Speaker 1: Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
Speaker 1: is Wamanica. Historically, women have been told to make themselves smaller,
Speaker 1: to diminish themselves. Some have used that idea to their advantage,
Speaker 1: disappearing into new identities. For others, a disappearance was the
Speaker 1: end of their stories, but the beginning of a new
Speaker 1: chapter in their legacies. This month, we're talking about disappearing acts.
Speaker 1: Today we're talking about a cross dressing cosmopolitan who led
Speaker 1: many lives. She was a pilot, a diplomat, and a
Speaker 1: member of the French resistance, all before she was captured
Speaker 1: by Nazis and disappeared into a concentration camp. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about Nadine Wong. Nadine was born in Madrid in nineteen
Speaker 1: oh two. Her father was a Chinese diplomat and her
Speaker 1: mother was Belgian. When she was still a child, her
Speaker 1: family moved to Beijing. Nadine attended a French Catholic school
Speaker 1: and became fluent in French, English, Spanish, and Chinese. She
Speaker 1: learned to fence and row and box, and often dressed
Speaker 1: in men's clothing. According to one story, when nadin was
Speaker 1: nineteen years old, a Chinese general asked her why she
Speaker 1: was wearing trousers. She told him it was the only
Speaker 1: way to ride a horse, swim row or box. The
Speaker 1: general liked that answer so much he offered her a
Speaker 1: spot at the Chinese Military Academy. Whether or not that
Speaker 1: particular story's true, Nadine did join the academy and became
Speaker 1: an honorary colonel. Nadine was just getting started. In nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty five, she went to Paris and learned how to
Speaker 1: fly airplanes. By the time she returned to China, she
Speaker 1: was a trained pilot. By nineteen twenty seven, she was
Speaker 1: a Chinese press secretary, dispatched on trips to the US.
Speaker 1: Then a coup in China overthrew its government. Nadine's professional
Speaker 1: career in China came to a halt, but she didn't
Speaker 1: let that stop her for long. By nineteen thirty five,
Speaker 1: she'd moved permanently to Paris. There, Nadin met Natalie Clifford Barney,
Speaker 1: a writer and literary salon host with deep connections to
Speaker 1: the lesbian literary community. Nadin became one of Natalie's lovers,
Speaker 1: as well as her driver. But it was the beginning
Speaker 1: of the nineteen forties and World War II was engulfing
Speaker 1: Western Europe. Natalie moved to Italy to escape Nazi Germany.
Speaker 1: Nadine stayed and began working with resistance movements against the
Speaker 1: invading Nazi forces. In nineteen forty four, Naden was deported
Speaker 1: to Robin's Brook concentration camp. The camp was filled with
Speaker 1: women who the Nazi government wanted to disappear. Like Nadine,
Speaker 1: many of these women had resisted the Nazi government in
Speaker 1: some way, and like Nadine, these women resisted the inhumane
Speaker 1: conditions Robin's Brook imposed on them. During Christmas, the women
Speaker 1: were allowed to hold a concert. They huddled outside in
Speaker 1: the snow and listened to one of the prisoners sing.
Speaker 1: Her name was Nellie mousse Voss, and before she was
Speaker 1: arrested for spying on Nazis, she was an opera singer.
Speaker 1: Her voice was throaty and full. She sang a couple
Speaker 1: of French carols, and then a voice chimed out from
Speaker 1: the crowd, sing Madame Butterfly. Nellie knew the opera, she
Speaker 1: sang its most popular aria. When Nellie finished, the person
Speaker 1: who had made the request pushed her way out of
Speaker 1: the crowd and towards Nellie it was Nadine. When they
Speaker 1: were face to face, Nedine gripped Nelly and kissed her
Speaker 1: once on each cheek. Nellie looked at Nadine and thought,
Speaker 1: butterfly is right in front of me. But that Nadina
Speaker 1: and Nellie fell in love. We know this story from
Speaker 1: Nellie's journals of her time at Robinsbrook. She wrote down
Speaker 1: stories of the daily lives of women like herself and Nadine.
Speaker 1: In doing so, Nellie ensured that even as oppressive forces
Speaker 1: tried to erase these women from history, their existence persisted.
Speaker 1: Thanks to these records, the chapter of Nadine's life began
Speaker 1: in the darkness of Ravensbrook was committed to paper. Nadine
Speaker 1: also met another woman named Rachel and her daughter Irene.
Speaker 1: When a list began to circulate of names of people
Speaker 1: who would be rescued by the British, nadin made sure
Speaker 1: that Rachel and Irene's names were on the list. In return,
Speaker 1: Irene promised to name her first daughter after Nadine, and
Speaker 1: she did, committing Nadine's name to posterity once more. In
Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, Nadine and almost two thousand other women
Speaker 1: were rescued from Robin's Brook by the Red Cross. Eventually,
Speaker 1: Nadine made it to Brussels, where she reunited with her
Speaker 1: love Nellie. Nellie and Nadine moved to Venezuela, where they
Speaker 1: lived together for nearly twenty years. They returned to Belgium
Speaker 1: when Nadein fell sick. She died in Belgium in February
Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy two. In twenty twenty two, a documentary
Speaker 1: digging deep into the details of Nadine's love story was released.
Speaker 1: It was called Nellie and Nadine. All Month We're Talking
Speaker 1: About Disappearing Acts. For more information, find us on Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan,
Speaker 1: my favorite sister and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow