Barbara Lauwers - World War II Work

World War II Work

While in Rome, Corporal Lauwers assembled a team of German prisoners to work in counterintelligence and psychological warfare. The prisoners worked as “cobblers”— spies who create false passports, visas, diplomas and other documents. She conducted Operation Sauerkraut, which infiltrated enemy lines with teams of German prisoners that spread “black” propaganda regarding Hitler throughout occupied Italian towns.

Corporal Lauwers also created the "League of Lonely War Women" or VEK in German. This mythical organization was to demoralize German troops by making them believe that the females in their lives back home were having casual relations with other soldiers. Eight faked field post letters in the German language were produced by the OSS in Italy with the total number of forged field post letters that were printed in Rome being indicated in an OSS production report. 287,000 copies were produced in the period between 15 July 1944 and the end of the war. The operation was so successful that the Washington Post was fooled and ran a story on 10 October 1944 entitled, “German soldiers on leave from the Italian front have only to pin an entwined heart on their lapel during furloughs home to find a girlfriend.” The newspaper got the story from a circular which had been captured on the Eighth Army front and was actually written by Lauwers and carried behind German lines by the Sauerkraut agents.

In another mission, Corporal Lauwers led a team in writing and delivering “black” propaganda targeting soldiers attached to the German army in northern Italy. On 29 April 1945, this mission was so successful that 600 troops defected behind Italian lines and withdrew their support from the Germans. This operation was the reason that Corporal Lauwers was given the Bronze Star.