Code Name Madeleine: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Arthur J. Magida

Author:Arthur J. Magida [Magida, Arthur J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780393635195
Google: 8aC6DwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 039363518X
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2020-06-08T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

“WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN, IT WILL BE AFTER THE WAR”

Occasionally, Noor went back to Suresnes to visit Madame Prenat and her daughter Raymonde. Before, these visits had almost been relaxing—a respite from the frenzy of Paris and Noor’s constant running around. Noor now brought Paris with her, especially her fear that Robert Gieules would tell the Germans everything he knew about her. Noor knew it would be futile for him to try to bargain with the Gestapo. “It’s so silly, and quite useless,” she told Madame Prenat. “In the end, they will shoot you just the same.” Bursting into tears, Noor murmured, “I wish I were with my mother.”

Madame Prenat asked Noor to stay with her until things calmed down. Noor refused. She had work to do and she was certain that one member of the Resistance—Pierre Viennot—would do everything he could to help keep her safe. “I know I can rely on him in any circumstance,” Noor declared. “I would trust him with my life.”

She might need to. A few days later, in the Trocadéro, Noor was sure that one, maybe two men were following her. Walking slowly, then fast, then in circles, then straight ahead, Noor shook off possible tails. London must have known the danger Noor was facing. A message she got from Britain ended with an adieu that she had never seen before: “May God keep you.” The farewell touched Noor. “I didn’t think they ever said things like that,” she told a friend. “I thought I was just a cipher in London. We have to be quite impersonal in our work. We can’t let our feelings interfere. It wouldn’t do.”

Pierre Viennot wanted Noor to leave Paris. Remaining there endangered not only her, but others as well. “You must go,” Viennot insisted. “The Gestapo knows you and will follow you to all the people you meet until they have every one of us.” Anyway, the SOE in France was still so disorganized and so weak that there wasn’t enough work to warrant Noor staying there.

Viennot arranged for Noor to find shelter on a farm in Normandy. At least that would keep her out of Paris. Escorting her to the Gare Saint-Lazare, Viennot bought a ticket for her, made sure she had a seat on a carriage, and waited for her train to leave the station. He wasn’t pleased to see her back in Paris two days later. Noor had felt useless on the farm. She hadn’t come to France to sit around. She and Viennot agreed it might be best if she returned to England. Maybe the SOE would give her another assignment someplace else.

Noor didn’t argue with Viennot about this and she appeared content when telling friends in Paris she was leaving. For four months, she had passed valuable information between Paris and London and had outlived almost every radio operator in France. She had done her job, and done it well, and had little reason to balk or carp or ask for more time.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.