Rank #353 in NON FICTION
As a salute to all the many women who fought in World War II, at home, in secret, in the service, we give you this collection of stories of real-life women. Like Agent Peggy Carter, too often their sacrifice and service was...
WWII, Lawyer; War Crimes Commission, U.S. State Department
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Harriet Zetterberg
By Allison Veselka, Assistant at the Barnes County Museum in Valle City, North Dakota
Harriet Zetterberg originally from Valley City, graduated from Valley City High School. Afterwards she attended several terms at Valley City State Teachers College before receiving her B.A. degree at Carleton College. Then she attended Wisconsin University receiving her M.A. degree. It was here that she also studied law. In 1941 she won a scholarship to Yale and spent a year there before entering the legal department of the state department in Washington D.C.
In April of 1944 she arrived overseas in London with the Economic Warfare Division (a part of the state department) and by August of that year she was married to another lawyer Daniel Margolies who would become a member of the War Crimes Commission in August of 1945 (Due to his work with the OSS).
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Harriet would follow soon after, transferring to the United States Chief of Counsel for the prosecution of war criminals. A letter that Harriet wrote to her mother, Mary, appeared in the local Valley City Newspaper on January 21st, 1945.
Harriet wrote that "It's so important that people should realize that individuals can't get away with planning and executing a program of the kind the Nazis planned and put into operation. It makes me feel inadequate to express the vastness of Nazi crime."
Both returned back to the states after the trials in July of 1946. That same year their first child was born, Mary Margolies. They settled in Washington D.C. where Daniel Margolies continued to work with the state department. Mary took work as a lawyer, but was paid secretary wages, which was 2.50 an hour.
But their adventures continued beyond World War II.
In the 1950s, Daniel Margolies left for England taking his family with him. He relished his work with the foreign service, but Harriet despised the role of being a diplomat's wife, doing nothing but hosting parties and playing bridge. She felt imprisoned not being able to utilize her talents. In the 1960s, Daniel was sent to the Congo at a time where international relations were tenuous at best.
Harriet died in 1989. She was a pioneer of sorts - making a career choice that not a lot of women made at that time, but doing so gave her a chance to be the spotlight - at least for a little while.
