The Night Witches and Other Warrior Women of World War II

The Night Witches and Other Warrior Women of World War II

Khalid Elhassan - December 8, 2019

The Night Witches and Other Warrior Women of World War II
Ravensbruck concentration camp prisoners. All That is Interesting

6. Capture and Torture

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.

Eventually, the Nazis gave up on trying to squeeze information out of Odette, and sent her to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. 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.

Advertisement