| Betrayals do not need to make the headlines to be considered betrayals. Take a look at some of the treachery committed by our fellow Humans below. Some have been made known to the public and greeted with an outcry, others well shaded in history, and some which escape scot free from justice.
 Yue Fei featured in a Chinese Historical Figure Series
 Qin Hui From then on, the angry people made little dough rolls which were actually figurines resembling Qin Hui and his wife, the two traitors. They deep fried the dough rolls and called them "Fried Ghosts", but of course - the Qin descendants refused to eat them. Thus, the dough roll sellers had to change the name of this kind of food. Today, it is called 'Yow Cha Gui', and is eaten everday in China and Hongkong. (It's very yummy!) |
| In 1963, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan had been in office for six years. Although Nicknamed "Supermac", his administration ended during the Philby and Profumo affairs. The Philby affair begun in 1951 when high-ranking diplomats Donald MacLean and Guy Burgess were exposed as Soviet spies. They both fled to Russia promptly. There was a thorough search for the mysterious third party, the accomplice who'd warned them to escape, let to Harold "Kim" Philby (nicknamed by his adventurer father for Kipling's boy hero), Britain's secret-service liaison with the CIA. Though no evidence surfaced, the latter was merely fired. He was then rehired and posted to Beirut. Philby disappeared in January 1963, only to resurface in Moscow later. Investigators discovered he had been one of the Kremlin's top spies. The latter was responsible for intelligence leaks and hundreds of deaths - this divulgence agitated the United States and England. |
| Who tipped off the Gestapo agents about the Frank Family? Anne Frank and her other relatives were hiding above Otto Frank's Amderstam (Anne's father) business. Nazis rewarded informants $1.40 for each Jew captured. |
| Being what they are, Human nature and media have a tendency to come up with theories about conspiracies, treachery, cover-ups and other atrocious - crafty plottings, especially in cases where unplesant things occured. World War II has its fair share, if not more, for such accusations.
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The Pearl Harbour Plot
This is not really a betrayal, but still very interesting to know - theory has it that President Roosevelt and other national political and military leaders knew that the Japanese were about to attack Pearl Harbour. It was even hinted that the attack was arranged in order to get the US into the war to save Great BRitain's skin. There are numerous variations on the theme, which includes an interesting one contending that Winston Churchill knew but refused to disclose anything. However, when the situation is scrutinized and the information is examined, particularly the latest evidence - no truth seems to have surfaced. There was a charge that it was actually British airmen who conducted the attack from a secret air base on one of the other Hawaiian islands. top
The Betrayal of Market-Garden
The Battle of Arnhem was a part of Operation Market Garden, which was targetted to bring the Allies in a rapid shove across the Rhine at Arnhem. If the operation succeeded, the war (that is, WWII) would be over before Christmas. The Allies would reach Berlin before the Russian Army. The plan was easy to understand. Airborne troops had to capture the bridges at Eindhoven, Grave, Nijmegen and Arnhem and control them until the British Second Army arrived. The plan was separated into two parts:
However, it was one of the major disasters of The Battle of Arnhem, which lasted from 17 till 26 September 1944. The operation as the largest airborne operation in history - more than 35, 000 paratroopers were dropped. Unfortunately, the operation did not succeed. In fact, the attack resulted in the wiping out of the British and Polish airforces in Arnhem. Rumours have circulated that the operation was betrayed by German sympathizers in the Dutch Resistance. In reality, the Dutch had not been informed about the operation because of fears that it had been infiltrated by German intelligence. In fact, if the British had heeded information that they received from the Dutch Resistance concerning German dispositions, they would have been aware of the presence of the panzers. top
Francois Mitterrand
In 1941, Mitterrand requested and received a decoration from Marshal Petain. This fact has been brought up several times during French political campaigns, with the implication that Mitterrand was actually a collaborator during the war. In reality, Mitterrand, who held a position with Petain's government as the supervisor of provisions for French troops held in German PW camps, was a secret agent for the Resistance. At the time Petain announced that he was decorating Mitterrand, the latter was taking part in a secret conference of Free French officials in London. He then had to hastily and secretly make his way back to France. top
