The Hardcore Women of World War II Knew How to Take Care of Business

The Hardcore Women of World War II Knew How to Take Care of Business

Khalid Elhassan - October 19, 2020

The Hardcore Women of World War II Knew How to Take Care of Business
Women inmates in Ravensbruck concentration camp. The Telegraph

6. Odette Sansom Was Tortured by the Gestapo to Tell Them What She Knew, but Gave the Nazis Nothing

Odette Sansom was eventually tracked down and arrested by the dreaded Gestapo. She refused to disclose her secrets, so she was taken to Fresnes Prison outside Paris. There, the Gestapo brutally interrogated Odette over a dozen times, torturing her with red hot irons to her back, and yanking out all of her toenails. She screamed in agony, but insisted that she knew nothing.

The Hardcore Women of World War II Knew How to Take Care of Business
Odette Sansom. Wikimedia

Eventually, the Nazis gave up on trying to squeeze information out of Odette, and sent her to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp for women. There, the camp commandant, Fritz Suhren, kept her on a starvation diet, and housed her in a punishment block cell, from which she could hear other prisoners being tortured. She survived, and testified against him and other prison Ravensbruck prison guards after the war. He was convicted and executed.

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