This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way.
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This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Coming to you from the city where the West begins, Fort Worth, Texas. When World War II broke out in Europe, between 88 and 94 percent of Americans opposed entering the war. After all, we were an ocean away from the conflict. What threat could Hitler possibly pose?
Up next, the story of two of the 6% who believed America couldn't look away. Martha and wait still sharp. They put money, life, and limb on the line to save those with whom they had very little in common, all because their faith drove them to do so. Here to share their remarkable story is Deborah Dwork, Author of Saints and Liars. Let's get into it.
Take it away, Deborah. Martha and Waitstill Sharp stepped off a train into Prague's Wilson station on a cold February day in 1939. Selected by the Unitarian leadership in Boston to travel to Czechoslovakia. They were charged with aiding the two hundred and fifty thousand refugees. who had fled From the Czech border district of Sudetenland into the Czech heartland of Bohemia and Moravia.
as a result of the Munich Act. That agreement had given Sudetenland to Nazi Germany without a shot. Fire. Wait still was a Unitarian minister with a pulpit in Wellesley Hills. The mission appealed to him.
Unitarianism, a liberal Protestant denomination, emphasizes individual freedom of belief. and reason. both inherently anti-Nazi. It appealed to Martha, his wife, too. Leaving her children stood contrary to gender norms at the time.
but the opportunity to be of service resonated with Martha. as it did for Waitstone. Leaving the safety of their life in Massachusetts for a city overrun with unemployed, unhoused, and unmoored people who knew they were targets of the Nazi regime. Martha and Wade still sought to offer food. shelter and hope.
They had little time to establish themselves before Nazi German troops. Rolled over the Czech border in March 1939. Those deemed enemies of the state, including Social Democrats. and writers and artists. who had spoken out against the regime.
were slated for murder. While the Nazis' quote solution to the quote Jewish problem. was forced emigration. Berlin was not satisfied. The Jews were not leaving quickly enough.
Adolf Eichmann, second in command of the Reich Security Main Office. was sent to Prague to impose ever harsher measures to force the unwanted to leave. Martha and Wade still pivoted from relief activities to rescue initiatives. And when an opportunity opened not ten days after the occupation, to lead a convoy of thirty five desperate people to safety in London, Martha took ownership instantly. Friday, March twenty fourth.
1939. Wait still was in Brussels when Tessa Roundtree. An English Quaker in Prague representing the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia. which we will call the BCRC. Test a round tree.
Tapped Martha. to conduct a group of refugees to England. Their papers were in order. The adults had British visas identifying them as domestic workers. and they had German exit permits.
Tessa would accompany some fifty on a train, departing at four o'clock that afternoon. Would Martha take the rest on the four thirty train? Martha was an American. and a minister's wife. those were factors in her favour.
She did not have an exit permit. But As she had arrived before the invasion on march fifteenth, She could get one locally. she did not need to apply to Berlin. Martha understood that the mission was fraught with danger. I knew that the household workers included some of the most wanted politicals.
Ardent and well-known anti-Nazis. If the Gestapo should charge us with assisting the enemies of the state to escape, Prison would be a life sentence. Torture and death were the usual punishment. But she calculated. Saving endangered people seemed worth the risk.
Once she decided, Martha raced against the clock to get the papers she needed. She turned to the U.S. legation, which phoned the Gestapo on her behalf. to ask for exit and re-entry visas. The officer agreed to issue them.
in ten days. Martha hurried to the Gestapo office to press the process forward in person. It was closed for lunch. The doors opened again at two o'clock. But she had to wait for a superior officer.
Martha finally got the document signed at 3:30. And you've been listening to Deborah Dwork, and she's the author of the terrific book Saints and Liars. and we've been hearing the story of Martha and Waitstill Sharp. two Christian missionaries with one heck of a mission field. Liberating and saving Jews from Nazi peril.
When we come back, More of Martha and Waitstill's sharp story here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, and I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts. Any story you missed or want to hear again can be found there daily. Again, Please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these great American stories coming.
Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage.
Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a Camp Miss Fourth of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Experience music performances by major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Join this landmark celebration. and get your America's Block Party Tickets Now for $17.76 at America250.org slash LA. It's America's 250th, but you deserve some presents too.
Simon Malls, mills, and premium outlets have can't-miss sales July 3rd to 5th. Join Simon Plus, our new rewards program for free and get 2.5 times the points in addition to extra savings, cashback, and offers that also work at shopsimon.com. Grab the fam, head to a Simon Center, and make it a day for the books. It's a celebration thing. Sign up today at SimonPlus.com.
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Two Unitarians who went to Europe to save Jewish refugees from Hitler's forces. before America entered World War II. Let's return to the story. Martha arrived at the station where she found Miss Bull, the BCRC secretary, compiling a list of convoy participants as they appeared. She used a fountain pen.
filled with green ink borrowed from a man, a physician, standing near her. Often, Refugees came out of hiding just in time to board a moving train, and indeed two. Newsman from the United Press and the Associated Press. jumped on at the last minute. Finally, nearing the Dutch border.
The convoy was ordered to disembark for customs inspection. Mars's effects were given only a cursory glance. But the Germans robbed the refugees of all their valuables. even their wedding rings off their fingers. Waiting to ensure everyone got back on the train.
Martha heard a cry from the custom shack. I ran back and opened the door before the guards could stop me. There were the newspaper men stripped to their waists. bags torn apart. asking if anyone spoke English, and learning that no one did, She picked up a letter with a United States seal, hoping it would serve.
This letter puts these men under my protection as American citizens. You see the seal of the United States? They and the others are members of my group. going to London. and I will not leave without them.
Waving Miss Bull's notes in the air, she declared. They are all on the list. Against all odds, she prevailed. The train soon reached the border. And Martha surrendered Miss Bull's list to the Dutch officials to check.
against the refugees' visas and passports. Bye. having jumped on the train at the last minute, The newsmen had not been registered by Miss Bull. the Dutch authorities barred their entry. Martha reached for a solution.
I ran along the car looking for the doctor with the pen filled with green ink. before the train should start. With the pen. I wrote the names of the men on the reverse side of the list. And just before the train was to pull out, I found the passport officer.
He quizzed her. I am sure the names were not there before. But she insisted. and they were allowed to board. It was the second near miss, Martha reflected.
Such a thin line between life. And death. Escape. Lawful or by subterfuge, as in the train convoy led by Martha, needed to be financed. And currency regulations stymied rescue efforts.
Neither the U.S. government nor philanthropic contributors wanted dollars to flow into a German-controlled banking system. On the other hand, The Nazi regime prohibited refugees from taking their resources with them. It fell to Waitstill to develop a system of illegal currency exchange to underwrite the costs. Wait still's monetary exchange hinged.
on the plight of Jews and Gentiles. who hope to find their way out of the country. They had Czech crowns to convert. and needed access to American dollars. British pounds or French or Swiss francs.
to live on once they escaped. these people began very cautiously to visit me in various secretively chosen places, Wade still recalled. The exchanges yielded significant sums for Waitstill and Martha to use for relief and rescue projects. My business was to negotiate. even mercilessly.
as high a rate of exchange for dollars as I could drive. Wait still explained. The Germans had set the official rate at forty crowns to the dollar. Wait still, said the figure, according to what he surmised. his interlocutor could afford.
The hardest bargain he negotiated settled at a hundred and sixty crowns to the dollar. Using his business cards as chits. He tore her card in half. Jot at the dollar amount due. As a result of the transaction, on the half he gave.
to the hopeful emigrant. and he kept the other half, as a record of the deal. It was one thing to set the exchange rate and to promise funds abroad, and another to ensure that the refugees got the sum owed when they safely landed in a host country. Taking advantage of his ability to travel in and out of occupied Czechoslovakia, Wait still deposited dollars given to the Unitarians as philanthropic donations. in banks, in London, Paris, and Geneva.
He told bank officials to expect refugees with half His business card. They were entitled to the sum handwritten on it. to be drawn against the monies he had paid in. Wait still system was illegal. as he emphasized to a colleague in Boston.
All the ordinary rules of bank procedure and accounting must be suspended. During such times as the Czech people are passing through, he said. His currency manipulations Carry a sentence of 25 years imprisonment. Absolutely no word of this arrangement should ever come into the Czech lands. It would certainly mean my surrender to the Gestapo.
and in all likelihood, my imprisonment. All the foregoing is of life and death significance. If you want to see us back in America, Please keep this letter in your confidential files. and make no reply to me. Martha and Wade Still undertook illegal and clandestine initiatives thoughtfully.
They acted on principle. and had rational reasons for the decisions they took. and the choices they made. But irrational motives swayed them too. Both.
enjoyed a rebellious streak. As Wade still put it, Yankees. like to run on thin ice. Mm-hmm. And a terrific job on the production and editing by Aron Monty Montgomery and Reagan Habib.
And a special thanks to Deborah Dwork. Her book, Saints and Liars, go to your local bookstore, you won't put it down. DeBoer is the founding director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the Graduate Center at City University of New York. And the Waitstills, my goodness, they sure did like running on thin ice. And these plots and plans, the financing plans, the cut-up card, ingenious, but my goodness, dangerous.
The story of Martha and Waitstill Sharp, saints and liars. Here on Our American Stories. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way.
The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q.
This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a camp miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances by major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Join this landmark celebration and get your American America's Black Party Tickets Now for $17.76 at America250.org/slash LA.
It's America's 250th, but you deserve some presents too. Simon Malls, mills, and premium outlets have can't-miss sales July 3rd to 5th. Join Simon Plus, our new rewards program, for free and get 2.5 times the points, in addition to extra savings, cash back, and offers that also work at shopsimon.com. Grab the fam, head to a Simon Center, and make it a day for the books. It's a celebration thing.
Sign up today at SimonPlus.com. Rewards program terms apply. See SimonPlus.com for details. On this episode of Plant Killers, we'll explore one nation's most notorious fruit and vegetable killer, bad dirt. What makes bad dirt so bad?
The answer: the ingredients. But fear not, true crime enthusiasts. This story has a happy ending. Miracle Grow organic raised bed in garden soil. It's made with quality organic ingredients from upcycled green waste like compost and aged bark.
Unlike the other guys who care. Say the same. Looks like Bad Dirt's murdering days are over. Thanks to Miracle Grow. Join us next time on Plant Killers.
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