Double Agent

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Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.

A lot has been made of the brave soldiers who proved themselves in epic battles to defeat Hitler and the Nazis in World War II, and rightfully so.

But just as important were the people working behind the scenes to undermine the German army.

You may have heard of the English codebreakers at Bletchley Park who cracked the Enigma code and saved England from German U-boats.

But there was another behind-the-scenes agent who completely deceived the Nazis, working with the English to trick the Germans into thinking that the Allied invasion would land somewhere other than Normandy.

And curiously enough, He wasn't even an Englishman.

Juan Puglio Garcia was never cut out to be a soldier.

He was skinny and awkward, with pointy ears that stuck out from both sides of his head.

He was always a handful as a child.

His mother sent him to boarding school when he was just six.

As an adult, he became a poultry farmer right before he was caught up with the rest of the country in the Spanish Civil War between the liberal Republicans and the fascist nationalists.

And although Juan began as a Republican and defected to the nationalists, who were ultimately victorious, he regretted it almost immediately, especially when he saw how they supported the Nazi regime in Germany, which quickly began to spread authoritarianism across Europe in the late 1930s.

Juan wanted to do his part to stop the rise of the Nazis, but again, he wasn't really a soldier.

But he felt like he was also pretty sneaky.

He had successfully defected from one army to the other during the Spanish Civil War, after all.

Maybe he could bring those stealthy skills to the war.

in Europe.

He decided that he would act as a spy on the behalf of the British, but when he reached out to them, they rejected his offer for help.

He didn't really have anything to offer them.

He needed to make himself an asset first.

And so this time he reached out to the Germans and claimed that he was traveling to London on business and was willing to spy for them.

They accepted, but of course he had no business in London.

Instead, he worked from Spain and Portugal, where he concocted elaborate stories about the contacts he was supposedly making in London and the information he was learning from them.

He conveyed all of this to the Germans and convinced them that he was legitimately sending them information from within England.

Now he had something to show the English.

When he reached back out to MI5, they were interested in talking with him.

They flew him to London where he relocated his family.

At least that part of Juan's story was now actually true.

The English, impressed with his ability to act as different fictional informants, gave him the codename Garbo, after the famous actress.

They worked with Juan to help him deepen his list of fictional contacts.

And soon, his contacts had contacts.

There was an entire imaginary web of fake people, soldiers and civilians alike, who Juan was reporting on to the Nazis.

Soon, he transitioned from letters to radio communication, sending multiple messages with fake intel every single day.

It would have been exhausting keeping it all straight in his head.

And soon the stakes got as high as they possibly could get.

The Allies wanted Juan to start telling the Nazis that there was a planned Allied invasion of France, which was true.

But they planned to land at Normandy and they wanted Juan to tell the Nazis they were going to land farther north instead.

It was a plan that played to Hitler's ego as he had suspected that this was their plan all along.

Juan spent days spinning stories over the radio about how his fictional contacts were seeing all kinds of information and movement toward a more northern landing in France.

The Nazis were utterly convinced that this is where the Allies would be headed.

They placed the majority of their forces in the north, and so were blindsided when the Allies attacked Normandy farther south.

It was still a fierce battle, and had the Nazis not been deceived by Juan, they might have actually been able to win.

After the war, Juan kept up his covert lifestyle by having MI5 fake his death.

He then went to live in South America, abandoning his wife and children.

His reasons for doing so were unclear, although he was discovered by a journalist in the 1980s and reunited with his family then.

Clearly, Juan was a curious and enigmatic man from the start.

It may have hurt him in his personal life, but the entire free world is fortunate that he loved to play spy games.

This show is sponsored by American Public University.

Balancing work, family, and education isn't easy, but American Public University makes it possible.

With online courses, monthly start dates, and flexible schedules, APU is designed for busy professionals who need education that fits their lives.

And affordability matters too.

APU offers the Opportunity Grant, giving students 10% off undergraduate and master's level tuition, helping you reach your goals without breaking the bank.

Plus, they provide career services and 24/7 mental health support at no extra cost.

Visit apu.apus.edu to learn more.

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Ahmed Musa wiped the sweat from his brow as he stepped from the baking desert into the cool, dry tomb.

It was 1964, and Ahmed had just gotten word that the inner sanctum of his latest discovery was finally clear of debris.

The tomb was located in Saqqara, Egypt, in a necropolis full of kings and powerful advisors.

It was was time to find out just who was buried there.

The kerosene lamplight played against the walls, illuminating painted scenes and hieroglyphics as Ahmed stepped further inside the tomb.

He was one of the first people to step foot in there in nearly 5,000 years.

Ahmed stopped as his torchlight illuminated a striking illustration on a wall.

It was two figures standing nose to nose in what looked like an intimate pose.

This wasn't uncommon for ancient Egyptian tomb art.

In fact, Ahmed had seen married couples pictured like this before.

What was unusual was that the two figures, apparently the residents of the tomb, were both men.

In the 60 years since Ahmed's discovery, Egyptologists have exhaustively studied the tomb of Numhotep and Nianconum.

Examining murals, hieroglyphic records, and objects left behind, many of them have come to share the same conclusion that the two may be one of the earliest recorded gay couples in history.

Based on the historical record inside the tomb, Numhotep and Nianca Num were incredibly important to King Neuseri-Eni, a pharaoh that ruled during the Old Kingdom period of ancient Egypt.

Their official titles were head manicurist to the royal family, which was a high position at the time.

The pharaoh had a group of aides dedicated to dressing and preparing him for public engagements, all with very specific jobs and titles.

Along with the manicurists, he daily had help from the hairdressers, keepers of the headdress, and adorners of the king.

But beyond being manicurists, Numhotep and Nian Kanum also held a laundry list of other honorable titles.

Between them, they were also guardians of secrets, confidants of the kings, and priests who purify the king.

In life, both men were married to women, and portions of the tomb show them with their wives and children.

But the vast majority of the artwork pictured them together, often with Numhotep in the position that usually indicates a wife in similar Egyptian tomb art.

In one banquet scene, it's clear that while Nianca Num's wife was initially part of the illustration, she was almost completely erased at some point during the tomb's construction.

Because remember, ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death and the afterlife, so much so that wealthy Egyptians spent most of their lives building the tomb to house themselves after they were gone.

They believed that the spirit never died, but would go on into the afterlife, or in some versions of belief, would would be reborn anew.

So making your tomb a grand reflection of the afterlife you wanted was a serious business.

Judging by the arts and inscriptions in the tomb, it's clear that Num Hotep and Nian Khanum were very close while alive, and didn't intend to be separated in the afterlife.

While it's not entirely clear who died first, Egyptologists suspect Num Hotep was the first of the pair to die.

Different theories have been offered over the years for Num Hotep and Nian Khanum's relationship.

Initially, Egyptologists believed that they were brothers or maybe even twins.

Some even conjectured that they were father and son who didn't want to be separated after death.

But over years of research, it's become clear that the two are illustrated using iconography usually reserved for husband and wife.

Most telling is a carving of Numhotep smelling a lotus blossom, a pose almost exclusively reserved for women in tomb art.

Today, it's accepted by many Egyptologists that the evidence supports supports one theory the most, that they were a romantic couple.

Whether they were lovers, brothers, or just best friends, Noom Hotep and Nianca Noom left behind a legacy that still fascinates us today.

And if nothing else, they prove that sometimes the best thing in life is finding someone to hold your hand, both in this world and the next.

I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities.

Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or learn more about the show by visiting CuriositiesPodcast.com.

This show was created by me, Aaron Mankey, in partnership with How Stuff Works.

I make another award-winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show.

And you can learn all about it over at theworldoflore.com.

And until next time, stay curious.

This show is sponsored by American Public University, American Public University, where service members like you can access high-quality, affordable education built for your lifestyle.

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