The Freedom Line

1 PM LOS ANGELES • 4 PM NEW YORK

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Compared to Casablanca by The Washington Post, this is a page–turning story of a group of resistance workers who rescued downed Allied fighter pilots and spirited them through France and into safety in Spain during World War II. 

As war raged against Hitler’s Germany, an increasing number of Allied fliers were shot down on missions against Nazi targets in occupied Europe. Many fliers parachuted safely behind enemy lines only to find themselves stranded and hunted down by the Gestapo. The Freedom Line traces the thrilling and true story of Robert Grimes, a 20-year-old American B–17 pilot whose plane was shot down over Belgium on Oct. 20, 1943. Wounded, disoriented, and scared, he was rescued by operatives of the Comet Line, a group of tenacious young women and men from Belgium, France, and Spain who joined forces to rescue the Allied aircrews and take them to safety. Armed with guile and spirit, the selfless civilian fighters of the Comet Line risked their lives to create this underground railroad, and saved hundreds of Allied airmen.

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MEET THE SPEAKERS

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Peter Eisner is an award-winning foreign correspondent and author. His book The Pope’s Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI’s Campaign to Stop Hitler was a History Book Club and Catholic Book Club monthly selection. He has served as editor and reporter at The Washington Post, Newsday and The Associated Press. He is a contributing editor to the online investigative publication, Spytalk. He is also co-host of the podcast, Unconventional Threat. His book MacArthur’s Spies is an account of guerrillas and the American underground in Japanese-occupied Manila. His 2004 book, The Freedom Line, which won the Christopher Award, is the story of young resistance workers in occupied Europe who rescued downed Allied fighter pilots during World War II.

Musha Salinas Eisner is an interpreter and translator and has worked for the State of Maryland Court system for 20 years. Born in Argentina, she earned a degree in Latin American literature at the University of Buenos Aires and holds a master’s degree in linguistics from Florida International University. She has been a university instructor and high school teacher in Argentina and the United States and was a long-time translator for the Washington Post Writers Group. She has traveled extensively in Europe and Latin America, speaking English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

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