Rita Zucca Rita Luisa Zucca ( born 1912 ) was an Italian - American radio announcer who broadcast Axis propaganda to Allied troops in Italy and North Africa . She became known as one of the " Axis Sallys " , along with Mildred Gillars , who broadcast out of Berlin , Germany . Early life . Zucca ' s father , Louis , owned a very successful restaurant in New York ' s Midtown district in the 1930s and 1940s , called Zucca ' s Italian Garden . Located at 116 - 118 - 120 West 49th Street , the restaurant had its own promotional postcards which displayed a distinctly refined setting . Zucca spent her teenage years in a convent school in Florence and , as a young woman , had worked in the family business . She returned to Italy in 1938 , working as a typist and renouncing her American citizenship three years later to save her family ' s property from expropriation by Mussolini ' s government . Axis Sally . As the Allied invasion of Italy progressed , the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini decided to try and emulate the German radio ’ s Axis Sally broadcasts of Mildred Gillars . In the summer of 1943 , the Italian national radio network in Rome hired the 30 - year - old Zucca with this aim in mind , in spite of her losing a typing job in 1942 for copying an anti - Fascist pamphlet . Zucca was teamed with German broadcaster Charles Goedel in the program ' Jerry ' s Front Calling ' . Much to Gillars ' chagrin , Zucca was also referred to as Axis Sally . Zucca ' s trademark sign - off was " a sweet kiss from Sally " , and she was often mistaken for Gillars . According to one account , Zucca signed onto each show by uttering " Hello Suckers ! " and her signature tune was " Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea " . Her broadcasts sometimes used intelligence provided by the German embassy in Rome in an attempt to confuse Allied troops . One notable example came on July 8 , 1943 , the night before the invasion of Sicily . Zucca ' s broadcast that night told " the wonderful boys of the 504th Parachute Regiment " that " Col . Willis Mitchell ' s playboys the 61st Troop Carrier Group are going to carry you to certain death . We know where and when you are jumping and you will be wiped out . " As the Allied armies advanced north into Rome , Zucca retreated north with the Germans in 1944 and resumed broadcasting from Milan . There , in September 1944 , the broadcast crew of Jerry ' s Front was attached to a German military propaganda unit called the Liberty Station . By then Zucca was pregnant . Her son was born on December 15 , 1944 . She returned to the microphone 40 days later and continued until her final broadcast on April 25 , 1945 . Arrest . As the Axis army finally collapsed , Zucca went by train to her uncle ’ s home in Turin , where she took refuge until her identification and arrest on June 5 , 1945 . , A correspondent from the American military magazine Stars and Stripes said that Zucca ' s well - known crossed - eye condition did nothing to detract from her attractiveness : " True , her left eye is inclined to wander — but that cooey , sexy voice really has something to back it up . " Newspapers in America were far more scathing . " Soft - Voiced ' Sally from Berlin ' Found to Be Ugly Ex – N . Y . Girl " was a typical headline , with descriptions of the young mother as " [ as ] ugly and unattractive in person as her voice was appealing . " Another journalist called her " cross - eyed , bow - legged and sallow - skinned . " Trial . All attempts by the American government to prosecute Zucca for treason broke down when it became clear that she had renounced her American citizenship before she had started broadcasting . The FBI ' s J . Edgar Hoover wrote to the Justice Department : " In view of the fact that she has lost her American citizenship , no efforts are being made at the present time to develop a treason case against her . " Zucca was then tried by an Italian military tribunal on charges of collaboration . On March 29 , 1946 she was sentenced to 4½ years in prison , but was released after 9 months . She was barred from returning to the United States . Later life . Zucca has lived in relative obscurity in Italy for the remainder of her life . In popular culture . In the Spike Lee movie " Miracle at St . Anna " ( 2008 ) , Zucca was depicted by Alexandra Maria Lara . She was also depicted as a historical figure in A . Edward Cooper ' s novel " Triumph of the Third Reich " and Nona Hengen ' s novel " Palouse Pilot " .