Velvet Waltz [An Inglourious Basterds fic]

** Notes**

Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up for a new chapter, but I haven't figured out a way to leave notes at the end of chapters like on AO3 (should I just...type them at the bottom?? Seems like there should be a better way), so I thought I'd post some historical notes and bits here, because I'm a nerd and I love to research.

- Landa's proper rank is "Standartenführer," roughly equivalent to a colonel. I've chosen to use that here when a character would know the various Nazi ranks (for example, any of the French or British spies in Sylvia's unit would know. Aldo Raine might know but could care less.)

- Women involved in the resistance were often couriers, because women out running errands didn't attract much attention. Being a radio operator, however, was typically reserved for men as it was one of the most dangerous jobs. The Nazis got very very good at triangulating signals and finding/killing the operator, often within minutes. The life expectancy for a radio operator in occupied France was *6 weeks.* Hence, why Edward's skills are so valuable.

- Soldatenkaffees were a real thing: coffee shops explicitly for German occupying soldiers. Most Parisians were boiling acorns or grains for "coffee" by 1943. 

- A "dead drop" is a location a spy leaves material for another agent to pick up later. An experienced agent can dead drop an item so quickly it's virtually unnoticeable. By contrast, a "live drop" is a delivery to another agent in person.

- Sylvia's distress code (chapter 7) is from The Women (1939), one of the funniest movies ever made.

- Signal was a real Nazi propaganda magazine, only distributed in neutral or occupied countries (not in Germany itself.) 

(This is Alain's newsstand, basically. You could hand out a hell of a lot of encryption pads and other contraband in those magazines.)

- Hitler's birthday (Geburtstag) celebrations were no joke. Organizers were given very strict instructions as to what was and wasn't appropriate. A lot of wreaths, eagles, bad patriotic poetry, and "dignified music."

-  Hans' car (and that of the Einsatzgruppen they encounter) is a Mercedes 170 VK, the same car he arrives in at the beginning of the movie. They were designed for the German military, and had reinforced shells and machine gun mounts. 

- The SOE (Special Operations Executive) aka the Baker Street Irregulars was formed in the UK in 1940 specifically to push back against the Axis in occupied countries. They worked with French resistance groups as well as other Allied countries. There were very few American spies in France during the war; I've taken some dramatic license here. 

Next update will be a real chapter, I promise!

Thanks for reading!