "speed up" in their mining techniques and given them less respectable homes than provided the so-called 'Anglo' laborers. It slaps at brutal police tactics in dealing with strikers and it gets in some rough, sarcastic digs at the attitude of 'the bosses' and the working of theTaft-Hartley Law."^{[citation needed]}

The sheriff, by company orders, arrests the leading women of the strike. Esperanza is among those taken to jail. When she returns home, Ramon tells her the strike is hopeless, as the company will easily outlast the miners. She insists that the union is stronger than ever and asks Ramon why he can't accept her as an equal in their marriage. Both angry, they sleep separately that night.
Gross, Linda. Los Angeles Times (via FilmSociety - Tri-Pod web site), film review, July 2, 1976. Accessed: August 17, 2013.

The producers cast only five professional actors. The rest were locals from Grant County, New Mexico, or members of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Local 890, many of whom were part of the strike that inspired the plot. Juan Chacón, for example, was a real-life Union Local president. In the film he plays the protagonist, who has trouble dealing with women as equals.^[4] The director was reluctant to cast him at first, thinking he was too "gentle," but both Revueltas and his sister-in-law, Sonja Dahl Biberman, wife of Biberman's brotherEdward, urged him to cast Chacón as Ramon.^[5]Boisson, Steve. American History (via HistoryNet web site), film article, "Salt of the Earth: The Movie Hollywood Could Not Stop", February 2002 Issue. Accessed: August 18, 2013.
Hockstader, Lee. The Washington Post (via Socialist Viewpoint web site), film article, "Blacklisted Film Restored and Rehabilitated," March 3, 2003. Accessed: August 18, 2013

LegacyReception[edit]

Critical response[edit]

Miners before they strike

The Hollywood establishment did not embrace the film at the time of its release, when McCarthyism was in full force. The Hollywood Reporter charged at the time that it was made "under direct orders of the Kremlin."^[8]

Pauline Kael, who reviewed the film for Sight and Sound in 1954, panned it as a simplistic left-wing "morality play" and said it was "as clear a piece of Communistpropaganda as we have had in many years."^[9]

Wake, Bob. Culture Vulture, book review of James J. Lorence's The Suppression of Salt of the Earth.Accessed: August 17, 2013.[edit]

Director Herbert Biberman was one of the Hollywood screenwriters and directors who refused to answer the House Committee on Un-American Activities on questions ofCPUSA affiliation in 1947. The Hollywood Ten were cited and convicted for contempt of Congress and jailed. Biberman was imprisoned in the Federal Correctional Institution at Texarkana for six months. After his release he directed this film.^[3] Other participants who made the film and were blacklisted by the Hollywood studios include: Paul Jarrico, Will Geer, Rosaura Revueltas, and Michael Wilson.

In 2000, the film One of the Hollywood Ten was made, written and directed by Karl Francis. The film focuses on Herbert Biberman's having been blacklisted. It also includes a segment on the film Salt of the Earth, in which Revueltas was portrayed by actress Angela Molina.

Professional actors

• Rosaura Revueltas as Esperanza Quintero
• Will Geer as Sheriff
• David Wolfe as Barton
• Mervin Williams as Hartwell
• David Sarvis as Alexander

Filmography[edit]Revueltas

• La Deconocida de Arras (1946)
• The Torch, aka Bandit General (1949), aka Del Odio Nace el Amor (1951)
• Muchachas de Uniforme, aka Girls in Uniform (1950)
• Un Día de Vida (1950)
• Vuelve Pancho Villa, aka Pancho Villa Returns (1950)
• Maria Islands (1951)
• Sombrero (1953)
• Salt of the Earth (1954)
• Mina, Viento de Libertad, aka Mina, Wind of Freedom (1976)
• Lo Mejor de Teresa (1976)
• Balún Canán (1976)

Final years[edit]

After her career as an actress ended she worked in Germany, in Brecht's theater, and in Cuba. In her later years, she served as a judge in film festivals including the 36th Berlin International Film Festival in 1986.,^[1] and taught yoga in Mexico. In 1979 she published a book, Los Revueltas: Biografía de una familia (The Revueltas: Biography of a Family).

Salt of the Earth at the American Film Instit
Salt of the Earth is a 1954 American drama film written by Michael Wilson, directed by Herbert J. Biberman, and produced by Paul Jarrico. All had beenblacklisted by the Hollywood establishment due to their alleged involvement incommunist politics.^[1]
This drama film is one of the first pictures to advance the feminist social and political point of view. Its plot centers on a long and difficult strike, based on the 1951 strike against the Empire Zinc Company in Grant County, New Mexico. In the film, the company is identified as "Delaware Zinc," and the setting is "Zinctown, New Mexico." The film shows how the miners, the company, and the police react during the strike. In neorealist style, the producers and director used actual miners and their families as actors in the film.ute Catalog.
Esperanza Quintero (Rosaura Revueltas) is a miner's wife in ZincTown, New Mexico, a community which is essentially run and owned by Delaware Zinc Inc. Esperanza is thirty-five years old, pregnant with her third child and emotionally dominated by her husband, Ramon Quintero (Juan Chacón).
The majority of the miners are Mexican-Americans and want decent working conditions equal to those of white, or "Anglo" miners. The unionized workers go on strike, but the company refuses to negotiate and the impasse continues for months. Esperanza gives birth and, simultaneously, Ramon is jailed forassaulting a union worker who betrayed his fellows. When Ramon is released, Esperanza tells him that he's no good to her in jail. He counters that if the strike succeeds they will not only get better conditions right now but also win hope for their children's futures.
The company presents a Taft-Hartley Act injunction to the union, meaning any miners who picket will be arrested. Taking advantage of a loophole, the wives picket in their husbands' places. Some men dislike this, seeing it as improper and dangerous. Esperanza is forbidden to picket by Ramon at first, but she eventually joins the line while carrying her baby.

Video cover
Directed by	Herbert J. Biberman
Produced by	Paul Jarrico
Screenplay by	Michael Wilson
Starring	Rosaura Revueltas Will Geer David Wolfe Mervin Williams David Sarvis Ernesto Velázquez Juan Chacón Henrietta Williams
Music by	Sol Kaplan
Cinematography	Stanley Meredith Leonard Stark
Edited by	Joan Laird Ed Spiegel
Distributed by	Independent Productions
Release dates	March 14, 1954(New York City)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Spanish
Budget	$250,000

Rosaura Revueltas Sánchez (August 6, 1910 – April 30, 1996) was a Mexican star of screen and stage, and a dancer, author and teacher.

Early life

Revueltas was born in Lerdo, Durango to an artistic family; her brothers included composer Silvestre, writer José, and painter Fermín.

She studied acting and ballet in Mexico City, and made many movies in Mexico. During the filming of her sole United States film, Salt of the Earth, about striking Mexican-American miners in New Mexico, she was arrested and deported back to Mexico. Afterwards, she was put on Hollywood blacklist for her role in the film.

Film career

Revueltas' first film was La Deconocida de Arras (1946). In 1951 she played Rosa Suárez, viuda de Ortiz (the widow of Ortiz) in the film Islas Marías, starring Pedro Infante.

In 1953's Sombrero, Revueltas played Tía Magdalena. Bosley Crowther of the New York Times called it "a big, broad-brimmed, squashy sort of picture, as massive as the garment for which it is named". The movie for which she is probably best-known is Herbert J. Biberman's Salt of the Earth (1954). The movie was based on the 1951 Empire Zinc strike in Grant County, New Mexico. She played the role of Esperanza Quintero, the wife of a mine worker. Crowther called her "lean and dynamic" in this role. In this film, Esperanza’s husband and fellow miners decide to go on strike, and in turn their wives do the same in order to support their spouses and gain rights of their own.

Revueltas was not Biberman’s first choice for the role of Esperanza. Originally his wife Gale Sondergaard was cast, but Biberman thought the role should be portrayed by a Spanish-speaking actress. Revueltas was one of the few established actors in that film, all the other roles, including that of her husband Ramon, were played by actual miners, some who had taken part in the real life strikes. Juan Chacón, who played Ramon Quintero, was the president of an actual local miners' union.

Blacklistees

Herbert J. Biberman was part of the Hollywood Ten blacklistees, and his wife, Gale Sondergaard's successful film career ended. Michael Wilson, the film writer, and Paul Jarrico, the producer, were also blacklisted. The Hollywood ten was a group of men who were blacklisted for allegedly/potentially being Communists, and who, because of this labeling, were unable to find work in Hollywood for many years. Revueltas suffered the wrath of the Red Scare. During the filming of Salt of the Earth Revueltas was arrested by immigration officials on an alleged passport violation and was forced to return to Mexico. It was after that exile she was labeled a Communist. The rest of Salt of the Earth had to be filmed using a double for Revueltas. She never worked on an American film again. Revueltas once said that " ince had no evidence to present of my 'subversive' character, I can only conclude that I was 'dangerous' because I had been playing a role that gave status and dignity to the character of a Mexican-American woman."

In Crowther's New York Times review of Salt of the Earth, he says, "Salt of the Earth is, in substance, simply a strong pro-labor film with a particularly sympathetic interest in the Mexican-Americans with whom it deals. True, it frankly implies that the mine operators have taken advantage of the Mexican-born or descended laborers, have forced a "speed up" in their mining techniques and given them less respectable homes than provided the so-called 'Anglo' laborers. It slaps at brutal police tactics in dealing with strikers and it gets in some rough, sarcastic digs at the attitude of 'the bosses' and the working of the Taft-Hartley Law."

Salt of the Earth was the only movie to ever be blacklisted during the "Communist Scare" of the 1950s (aka McCarthyism). It was selected however for the National Film Registry in 1992, thirty-eight years after its original release. In 1956, at the Académie du cinéma de Paris, Revueltas received the Best Actress award for her performance. She moved to Germany in 1957, and lived there until 1960, when she moved back to her native country. While in Germany, Revueltas worked with playwright Bertold Brecht in his theatre. After moving back to Mexico in 1960, Revueltas began taking acting classes and also began to write plays. It was not until 1976 that Revueltas made another film. Her first film since she was blacklisted was Mina, viento de libertad (Mina, Wind of Freedom). In that same year she also played Tía Licha in Lo Mejor de Teresa (The Best of Teresa). Her final film was made in 1977, entitled Balun Canan.

Final years

After her career as an actress ended she worked in Germany, in Brecht's theater, and in Cuba. In her later years, she served as a judge in film festivals including the 36th Berlin International Film Festival in 1986., and taught yoga in Mexico. In 1979 she published a book, Los Revueltas: Biografía de una familia (The Revueltas: Biography of a Family).

Death

She died on April 20, 1996, six months after having been diagnosed with lung cancer, in Cuernavaca, Mexico, at the age of 85. She had one child, a son, Arturo Bodenstedt.

Awards

Rosario Revueltas was awarded the Best Actress Award for her performance in Salt of the Earth by the Académie du cinéma de Paris.

Legacy

In 2000, the film One of the Hollywood Ten was made, written and directed by Karl Francis. The film focuses on Herbert Biberman's having been blacklisted. It also includes a segment on the film Salt of the Earth, in which Revueltas was portrayed by actress Angela Molina.

Filmography

• Balún Canán (1976)
• Lo Mejor de Teresa (1976)
• Mina, Viento de Libertad, aka Mina, Wind of Freedom (1976)
• Salt of the Earth (1954)
• Sombrero (1953)
• Islas Marías (1951)
• Muchachas de Uniforme, aka Girls in Uniform (1950)
• Un Día de Vida (1950)
• Vuelve Pancho Villa, aka Pancho Villa Returns (1950)
• The Torch, aka Bandit General (1949), aka Del Odio Nace el Amor (1951)
• La Deconocida de Arras (1946)

________________________________________________________________

Production:Independent Productions Corporation and the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers; black and white, 35mm; running time 92 minutes. Released 1954, New York City. Filmed 1953 in the Bayard Region of New Mexico.

Producers:Paul Jarrico with Sonja Dahl Biberman and Adolfo Barela;screenplay:Michael Wilson with Herbert J. Biberman;photography:Leonard Stark and Stanley Meredith, some sources list director of photography asSimon Lazarus;editors:Ed Spiegel and Joan Laird;sound:Dick Staunton and Harry Smith;production design:Sonja Dahl and Adolfo Bardela;music:Sol Kaplan.

Cast:Professional actors—Rosaura Revueltas (Esperanza Quintero); Will Geer (Sheriff); David Wolfe (Barton); Melvin Williams (Hartwell); David Sarvis (Alexander); non-professional actors—Juan Chacón (Ramón Quintero); Henrietta Williams (Teresa Vidal); Ernest Velásquez (Charley Vidal); Angela Sánchez (Consuelo Ruíz); Joe T. Morales (Sal Ruíz); Clorinda Alderette (Luz Morales); Charles Coleman (Antonio Morales); Virginia Jencks (Ruth Barnes); Clinton Jencks (Frank Barnes); E. A. Rockwell (Vance); William Rockwell (Kimbrough); Frank Talavera (Luís Quintero); Mary Lou Castillo (Estella Quintero); Floyd Bostick (Jenkins); Victor Torres (Sebastian Prieto); E. S. Conerly(Kalinsky); Elvira Molano (Mrs. Salazar); Adolfo Barela and Albert Muñoz (Miners); and the men and women of Local 890, International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers, Bayard, New Mexico.

Publications

Script:

Wilson, Michael,Salt of the Earth, compiled by Deborah Silverton Rosenfelt, New York, 1978.

Books:

Cogley, John,Report on Blacklisting I: Movies, New York, 1956.

Biberman, Herbert,Salt of the Earth: The Story of a Film, Boston, 1965.

Lorence, James J.,Suppression of Salt of the Earth: How Hollywood,Big Labor, and Politicians Blacklisted a Movie in Cold WarAmerica, Albuquerque, 1999.

Articles:

"Hollywood Film Writers," inNation(New York), 15 January 1949.

"Interview with Herbert Biberman," inJeune Cinéma(Paris), November 1950.

"I.U.M.M.S.W. with Love," inTime(New York),23 February1953.

"Silver City Troubles," inNewsweek(New York),16 March1953.

Bloom, H., "Vigilantism Plays the Villain, Silver City, N. Mex.," inNation(New York), 9 May 1953.

Biberman, Herbert, and Paul Jarrico, inCinéma(Paris), March 1955.

McFadden, Patrick, "Blacklisted," inTake One(Montreal), no. 5, 1967.

"Interview with Herbert Biberman," inPositif(Paris), Summer 1969.

Avant-Scène du Cinéma(Paris), June 1971.

McCormick, R., inCineaste(New York), no. 4, 1973.

Debacker, J., "Dossier:Le Sel de la terre," inApec—Revue Belge duCinéma(Brussels), no. 4, 1974–75.

Fausing, B., inKosmorama(Copenhagen), Autumn 1975.

Borde,RaymondinFilmihullu(Helsinki), no. 5, 1976.

"Special Issue" ofFilm und Fernsehen(Berlin), July 1977.

Hoen, P. R., inFilmavisa(Oslo), no. 4, 1978.

Haudiquet, P., "Le Sel de la terre à la liste noire," inImage et Son(Paris), June 1978.

Turroni, G., inFilmcritica(Rome), May 1979.

Heredero, C. F., inCinema 2002(Madrid), November 1979.

Rosenfelt, D., "Ideology and Structure inSalt of the Earth," inJumpCut(Chicago), 30 December 1979.

Peary, Danny, inCult Movies 2, New York, 1983.

Miller, Tom, "Class Reunion:Salt of the EarthRevisited," inCineaste(New York), vol. 13, no. 3, 1984.

Crowdus, Gary, inCineaste(New York), vol. 15, no. 1, 1986.

Bosshard, A., "Which Side Are You On?" inIllusions(Wellington), no. 8, June 1988.

Jarrico, P., "Letters:Salt of the Earth," inCineaste(New York), vol. 17, no. 1, 1989.

Riambau, Esteve, and C. Torreiro, "This Film is Going to Make History: An Interview withRosaura Revueltas," inCineaste(New York), vol. 19, no. 2–3, 1992.

Jerslev, A., "Salt of the EarthRevisited," inKosmorama(Copenhagen), vol. 42, no. 218, Winter 1996.

Hoberman, J., "West Side Story," inVillage Voice(New York), vol. 43,13 January1998.

Read more:http://www.filmreference.com/Films-Ro-Se/Salt-of-the-Earth.html#ixzz4DDuras4B
Read more: http://www.filmreference.com/knowledge/Rosaura_Revueltas.html#ixzz4DDtsDgBj

Noor Inayat Khan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Noor Inayat Khan
Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan c.1943
Nickname(s)	'Madeleine' (Callsign: Nurse); 'Jeanne-Marie Renier'; 'Nora Baker'
Born	2 January 1914 St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	13 September 1944 (aged 30) Dachau concentration camp, Germany
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Women's Auxiliary Air Force
Years of service	1940–1944
Rank	Assistant Section Officer
Unit	Special Operations Executive Cinema
Battles/wars	Second World War
Awards	George Cross Mentioned in Despatches Croix de Guerre (France)

Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan GC (Hindustani/Urdu): نور عنایت خان,Devanagari: नूर इनायत ख़ान) (2 January 1914 – 13 September 1944) was an Allied Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent during theSecond World War who was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian decoration in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations. Also known as "Nora Baker",^[1] "Madeleine",^[2]and "Jeanne-Marie Rennier," she was of Indian and American origin. As an SOE agent, she became the first female radio operator to be sent from Britain into occupied France to aid the French Resistance.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1Early years
• 2Women's Auxiliary Air Force
• 3Special Operations Executive F Section agent
• 4Capture and imprisonment
• 5Execution
• 6Honours and awards
  • 6.1George Cross citation
• 7In popular culture
  • 7.1Film
  • 7.2Literature
  • 7.3Television
• 8References
• 9Further reading
• 10External links
  

  Early years[edit]

  Inayat Khan,^[2] the eldest of four children, was born in St. Petersburg(Russia). Her siblings were Vilayat (1916–2004), Hidayat (born 1917), and Khair-un-Nisa (1919–2011).^[3] Her father, Hazrat Inayat Khan, came from a noble Indian Muslim family^[3] – his mother was a descendant of the uncle of Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He lived in Europe as a musician and a teacher of Sufism. Her mother, Ameena Begum (Ora Meena Ray Baker), was an American^[2][3] from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who met Hazrat Inayat Khan during his travels in the United States. Ora Baker was the half-sister of American yogi and scholar Pierre Bernard, her guardian at the time she met Inayat (Hazrat is an honorific, translated as Saint).^[4] Vilayat later became head of the Sufi Order International.
  In 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, the family left Russia for London, and lived in Bloomsbury. Inayat Khan attended nursery at Notting Hill. In 1920 they moved to France, settling in Suresnes near Paris, in a house that was a gift from a benefactor of the Sufi movement. After the death of her father in 1927, Inayat Khan took on the responsibility for her grief-stricken mother and her younger siblings. As a young girl, she was described as quiet, shy, sensitive, and dreamy. She studied child psychology at the Sorbonne and music at the Paris Conservatory under Nadia Boulanger, composing for harp and piano. She began a career writing poetry and children's stories, and became a regular contributor to children's magazines and French radio. In 1939 her book, Twenkty Jataa Tales,^[5] Tonkin, Boyd (20 February 2006). "Noor Anayat Khan: The princess who became a spy". The Independent (London, UK). Retrieved 5 June 2016.inspired by the Jataka talesof Buddhist tradition, was published in London.^[6]
  
  
  After the outbreak of the Second World War, when France was overrun by German troops, the family fled to Bordeaux and, from there by sea, to England, landing in Falmouth, Cornwall, on 22 June 1940.She travelled to Paris, and with two other women, Diana Rowden (code named Paulette/Chaplain), and Cecily Lefort (code named Alice/Teacher), joined the Physician network led by Francis Suttill (code named Prosper). Over the next month and a half, all the other Physician network radio operators were arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), along with hundreds of Resistance personnel associated with Prosper. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, head of F Section, later claimed that in spite of the danger, Inayat Khan rejected an offer to return to Britain, although it was certainly in SOE's interest that she stay in the field in the aftermath of the round-up of their largAs a result of London's errors, three more agents sent to France were captured by the Germans at their parachute landing, among them Madeleine Damerment, who was later executed.^[14] Sonya Olschanezky ('Tania'), a locally recruited SOE agent had learnt of Inayat Khan's arrest, and had sent a message to London through her fiancé, Jacques Weil, telling Baker Street of her capture and warning HQ to suspect any transmissions from 'Madelaine'. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster ignored the message as unreliable because he did not know who Olschanezky was. As a result, German transmissions from Inayat Khan's radio continued to be treated as genuine, leading to the unnecessary deaths of SOE agents, including Olschanezky herself, who was executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp on 6 July 1944. When Vera Atkins investigated the deaths of missing SOE agents, she initially confused Inayat Khan with Olschanezky (they were similar in appearance), who was unknown to her, believing that Inayat Khan had been killed at Natzweiler, correcting the record only when she discovered Inayat Khan's fate at Dachau.^[15]est network.

  Women's Auxiliary Air Force[edit]

  Although Inayat Khan was deeply influenced by the pacifist teachings of her father, she and her brother Vilayat decided to help defeat Nazi tyranny: "I wish some Indians would win high military distinction in this war. If one or two could do something in the Allied service which was very brave and which everybody admired it would help to make a bridge between the English people and the Indians."^[7]
  On 19 November 1940, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and, as an aircraftwoman 2nd class, was sent to be trained as a wireless operator. Upon assignment to a bomber training school in June 1941, she applied for a commissionin an effort to relieve herself of the boring work there, subsequently being promoted assistant section officer.

  Special Operations Executive F Section agent[edit]

  Later, Inayat Khan was recruited to join F (France) Section of the Special Operations Executive and in early February 1943 she was posted to the Air Ministry, Directorate of Air Intelligence, seconded to First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), and sent to Wanborough Manor, near Guildford in Surrey, and from there to various other SOE schools for training, including STS 5Winterfold House, STS 36 Boarmans and STS 52 Thame Park. During her training she adopted the name "Nora Baker". Her superiors held mixed opinions on her suitability for secret warfare, and her training was incomplete. Nevertheless, her fluent French and her competency in wireless operation—coupled with a shortage of experienced agents—made her a desirable candidate for service in Nazi-occupied France. 
  On 16/17 June 1943, cryptonymed 'Madeleine'/W/T operator 'Nurse' and under the cover identity of Jeanne-Marie Regnier, Assistant Section Officer/Ensign Inayat Khan was flown to landing ground B/20A 'Indigestion' in Northern France on a night landing double Lysander operation, code named She travelled to Paris, and with two other women, Diana Rowden (code named Paulette/Chaplain), and Cecily Lefort (code named Alice/Teacher), joined the Physician network led by Francis Suttill (code named Prosper). Over the next month and a half, all the other Physician network radio operators were arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), along with hundreds of Resistance personnel associated with Prosper. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, head of F Section, later claimed that in spite of the danger, Inayat Khan rejected an offer to return to Britain, although it was certainly in SOE's interest that she stay in the field in the aftermath of the round-up of their largest network.Teacher/Nurse/Chaplain/Monk. She was met by Henri Déricourt.^[8]
  She travelled to Paris, and with two other women, Diana Rowden (code named Paulette/Chaplain), and Cecily Lefort (code named Alice/Teacher), joined the Physician network led by Francis Suttill (code named Prosper). Over the next month and a half, all the other Physician network radio operators were arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), along with hundreds of Resistance personnel associated with Prosper. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, head of F Section, later claimed that in spite of the danger, Inayat Khan rejected an offer to return to Britain, although it was certainly in SOE's interest that she stay in the field in the aftermath of the round-up of their largest network. As the only remaining wireless operator still at large in Paris, Inayat Khan continued to transmit to London messages from agents of what remained of the Prosper/Physician circuit, a network she also worked to keep intact despite the mass arrests of its members. She was now the most wanted British agent in Paris with SD officers sent out to look for her at subway stations, and an accurate description of her widely circulated among German security officers. With wireless detection vans in close pursuit, Inayat Khan could transmit for only twenty minutes at one time in one place, but constantly moving from place to place, she 

  Capture and imprisonment[edit]

  Inayat Khan was betrayed to the Germans, either by Henri Déricourt or by Renée Garry. Déricourt (code name Gilbert) was an SOE officer and former French Air Force pilot who had been suspected of working as a double agent for theSicherheitsdienst. Garry was the sister of Henri Garry, Inayat Khan's organiser in the Cinema network (later renamed Phono).^[10] Allegedly paid 100,000 francs, Renée Garry's actions have been attributed by some to jealousy due to Garry's suspicion that she had lost the affections of SOE agent France Antelme to Inayat Khan.^{[citation needed]}
  On or around 13 October 1943, Inayat Khan was arrested and interrogated at the SD Headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch in Paris. Though SOE trainers had expressed doubts about her gentle and unworldly character, on her arrest she fought so fiercely that SD officers were afraid of her.^{[citation needed]} She was thenceforth treated as an extremely dangerous prisoner. There is no evidence of her being tortured, but her interrogation lasted over a month. During that time, she attempted escape twice. Hans Kieffer, the former head of the SD in Paris, testified after the war that she did not give the Gestapo a single piece of information, but lied consistently.^[11] However other sources indicate that she chatted amiably with an out-of-uniform Alsatian interrogator, and provided personal detail that enabled the SD to answer random checks in the form of questions about her childhood and family.^[12]
  

  Inayat Khan's inscription at the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede, England memorialising those without a known grave
  Although Inayat Khan did not talk about her activities under interrogation, the SD found her notebooks. Contrary to security regulations, she had copied out all the messages she had sent as an SOE operative (this may have been due to her misunderstanding what a reference to filing meant in her orders, and also the truncated nature of her security course due to the need to insert her into France as soon as possible). Although she refused to reveal any secret codes, the Germans gained enough information from them to continue sending false messages imitating her. London failed to properly investigate anomalies which would have indicated the transmissions were sent under enemy control, in particular the change in the 'fist' (the style of the operator's Morse transmission)^{[citation needed]} though according to M. R. D. Foot, the Sicherheitsdienst were quite adept at faking operators' fists.^[12] As a WAAF signaller, Inayat Khan had been nicknamed 'Bang Away Lulu' because of her distinctively heavy-handed style, which was said to be a result of chilblains.^[13]managed to escape capture while maintaining wireless communication with London: "She refused to abandon what had become the most important and dangerous post in France and did excellent work."^[9]

  Capture and imprisonment[edit]

  Inayat Khan was betrayed to the Germans, either by Henri Déricourt or by Renée Garry. Déricourt (code name Gilbert) was an SOE officer and former French Air Force pilot who had been suspected of working as a double agent for theSicherheitsdienst. Garry was the sister of Henri Garry, Inayat Khan's organiser in the Cinema network (later renamed Phono).^[10] Allegedly paid 100,000 francs, Renée Garry's actions have been attributed by some to jealousy due to Garry's suspicion that she had lost the affections of SOE agent France Antelme to Inayat Khan.^{[citation needed]}
  On or around 13 October 1943, Inayat Khan was arrested and interrogated at the SD Headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch in Paris. Though SOE trainers had expressed doubts about her gentle and unworldly character, on her arrest she fought so fiercely that SD officers were afraid of her.^{[citation needed]} She was thenceforth treated as an extremely dangerous prisoner. There is no evidence of her being tortured, but her interrogation lasted over a month. During that time, she attempted escape twice. Hans Kieffer, the former head of the SD in Paris, testified after the war that she did not give the Gestapo a single piece of information, but lied consistently.^[11] However other sources indicate that she chatted amiably with an out-of-uniform Alsatian interrogator, and provided personal detail that enabled the SD to answer random checks in the form of questions about her childhood and family.^[12]
  

  Inayat Khan's inscription at the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede, England memorialising those without a known grave
  Although Inayat Khan did not talk about her activities under interrogation, the SD found her notebooks. Contrary to security regulations, she had copied out all the messages she had sent as an SOE operative (this may have been due to her misunderstanding what a reference to filing meant in her orders, and also the truncated nature of her security course due to the need to insert her into France as soon as possible). Although she refused to reveal any secret codes, the Germans gained enough information from them to continue sending false messages imitating her. London failed to properly investigate anomalies which would have indicated the transmissions were sent under enemy control, in particular the change in the 'fist' (the style of the operator's Morse transmission)^{[citation needed]} though according to M. R. D. Foot, the Sicherheitsdienst were quite adept at faking operators' fists.^[12] As a WAAF signaller, Inayat Khan had been nicknamed 'Bang Away Lulu' because of her distinctively heavy-handed style, which was said to be a As a result of London's errors, three more agents sent to France were captured by the Germans at their parachute landing, among them Madeleine Damerment, who was later executed.^[14] Sonya Olschanezky ('Tania'), a locally recruited SOE agent had learnt of Inayat Khan's arrest, and had sent a message to London through her fiancé, Jacques Weil, telling Baker Street of her capture and warning HQ to suspect any transmissions from 'Madelaine'. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster ignored the message as unreliable because he did not know who Olschanezky was. As a result, German transmissions from Inayat Khan's radio continued to be treated as genuine, leading to the unnecessary deaths of SOE agents, including Olschanezky herself, who was executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp on 6 July 1944. When Vera Atkins investigated the deaths of missing SOE agents, she initially confused Inayat Khan with Olschanezky (they were similar in appearance), who was unknown to her, believing that Inayat Khan had been killed at Natzweiler, correcting the record only when she discovered Inayat Khan's fate at Dachau.^[15]result of chilblains.^[13]
  As a result of London's errors, three more agents sent to France were captured by the Germans at their parachute landing, among them Madeleine Damerment, who was later executed.^[14] Sonya Olschanezky ('Tania'), a locally recruited SOE agent had learnt of Inayat Khan's arrest, and had sent a message to London through her fiancé, Jacques Weil, telling Baker Street of her capture and warning HQ to suspect any transmissions from 'Madelaine'. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster ignored the message as unreliable because he did not know who Olschanezky was. As a result, German transmissions from Inayat Khan's radio continued to be treated as genuine, leading to the unnecessary deaths of SOE agents, including Olschanezky herself, who was executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp on 6 July 1944. When Vera Atkins investigated the deaths of missing SOE agents, she initially confused Inayat Khan with Olschanezky (they were similar in appearance), who was unknown to her, believing that Inayat Khan had been killed at Natzweiler, correcting the record only when she discovered Inayat Khan's fate at Dachau.^[15]On 25 November 1943, Inayat Khan escaped from the SD Headquarters, along with fellow SOE Agents John Renshaw Starrand Leon Faye, but was captured in the vicinity. There was an air raid alert as they escaped across the roof. Regulations required a count of prisoners at such times and their escape was discovered before they could get away. After refusing to sign a declaration renouncing future escape attempts, Inayat Khan was taken to Germany on 27 November 1943 "for safe custody" and imprisoned at Pforzheim in solitary confinement as a "Nacht und Nebel" ("Night and Fog": condemned to "Disappearance without Trace") prisoner, in complete secrecy. For ten months, she was kept there shackled at hands and feet.^[16]
  

  Inayat Khan's memorial plaque at the Dachau Memorial Hall
  She was classified as "highly dangerous" and shackled in chains most of the time. As the prison director testified after the war, Inayat Khan remained uncooperative and continued to refuse to give any information on her work or her fellow operatives, although in her despair at the appalling nature of her confinement, other prisoners could hear her crying at night. However, by the ingenious method of scratching messages on the base of her mess cup, she was able to inform another inmate of her identity, giving the name of Nora Baker and the 

  Execution[edit]

  On 11 September 1944, Inayat Khan and three other SOE agents from Karlsruheprison, Yolande Beekman, Eliane Plewman, and Madeleine Damerment, were moved to the Dachau Concentration Camp. In the early morning hours of 13 September 1944, the four women were executed by a shot to the back of the head. Their bodies were immediately burned in the crematorium. An anonymous Dutch prisoner, who emerged in 1958, contended that Inayat Khan was cruelly beaten by a high-ranking SS officer named Wilhelm Ruppert before being shot from behind; the beating may have been the actual cause of her death.^[17] She may also have been sexually assaulted while in custody. Her last word has been recorded as, "Liberté".^[18][19]London address of her mother's house.^[9]

  Execution[edit]

  On 11 September 1944, Inayat Khan and three other SOE agents from Karlsruheprison, Yolande Beekman, Eliane Plewman, and Madeleine Damerment, were moved to the Dachau Concentration Camp. In the early morning hours of 13 September 1944, the four women were executed by a shot to the back of the head. Their bodies were immediately burned in the crematorium. An anonymous Dutch prisoner, who emerged in 1958, contended that Inayat Khan was cruelly beaten by a high-ranking SS officer named Wilhelm Ruppert before being shot from behind; the beating may have been the actual cause of her death.^[17] She may also have been sexually assaulted while in custody. Her last word has been recorded as, "Liberté".^[18][19]
  A Man Called Intrepid (first airdate February 1979), is a six-hour, fact-based miniseries broadcast in Canada on CTV and in the US on NBC which starred David Niven as its protagonist Sir William Stephenson, and Barbara Hershey as Inayat Khan. The following deviations from facts are noted:^{[citation needed]}
  Born in Moscow to an American mother, educated in Paris and carrying the British passport of an imperial subject, Noor had no innate loyalty to the country for which she died. Her great-great-great-grandfather was Tipu Sultan, the renowned "Tiger of Mysore", who refused to submit to British rule and was killed in battle in 1799.Initially, her recruiters were less than generous in their assessment. One wrote: "Not overburdened with brains but has worked hard and shown keenness, apart from some dislike of [the] security side of the course. She has an unstable and temperamental personality and it is very doubtful whether she is really suited to work in the field."
  
  
  
  
  It may have been tales of his ferocity in battle told by her father, Hazrat, which steeled Noor to carry a pistol through the streets of Paris, but she was not a natural warrior. Suffused with Sufism's creed of non-violence, she studied child psychology at the Sorbonne and became a children's writer in the 1930s.
  ^{But over time this view changed. Her commander, But over time this view changed. Her commander, Maurice Buckmaster, head of the SOE's French section, later noted: "A most brave and touchingly keen girl. She was determined to do her bit to hit the Germans and, poor girl, she has.", head of the SOE's French section, later noted: "A most brave and touchingly keen girl. She was determined to do her bit to hit the Germans and, poor girl, she has."}