The Six Percent: The Middle-Aged Couple Who Became American Spies

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1942, Elizabeth and Robert Dexter took charge of the Unitarian Service Committee's relief office in Lisbon, Portugal, as Jews and other desperate refugees fled Nazi-occupied Europe. Many arrived without valid papers, having crossed borders illegally and hidden in freight trains, vegetable carts, and anywhere else they could find safety. With Portuguese authorities watching their operation, the American couple helped these refugees find shelter and quietly disappear into the shadows.

For our ongoing series The Six Percent, Deborah Dwork, author of Saints and Liars, shares the story of the Dexters and the risks they took to help those fleeing the Nazis. Their relief work also concealed another mission: at age 56, Elizabeth and Robert were agents for the Office of Strategic Services, using their unique access as humanitarian workers to gather intelligence for the United States.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
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% of Americans opposed entering the war.
After all, we'd already fought in World War I. What

(00:31):
good came of that? And also, we were an ocean
away from the conflict. What threat could Hitler possibly pose?
Here to share another story of a member of the 6%
who disagreed is Deborah Dwork, author of Saints and Liars. Today,
Deborah shares the dramatic tale of Elizabeth and Robert Dexter.
Let's get into the story. Take it away, Deborah.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Unitarians Elizabeth and Robert Dexter took over the Unitarian Service Committee, USC,
Lisbon office in August 1942 and were thus on site
as a wave of undocumented refugees streamed into Portugal after
the Germans swept across the demarcation line into unoccupied France

(01:24):
in November. Seeking safety, Jews and other desperate people crossed with,
Robert recalled, forged passports or none at all. They hid
themselves in freight trains, vegetable carts. In fact, all sorts

(01:44):
of devices were used. Elizabeth estimated that as many people
passed the frontier area, from France into Spain every day
in 1943, as during each month in 1941. But a
very considerable number were constantly getting through to Lisbon, she reported.

(02:12):
The Dexters had experience with undocumented refugees during their previous
Lisbon stint in the summer of 1941. when the USC
was the main agency to help these desperate people on
the run. They soon appreciated the precariousness of their clients' lives.

(02:36):
They realized, for instance, that simply getting married posed numerous complications. Refugees,
Elizabeth observed, cannot afford to make their whereabouts a matter
of public record, lest the ever-watchful Gestapo hunt them out.

(02:58):
Involving the state bureaucracy, being born, getting married, or dying
bring extra danger. Elizabeth and Robert knew the Portuguese authorities
surveilled their operations. They had developed strategies to reduce risk
They instructed their clients to destroy papers with the USC

(03:21):
office address and to avoid going to the premises in person.
They also cautioned against using the telephone, except from a
booth that offered privacy. Most important, the Dexters exhorted the
refugees to live as quietly and discreetly as possible. The

(03:45):
UFC would secure them a place to live. They needed
to maintain a shadowy existence. Fueled by principle and passion,
Elizabeth and Robert were unfazed by their client's lack of documentation.

(04:06):
Caring for them carried great risk, absorbed a lot of time,
and claimed a significant portion of the Lisbon office budget. However,
the Dexters held, they were the people in the most
desperate need and often the most worthwhile. The USC did

(04:27):
not aspire to mass emigration initiatives. More did not inspire them.
Their key criteria were, as they said, distinction of the
refugee in such fields as science, art, literature, social work, politics, religion,

(04:48):
and the danger to which the refugee is exposed. There
were times, Elizabeth recalled, when they were cracking down on everybody,
when they'd watch our office and see if any illegals
came in. Danger lurked for the USC operatives and for

(05:10):
those on the run. Maintaining illegal refugees was not Elizabeth
and Robert Dexter's sole clandestine activity. At age 56, they
were agents for the Office of Strategic Services, the OSS,

(05:32):
the predecessor of the CIA. Philanthropic relief operatives were well
placed to gather information, and they sought to use the
USC to gain an intelligence foothold in Europe with the Dexters,
among others, serving as informants. Like several of their Unitarian colleagues,

(05:57):
Elizabeth and Robert understood that the USC, as a philanthropic organization,
could gain information from people and entree into places closed
to government operatives. Indeed, the USC promoted the advantages of

(06:18):
their delegates working as spies for the government. As William Emerson,
USC president, explained to Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long,
it should be pointed out that American relief workers are
able to gather a great deal of important information. By

(06:41):
American relief workers, he meant Unitarian relief workers. They had
never been neutral.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling
by our own Reagan Habib and Monty Montgomery. And a
special thanks to Deborah Dwork for her contribution in this
series from her book, Saints and Liars. Pick it up,
you will not put it down. It's people mostly acting
on the religious and or Christian conscience. And those folks

(07:11):
who were illegal, who were flooding over those borders, they
were going to be murdered. This is where so many
volunteers like Elizabeth and Robert Dexter entered into the danger
zone to save people from Nazi totalitarianism. The story of
Elizabeth and Robert Dexter, here on Our American Stories. Lee

(07:35):
Habib here again. Our American Stories tries to tell the
stories of America's past and present to Americans. And we
want to hear your stories too. They're some of our favorites.
Send them to us. Go to ouramericanstories.com and click the
Your Stories tab. Again, please go to ouramericanstories.com and click

(07:57):
the Your Stories tab.