Vienna, Austria, 1944. Ilsa Hoffmeyer knew instinctively that she was in deep trouble. The two men in leather black trench coats had been following her for the better part of two hours now, “They must be Gestapo,” she thought to herself! 

She ducked into a small cafe, hoping to find her way out the back into the alley, but her path was blocked by a bunch of old crates up against the rear door, and as she turned around she was standing face to face with her pursuers, two Gestapo agents of Hitler’s Third Reich! “Fraulein Hoffmeyer, finally we meet in person,” one of the agents offered, “unfortunately for you, it will be a rather unpleasant experience, shall we go now, please!?!”

Ilsa was in a daze as the two Nazis led her to a waiting automobile, where she was blind folded and told to be quiet. As one of a handful of under ground agents working for the allies in Austria, Ilsa was a prize catch that the Gestapo hoped they could squeeze for valuable information on the extent of the under ground activities in Austria as well as Germany. The car came to a stop and Ilsa was led still blind folded into a building where she was pushed into a chair and told to be quiet. Several minutes passed, until Ilsa was told by a feminine voice to remove her eye covering. When she pulled of the scarf covering her eyes, she was looking directly into the face of Marie Krupp, the notorious head of the Gestapo torture department. Looks could be deceiving, because Marie Krupp was a very beautiful woman, but the stories told about her, promised that this was going to be far from a enjoyable meeting! “Fraulein Hoffmeyer,” Marie said smoothly, “why don’t you save yourself a lot of discomfort by telling us all we want to know about your subversive activities in our country!!!” “Never,” spat back Ilsa, “I’ll never tell you a thing, you bitch!!!”

Out of nowhere, Marie Krupp caught Ilsa across the face with a leather riding crop that nearly knocked her out! “My, my, such language,” a still soft voiced Marie continued, “if you continue to displease me, we can make you exceedingly uncomfortable!!!” Ilsa, still stunned from the shot to the cheek, didn’t answer, while trying to shake the cob webs from her head. Marie Krupp, however, went on, “I’m offering you one last chance, tell me about your organization or accept the consequences!!!” Ilsa, now able to speak, but a bit haltingly replied, “I told you never, and I meant it!” This time, Marie didn’t strike out at her prisoner, instead she went over to a guard and whispered something in his ear. What ever she said to him made him laugh evilly, and Ilsa knew that that probably wasn’t good news for her!