Barbara Lauwers

Barbara Lauwers (April 22, 1914 – August 16, 2009), later known as Barbara Lauwers Podoski, was a corporal in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) and a recipient of the Bronze Star after one of her operations led to the defection of 600 soldiers from behind Italian lines and the withdrawal of their support from the Germans. She was stationed at the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Morale Operations (MO) headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Background Barbara Lauwers was born Božena Hauserová in 1914 in Brno, then Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. She became a lawyer and just before the break out of war she also became a journalist. Lauwers got married and she and her husband moved to Belgian Congo in 1939 when events started to escalate in Europe. In 1941 they moved to the United States. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her husband joined the army and she went to work at the Czech embassy in Washington, D.C. before joining the WAC herself. She was sent to Algeria and then Rome, Italy where she pursued her work at the Morale Ops. (MO) (PsyOps psychological warfare).

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. by making them believe that the females in their lives back home were having casual relations with other soldiers.

Propaganda League of Lonely Hearts Letter (translated):

Legacy In May 2015, Barbara Lauwers Podoski was posthumously inducted as a Distinguished Member of the United States Army's Psychological Operations Regiment during a ceremony at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in recognition of her contributions to psychological warfare during World War II with the Office of Strategic Services’ Morale Operations branch.