Sisters in Resistance: How a German Spy, a Banker's Wife, and Mussolini's Daughter Outwitted the Nazis

Sisters in Resistance is a novel of the Ciano Diaries. Less well known than the diary of Anne Frank but just as important. Europe is in the brink of WWII. As Italy’s foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano is privy to secret meetings and strategy between Hitler, the Nazi party and Mussolini. Galeazzo Ciano (Mussolini’s foreign minister) is married to Edda Mussolini Ciano (Mussolini’s eldest and favourite daughter) all are faithful fascists but Galeazzo becomes disenchanted with Hitler and realizes that war is not in the best interest of Italy. Watching Mussolini leaning towards an alliance with Hitler, Ciano began keeping detailed diaries from 1939 through 1943. What started out as an accounting of the events that transpired, the diaries soon contain a plethora of incriminating secrets against Mussolini and top Nazi brass. Information that, if published, can easily lead to the firing squad. They were first published in 1946 then again in 1953. In 1943 in a confidence vote Galeazzo Ciano tried to have his father-in-law removed from office whereupon, not surprisingly, he finds himself in prison. Edda and Galeazzo were known to have numerous affairs but they had three children and remained committed to each other to the end. Edda was now in possession of the diaries (or most of them) when her husband was in prison facing execution for treason. In 1944, Benito Mussolini's daughter, Edda, gave Hitler and her father an ultimatum: release her husband, Galeazzo Ciano, from prison, or risk her leaking her husband's journals to the press. To avoid the peril of exposing Nazi lies, Hitler and Mussolini hunted for the diaries for months, determined to destroy them. Hilde Beetz, a German spy, was deployed to seduce Ciano to learn the diaries' location, take them from Edda and hand them over to the Nazi. As the seducer became the seduced, Hilde converted as a double agent, joining forces with Edda to save Ciano from execution. When this failed, Hilde helped Edda flee to Switzerland - with her husband's diaries - to keep Ciano's final wish: to see the diaries published for use by the Allies. When American spymaster Allen Dulles learned of Edda's escape, he sent in Frances De Chollet, a banker's wife and an “accidental” spy, telling her to find Edda, gain her trust, and, crucially, hand the diaries over to the Americans. Together, they succeeded in preserving one of the most important documents of WWII. This is the story of the "Ciano diaries" and their travels through war-torn Europe and the people who made it possible for them to eventually come to light. The diaries contained a plethora of incriminating information which was successfully used in the Nuremberg trials to prosecute, and execute top Nazi brass. Not all the diaries were retrieved. Some were originally used as “down payment” to the Nazi by Edda in exchange for her family’s (and husband) safe passage out of Italy to Spain. She was double crossed by the Nazi. Other books were never found. I really enjoyed the novel. It was packed with details but was still easy to follow and understand. Till now I was not aware of the Ciano diaries or the major role they played in the Nuremberg trials. The novel is a must read for those interested in the dynamics of the Mussolini-Ciano family and in Italy’s role in WWII. It also pays tribute to the courage and intelligence of women in society. Without their courage these diaries would not have survived the war and justice would not have been served in Nuremberg.