Cloak and Dagger 50-06-25 ep07 Direct Line to Bombers

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Cloak and Dagger 50-06-25 ep07 Direct Line to Bombers"

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Date: November 18, 2025
Original Air Date: June 25, 1950

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Overview of the Episode

This episode of "Cloak and Dagger" dramatizes a real-life WWII OSS (Office of Strategic Services) mission, showcasing the risk and courage of Allied spies operating inside Nazi Germany. Centered around Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (“Nicky”) and Professor Joseph Warburg, the story unfolds as these agents attempt to coordinate bombing raids over Berlin using a clandestine radio link—all while evading discovery by the Gestapo. A gripping tale of espionage, loyalty, and the heavy costs of war, the episode blends suspense, human conflict, and historical intrigue.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Dangerous Mission Assignment (00:02–04:09)

• The episode opens with the audacious premise of sending agents into Berlin to provide direct intelligence to Allied bombers.
  • Colonel’s Challenge (00:02): "Are you willing to undertake a dangerous mission behind enemy lines, knowing you may never return alive?"
  • The stakes are clear: agents may not survive, but their work could critically aid the Allied cause.
  • Nicky’s Motivation (01:22): Having just returned from a mission, Nicky is bored; he’d rather risk his life than sit idle.

2. Preparation and Parachuting into Berlin (04:09–05:31)

• The meticulous training and elaborate cover stories required to pass as Berliners during wartime are detailed.
  • Forged papers, authentic behaviors, and even details down to cigarettes and laundry marks could give them away.
  • After weeks of preparation, Nicky and Warburg parachute into Germany.

3. Encounter with the Farmer and Escape (05:31–07:54)

• Shortly after landing, they’re intercepted by a suspicious German farmer with a dog.
  • Quick thinking and teamwork allow them a tense escape after subduing the farmer’s dog.
  • Professor’s Dark Humor (06:41): “If we get out of this, my friend, I shall never again be a dog lover.”

4. Allies and New Dangers in Berlin (08:13–12:04)

• Anna Leitner, an old friend, offers shelter; her grandson Emil has been indoctrinated in the Hitler Youth and is a source of tension.
  • The emotional toll of war on families is palpable: Anna lamenting Emil’s transformation and her powerlessness.
  • Anna’s Resignation (08:53): “What could anyone do in these days in Berlin, but ride with the wind until there is a chance to fight against it?”

5. The Child Spy: Emil's Suspicion (12:04–14:25)

• Emil is proud of his Hitler Youth status and suspicious of the “guests.” His memories threaten to expose Warburg, his grandfather.
  • Emil’s Indoctrination (14:02): "We have a leader who has revolutionized Germany. He is the greatest man who ever was."

6. Intelligence Gathering and the Tavern Meeting (14:39–17:11)

• Both agents gather critical information for the night’s bombing raid.
• Warburg’s activities draw interest from Hauptmann Muller, a German officer.

7. The Deadly Mistake at Dinner (17:11–20:18)

• Muller notices Nicky’s American style of eating, exposing their true identities.
  • Muller’s Suspicion (19:03): "No European eats the way you do—to change the fork from the left hand to the right after the knife is used."
  • Nicky acts quickly, stabbing Muller and escaping with Warburg.

8. Betrayal at Home: Emil Turns Them In (20:18–23:00)

• Emil discovers the secret radio and puts the pieces together, threatening to betray Anna and the agents.
• The group is forced to restrain Emil and prepare for a quick escape.

9. The Final Confrontation (23:00–27:53)

• The Gestapo closes in as the bombing raid begins.
• The agents and Anna attempt an escape across rooftops.
  • Anna is shot and dies, a casualty of divided loyalties and war.
  • Warburg is wounded and urges Nicky to escape, deliberately calling in a bombing strike on their own location to cover Nicky’s escape.
  • Warburg’s Sacrifice (26:36): “Attention bombers. Imperative—wait two minutes and bomb Crossroads at sector seven, grid D3.”
  • Nicky escapes; the professor dies, buried in the ruins—a final, devastating sacrifice.

10. Aftermath and Resolution (27:53–28:39)

• Nicky eventually makes it back to Allied territory, but at great personal cost.
• Their mission critically damages Berlin’s infrastructure—mission accomplished, but with heavy hearts.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Opening High Stakes (Colonel, 00:02):
  “Are you willing to undertake a dangerous mission behind the enemy lines, knowing you may never return alive?”

• Wartime Fatigue (Nicky, 01:22):
  “After you get back from a mission…there’s nothing to do but sit around… I was never so bored in my life.”

• Professor’s Motivation (03:00):
  “I am an escaped political prisoner of the Nazis, and I am here in England illegally... But I can no longer sit by and be idle while I have a plan that I know can help the Allies.”

• Escape Tension & Dark Humor (Professor, 06:41):
  “If we get out of this, my friend. Friend, I shall never again be a dog lover.”

• The Tragedy of Indoctrinated Youth (Anna, 08:53):
  “What could anyone do in these days in Berlin, but ride with the wind until there is a chance to fight against it?”

• Emil’s Indoctrinated Recitation (14:02):
  “We have a leader who has revolutionized Germany. He is the greatest man who ever was or will be...”

• Deadly Cultural Slip (Hauptmann Muller, 19:03):
  “No European eats the way you do—to change the fork from the left hand to the right after the knife is used.”

• Ultimate Sacrifice (Professor Warburg, 26:36):
  “Attention bombers. Imperative—wait two minutes and bomb Crossroads at sector seven, grid D3.”
  (His final act to guarantee Nicky’s escape.)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:02–00:44: Setting up the mission stakes and OSS context
• 04:09–05:13: Jumping into Berlin and the initial escape
• 08:13–12:04: Shelter with Anna, introduction of Emil
• 14:39–17:11: Gathering intelligence, dangerous encounter with Muller
• 19:03–20:18: Cultural slip exposes Nicky, lethal confrontation
• 21:08–22:22: Emil’s betrayal; Anna and agents must run
• 24:08–25:12: Anna is killed as Gestapo storms the bakery
• 26:36–27:53: Warburg’s sacrifice and the final escape

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Conclusion

With classic Golden Age radio storytelling, “Direct Line to Bombers” immerses listeners in the covert heroism, split-second decisions, and tragic costs of espionage during WWII. The episode balances suspenseful action with emotional depth, especially regarding the impact of war on families and the heartbreak of divided loyalties. Not just a tale of cloak-and-dagger excitement, but one that lingers with the listener as a story of sacrifice and the blurry lines between duty and humanity.

Transcript

[Colonel]

Are you willing to undertake a dangerous mission behind the enemy lines, knowing you may never return alive?

[Narrator]

What you have just heard is the question asked during the war to agents of the OSS Ordinary citizens, who to this question answered yes.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

This is cloak and dagger.

[Narrator]

Black warfare, espionage, international intrigue. These are the weapons of the OSS Today's adventure. Direct line to bombers. The story of an American OSS agent who, during the height of the war, directed from the streets of Berlin. An American attack is suggested by actual incidents recorded in the Washington files of the Office of Strategic Services. A story that can now be told.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

After you get back from a mission. You sit around, and there's nothing to do but sit around. So that's what I did. I sat in a room in Milton hall in England where OSS agents are trained. I thought about the restaurant on 6th Avenue I wanted to open after the war. I was never so bored in my life.

[Announcer]

Yeah?

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Hey, Nikki, the Colonel wants to see you.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Very important.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Okay, pal. Tell my pal the Colonel I'll be there and win the war for him. Da da da da da da da da. And that was how it all began. November 1944. After that, I didn't have time to be bored.

[Colonel]

I know you've just got from a mission in France, Lieutenant, so it's strictly up to you if you want to go out again immediately.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Oh, now listen, pal. I mean, Colonel, if I have to sit around here and do nothing, I'll blow my chop.

[Colonel]

You speak German, don't you?

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Well enough to know that Hitler speaks a lousy German full of grammatical errors. If I see him, I'll tell him.

[Colonel]

You may be closer to him than you think. Corporal.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Yes, Colonel?

[Colonel]

Send in Professor Warburg.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

That's how I met the professor. He was a little guy with a beard. He weighed about as much as 10 cents worth of liver. And he reminded me of my chemistry teacher back in Lincoln Junior High School.

[Colonel]

Professor, tell Lieutenant Olesnikos just what you told me.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

With the greatest of pleasure, Colonel. Lieutenant, I am an escaped political prisoner of the Nazis, and I am here in England illegally.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

And you just walked into headquarters and told that to the Colonel. Don't you know you can be interned?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

I know that very well. But I can no longer sit by and be idle while I have a plan that I know can help the Allies.

[Colonel]

What Professor Warburg suggests, Lieutenant, is that he be parachuted into Germany with another agent. Make his way to Berlin.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

I assure you I can move about Berlin blindfold. I know it well.

[Hauptmann Muller]

Berlin.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

This could be interesting. What then?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Then, with a radio transmitter, we could pinpoint military targets to American planes overhead. We could direct bombs from the streets of Berlin itself.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Wait a minute. Walk around with a walkie talkie in the middle of a raid, carrying on conversation with bombers? When do we leave, pal?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

I am ready anytime today, tomorrow, yesterday.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

The professor may have been ready yesterday, but the OSS wasn't. First, we were briefed for weeks. How to get food coupons in Berlin. How to buy a railroad ticket, how to post a letter, how to greet a German officer on the street. Little things. An American cigarette, an English match. A laundry mark could give us away. And there were big things, too. We were grilled for hours on cover stories. Forgeries became documents. Fiction became fact. Passes, stamps, signatures, everything authentic, everything ersatz, including my manners and habits, till I was ready to pass as a citizen of Berlin. And then a plane took us high over German soil and we jumped.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

We made it, Nikki.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Yeah. It's only a few kilometers to Berlin. We can walk it, make it before daylight.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

We should find the farmer who owns this field and say, dunker Schoen for providing us with so ideal a landing place.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Yeah, we'll send him a letter sometime. Right now, let's get out of here.

[Narrator]

You will wait where you are. Kindly keep your hands in the air unless you want that I blow your heads off or let my dog tear you to bits. You've been a good dog, keeping so still.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Well, as your farmer, professor, you still want to say dankasher, See?

[Narrator]

Still do not talk.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

You. You have made a mistake, my friend. My companion and I got lost trying to find the road. We came by accident. On your field.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

That's right. We, both of us only recently discharged from the army. If you would care to see our papers right here in this knapsack.

[Narrator]

If you do not keep your hands up, I will let your dog go for your throat. I do not care to see your papers. I saw you parachute from an American plane. Oh, walk now to the barn, Rol. We'll see to it that you stay there.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Won't you roll? German farmer left us in the barn and he didn't have to lock the door. That big black Doberman with the impatient fangs watched us as if he wanted us to make a move so we could jump.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Oh, if we get out of this, my friend. Friend, I shall never again be a dog lover.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Professor, don't move. Don't turn your head. Just listen to me.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Yeah, I'm listening.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

There's some harness straps hanging on a hook right over my head. I noticed them when I come in. If I can pull them down fast enough, I'll throw them over the dog. When he leaps, try to untangle. Yeah, but there's some horse blankets near you. When I pull down the straps, throw the blanket over them. It's got to be fast. Better work.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

And ready.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

On three, then. One. Nice boy. Nice. Nice big, ugly mutt. Two. Three. The harness caught on the nail. As I tried to pull it down, the dog leaped at my neck. Then the nail came off too, and the straps fell across the dog's snout. Professor flung the blankets over the dog's head.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

I, I I have him, Nicky, but I can't hold him.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

The sh. Where's that shovel I saw?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Hurry, Hurry.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

I can't hold him now. I hit him again and again. And then suddenly the only sound in the barn was the dull thud of the shovel. The dog didn't move or make a sound. He never would again.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

We had better get out now.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Yeah, let's.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Ah, the smell of a bakery is always good.

[Anna Leitner]

How fortunate it is I have only this morning made pfe for Kuchen.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Joseph.

[Anna Leitner]

Just the way you always liked it.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

How good to see you again, Anna. I told my friend Nikki that you would take us in. Help us not to. Dear lich.

[Anna Leitner]

Nicky, I will do anything I can.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

We may stay here then if all goes well, we will leave right after the raid tomorrow night.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Yeah, 24 hours. All we need.

[Anna Leitner]

Of course you may stay. I still live above the bakery. There is an extra room. My grandson Emil will not be home from the youth camp for a week.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Youth camp?

[Anna Leitner]

What could I do, Nikki? What could anyone do in these days in Berlin, but ride with the wind until there is a chance to fight against it? Helping you and your mission will give me my chance.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Little Emil. Eight years ago seemed like only yesterday. I used to sit with him on my lap here in this bakery and twirl my gold watch on the chain for him. Remember, Anna, how he laughed?

[Anna Leitner]

Yeah, I remember. He has forgotten you by now. And you would not know him. He is 13 years old.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

13 years old.

[Anna Leitner]

Already they have poisoned his mind. I cannot get to him. I do not dare. He's a little parrot, speaking only what is taught him. Nicky, some more coffee?

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

No, thank you. Fraulein.

[Anna Leitner]

More Apfelstrude? A specialty of my shop. Apfelstrude?

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

No, thanks.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Six years ago, at this very table, I had Emil on my lap. When the Gestapo walked in and arrested me, they did not like what I taught in their school.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

What's that? Someone's coming.

[Anna Leitner]

I don't know who it can be. Customers never come by this late.

[Emil]

Grandmother. Surprise.

[Anna Leitner]

I'm home. Emil. What is Man, Emil, your manners. These are friends just passing through Berlin. They are just staying the night. This is Herr Neudeck and Herr Joseph Hanitla.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Oh, yes, of course. Heil Hitler.

[Anna Leitner]

I did not expect you until next week, Emil. How is it you are here so early?

[Emil]

I won a great honor which I want to tell you about. I did not know I'd have to share it with strangers.

[Anna Leitner]

Shame, Emil. These men were soldiers of the fatherland, ja?

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Yes, Emil. We were both with the elite guard of one of Rommel's panzer divisions.

[Anna Leitner]

Rommel?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Yes. That is, before we received our medical discharges.

[Emil]

Oh, Rommel.

[Anna Leitner]

Sit down. My. I will bring you something to eat.

[Emil]

Don't you want to hear about the honor I received?

[Anna Leitner]

Look, grandmother, on my sleeve a red swastika.

[Emil]

Yeah, red for the youth movement. And a swastika because I learned my lessons faster than the others. The commander in chief of the whole youth movement awarded me my swastika. And he told me I could take my vacation a week early. Are you proud of me, grandmother?

[Anna Leitner]

Yeah, my boy. Yeah. Let me get you something to eat.

[Emil]

Nein, nein. I'm too tired. Going up to bed. Grandmother said you are staying here. Will I see you in the morning, gentlemen?

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Well, I'm not sure.

[Anna Leitner]

Oh, they will be here now that you are home, Emil. I will sleep on the couch and give them my room.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

No, no, please.

[Anna Leitner]

Oh, it is all right. It is settled.

[Emil]

Good. Perhaps then, Herr Joseph, you will tell me about Rommel, a great leader.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Yes, yes. Perhaps we will see you in the morning, Emil.

[Emil]

Why do you stare at me?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Do I stare, boy?

[Emil]

I thought so. Have I met you before, Herr Josef?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

No, I am sure not your face.

[Emil]

Ever since I came in. Grandmother. Have I met him here before?

[Anna Leitner]

No. No, Emil. Joseph was here before you were born. Even you have never seen him. It has been years. 15 maybe. Before you were born.

[Emil]

I suppose so.

[Anna Leitner]

Well.

[Emil]

Good night.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Professor. He wouldn't remember, would he?

[Anna Leitner]

Oh, how could he, Nicky? He was a baby that last day. Joseph saw him barely five years old. And the professor was 30 pounds heavier at least. And clean shaven.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Yeah, yeah. Anna is right, Nicky. Do not worry. He could not remember. Do not worry.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

But I couldn't help worrying. I lay awake half the night thinking about that kid in the room next door. The 13 year old puppet with the new red swastika. It was just a feeling I had. A funny kind of feeling. At the pit of my stomach that made me wish they'd kept him in that youth camp until after we were gone. When I got up, the sun had been up for hours and so had the professor. I went downstairs to the bakery. There was a smell of fresh bread baking and I knew Frau Leitner was in the kitchen. But the professor was sitting at the table, swinging his watch on the gold chain and talking to that German quiz kid.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Have you learned damage?

[Emil]

But why do you want to know?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Oh, I'm just interested. I want to see how well you have earned that swastika.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

I stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened.

[Emil]

We have a leader who has revolutionized Germany. He is the greatest man who ever was or will be. When I joined the furious organization, the man in charge said, join no other organization but this. Forward, forward. The banner leads us to eternity.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

You have learned your lesson well.

[Emil]

Joseph. Are you sure I have never seen you before?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Of course not, my boy.

[Emil]

I seem to remember.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Hey, Joseph.

[Emil]

Ah.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Good morgen.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Her.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Neideck.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Since we're just passing through Berlin, don't you think we ought to see a few of the sights before we leave?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Yeah. Yeah, you are right. We will leave now. Perhaps later. Emil. We will talk more.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

The raid was scheduled for that night. The professor and I had a lot of work to do. We made arrangements to meet about 4:30 that afternoon at a tavern on Willemstrasse. We went separate ways. I did a lot of walking and I made a lot of notes in my head. The Klingenberg power plant was still functioning. Jostkreuz junction of the city railroad had been repaired. There was an ammunition dump on the north side that our bombers couldn't see from the air. It's a nice day. A lot of Germans were walking the streets. And I made a lot of notes in my head.

[Narrator]

You wish to order now?

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

My hair.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Nein, nein.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Later. I am waiting for a friend. Professor was 15 minutes late and I started to get nervous. Maybe somebody had recognized him. I sat there and sweated it out. 15 minutes, 20 minutes, half hour. And then he finally came. But he wasn't alone.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Herr Neudeck, this is Hauptmann Muller. We met only this afternoon and I invited him to come and have dinner with us.

[Hauptmann Muller]

It was not quite that way. Had no idea it was I who insisted upon coming along.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

I gebis. Sit down.

[Hauptmann Muller]

You were with one of Rommel's Panzer divisions, I understand.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Yes. We were only recently discharged from the army.

[Hauptmann Muller]

Myself, I am just back. We will have much to talk about. Where Is that stupid waiter? They are never around when you need them.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

He will be here presently.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Presently?

[Hauptmann Muller]

It's not soon enough. I will go to see him myself. I'll be right back.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Where did you pick him up?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

He found me, my friend. There is a reservoir near the rail line. I was looking around. I think he was a little suspicious at first. But when I told him I was with Rommel, he became more friendly. I am beginning to believe I was in Africa myself.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Just the same, I wish you could have shaken him. What did you find out?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

It was a profitable afternoon. And you?

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Profitable afternoon.

[Narrator]

Good.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

He comes back.

[Hauptmann Muller]

Yes. At first it seems strange to me that Yosef here should show so much interest in the reservoir.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

I. I was merely taking a stroll. Getting reacquainted with. With Berlin.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Then I watched you.

[Hauptmann Muller]

I saw you walk down towards the rail line. That was when I stopped you and began to talk.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

We are both glad you did, Herr Hauptman. Give us this opportunity to get acquainted.

[Hauptmann Muller]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Hope we shall see more of you while we're in the capital. Perhaps.

[Hauptmann Muller]

Perhaps you shall see a great deal of me. I think I shall call the waiter and order some brandy. Oh, I see you have not yet finished your meal. Still eating.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

It's very good. Our diet at the hospital was not so varied.

[Narrator]

No doubt, no doubt.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Everything I ate stuck in my throat. Wouldn't go down. I knew that German officer was watching me as he talks. Watching me strangely, and I didn't know why. I knew that something was wrong, and I didn't know why. Professor Felter, too.

[Hauptmann Muller]

Her name is Gertrude, this little frulein I tell you about. And she has friends. Very pretty friends. You would like to meet, perhaps?

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Yes, we would like to very much.

[Hauptmann Muller]

You would have enjoyed them. We might have had great fun together, all of us. Unfortunately, you may be otherwise engaged with the Gestapo.

[Colonel]

Wha.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Wha. What did you say? Herr Hauptmann.

[Hauptmann Muller]

I have been watching you all through dinner. Herr Neudeck. You are an American.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Do not move, either of you.

[Hauptmann Muller]

I have my hand on my gun.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

But surely you're joking.

[Hauptmann Muller]

No European eats the way you do to change the fork from the left hand to the right after the knife is used. At first it escaped me. I just knew something bothered me. Then I realized what it was.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

There it was. The little thing that could put a rope around my neck.

[Hauptmann Muller]

Americans hold the fork sideways in the right hand.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

In my nervousness, I'd forgotten a little thing like that European manner of eating. Sharp knife. I'd been eating with Washington still in my Hand. Almost as if it moved by itself. It disappeared under the table and halfway into the German office. Good work, Mickey. Good. I was stupid to get myself into that jam in the first place. We're not out of this yet. Waiter. Waiter. I'm on here. Check, please. A friend has had a little too much to drink. We will take him home. Yeah, yeah, right away. Between the two of us, we managed to get him out of there. His head was rocking back and forth like a drunk. The knife was still in him, so the blood didn't flow very much. And kept his cape around him.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

All right. There is no one around here, Nikki. We can dump him behind this shed.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

All right. We're beginning to leave a trail a mile long. So long, pal. It's nice meeting you. Come. Come on, professor, let's go. When we got back to the bakery, there was more trouble waiting for us. Trouble? 61 inches high, weighing about 110 pounds. Wearing a new red swastika on his arm.

[Anna Leitner]

It is no mistake.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

They are in the kitchen. Something is wrong.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

I don't like the sound of that. Come on.

[Anna Leitner]

You are confusing with someone else.

[Emil]

Amy. No, no, no. Why are you so stubborn? This morning when we were watching the chain, I thought I remembered something. And just now how I came.

[Anna Leitner]

Oh, you have never seen her, Joseph before.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Amy.

[Colonel]

I have.

[Emil]

When I was very little. They could stop. Okay. They arrested a man with a gold watch on a chin. I tell you, he is the same one.

[Anna Leitner]

Amy, they do not even look alike. What about this?

[Emil]

This broadcast radio I found hidden in your bedroom in a hatbox?

[Anna Leitner]

I, I.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

It's called a walkie talkie. A Give it back to me.

[Emil]

Mickey.

[Anna Leitner]

You have to come back.

[Emil]

You see? You see? We've wasted time. I should have gone to the authorities right away. They have tricked you, grandmother.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

He knows, Hannah.

[Anna Leitner]

I am afraid so. I've been holding him here hoping he would return.

[Emil]

What did you say? You knew grandmother, didn't you? They didn't trick you. A die traitor. You're a traitor too. Get away from me. I hate you. I hate you.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Nikki.

[Emil]

Get him.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

He's trying to run.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

I've got him.

[Emil]

Let me go. Let me go. Report stop and kill you. They have you shot.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

I'm not going to report anyone. What'll I do with him?

[Anna Leitner]

Upstairs, his bedroom. Lock him there until after you have gone.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Right.

[Emil]

Let go of me. Get your hands on me. I hate you. I hate you all. Let me go.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

You will have to come with us when we leave here tonight.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Anna.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

You cannot stay now.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Professor, is Right. Frau Leitner. That kid upstairs will turn you over to the Nazis so fast you won't know what happened to you.

[Anna Leitner]

My little Emil turned me in. Joseph. Would he?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

I'm afraid he would. Anna, it is best that you come with us. We are going to try to get through the lines into France. Once there, there are underground workers who will help us.

[Anna Leitner]

Yeah. Nicky, is it all right if I bring this tray of food up to him? He has not eaten. He's still such a little boy.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Yeah, sure, sure. You all right? Take it up. But don't untie his hands. Remember.

[Anna Leitner]

Yes, I will remember.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

The raid ought to start soon. Let's go over this map. Make sure we have everything right. Yeah.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Now, the rail line is here, sector 2, grid B3.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

And if our bombers knock that out, Berlin's transportation is completely crippled. And here on the map, power plant is in sector six, grid G5.

[Anna Leitner]

Mickey, he's gone.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

What did you.

[Emil]

What?

[Anna Leitner]

Yeah, his hands. He got them loose. He lowered himself from the window with the bed sheet. What are we to do? He'll bring the Gestapo back with him.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

We don't know how long he's been gone. Professor, the window, quick.

[Anna Leitner]

Yeah, the back door.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

There is a car coming.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

I can see it.

[Anna Leitner]

There is an alien.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Now, look.

[Anna Leitner]

Look.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

No time. They'll have this place surrounded. How do you get to the roof?

[Anna Leitner]

The roof? Yeah, yeah. Up those stairs. We can go to. To the other rooftops and perhaps escape.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

There better be no perhaps about it. You went up to the attic stairs and onto the roof. You could see the Germans from there. Four of them. Black shirts spilled out of an armored car. Two of them broke in through the front door. Two of them started around to the rear. Then we heard. Amy.

[Anna Leitner]

My boy.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Anna. Nikki.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Nikki.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

She's dead.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Well, it won't do her any good if we stay here. Come on. Across the parapet there.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

They.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Oh, that's music to my ears. At least it'll keep them from getting more help, right?

[Narrator]

Now, stay where you are.

[Emil]

Surrender now and it will go easier with you.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Come and get us, pal. One of them did try to come and get us. And he got it first, right between the eyes. He swayed for a few seconds, back and forth, and then he fell off the roof on the street.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Ah, that's one of them. Niki, there are only two left.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Two? What happened to the third?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Behind you.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Fourth Nazi had come up the other way, through somebody else's attic and onto the roof behind. Get your hands up.

[Narrator]

Now.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

There are just two left. Professor, I. Professor, What Is it?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

My. My leg. I can't move it. I can't go any further, Nicky.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

What happened afterwards was a nightmare. Was if the earth cracked wide open. It was red hot burning. And the noise of the planes and the Yak ack and the. The German guns and the bombing made my. My stomach turn. We crouched behind a parapet and I held them off while the professor directed the bombs.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Attention. Attention bombers. The Klingenberg power plant is still functioning and supplies electric power to vital industries. Bomb sector 6, grid G5. The Oskreutz Junction of the city railroad has been repaired. Knock it out and all traffic in Berlin will be stopped. Sector 2, grid B3. All right. Go now, Nikki, While there is a chance I can hold them off long enough for you to get away.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

I can't leave you here.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

No, no, they won't take. Take me. Don't worry.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Look, I'll carry you.

[Narrator]

We'll make it.

[Emil]

Come on.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Listen. Listen to me, Nikki. Go across the next two rooftops and then down through the skylight. There is a tailor shop. Go out the back door there. It leads to an alley. Once over the fence under cover of the rage, you can make it.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Now, look, I won't go without you.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

All right? I will change your mind. Attention. Attention bombers.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

What are you doing?

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Attention bombers. Imperative wait two minutes and bomb Crossroads at sector seven, grid D3.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

Hey, professor, what are you doing? You're crazy. That's here. This sector.

[Professor Joseph Warburg]

Go on, run. Run, Nikki. I'll cover you.

[Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas (Nicky)]

I ran. I stumbled and fell and got up and ran again. When I got down in the alley through the tailor shop, I kept on running. And then the bomb fell and the concussion rocked the ground. And I went flat on my face. When I looked back, I knew that our bombers had made another direct hit. Professor had not only held off the Germans while I got away, but kept them there until it was too late for any of them. A little German bakery that specialized in folded up been made of matchsticks. Somewhere in the wreckage, the professor with his gold watch on the chain was buried under it. And overhead the planes headed back. There was nothing left for me there. I headed back too.

[Narrator]

Lieutenant Gus Holesnikas made his way to France and after months from there to England. But his direction of the bombing raid from the target itself kept some of Berlin's major industries crippled and its transportation system paralyzed. And once again, the report of an OSS agent closes with the words mission accomplished. Listen. Next week when we again present cloak and dagger.

[Announcer]

Heard in today's cloak and dagger adventure were Everett Sloan, Bill Zuckert, Lily Darvas, Barry Kroeger, Michael Artist, Raymond Edward Johnson, Carl Weber, Jerry Jarrett, Bobby Weil and Brad Barker. Script was written by Winifred Wolf and and Jack Gordon. Music was under the direction of John Gart. Today's true OSS adventure was based on the book Cloak and Dagger by Corey ford and Alistair McBain. This has been a Louis G. Cowan production in association with Alfred Hollander and was under the direction and supervision of Sherman Marks. NBC offers three of radio's top mystery adventure shows. The Big Guy, Sam Spade and the Saint. So if mysteries are your meat, listen in tonight. Next, hear High Adventure, then the Big Guy on NBC.