War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 172

Chapter 27

L

otte arrived at the German premises, but no warm welcome awaited her there. Instead, two Gestapo officers were expecting her arrival. She was taken to the basement and manhandled into an interrogation room.

“Sit down,” the man in charge ordered.

“Why am I here? Why am I not allowed to return to my duties?” Lotte used all her courage to keep her voice from trembling.

“I’m the one asking the questions,” he said with a sadistic grin on his face. “Where have you been?”

“I was captured by the partisans together with three soldiers on August fifth.” She didn’t dare look at him, for fear she’d spring into tears.

“But you were found in a hospital. You don’t look injured to me.” He stood and walked around her, burying his fingers into her hair and yanking it up.

Searing pain made her yelp.

“Answer.” The pressure increased.

“They kept me in the hospital because I was their only female prisoner and they didn’t want to put me in the prison with the men.” Tears shot to her eyes as she ever so slightly moved her head into the direction of his tug.

“Why didn’t you escape?” another voice said behind her back.

She couldn’t turn her head to get a glimpse of the other man. If the situation weren’t so dire, she would have laughed out loud.

How on earth does he expect me to escape on my own, deep in Polish-controlled territory?

“Armed guards controlled the hospital and the street outside. Besides, I had no idea where I was.”

The Gestapo officer released her hair and walked to stand by her side. His hot breath grazed her cheek as he bent down to speak into her ear. “Why don’t I believe you? Traitor!” His hand connected with her chin and she was slammed against the chair-back.

“I’m not…a traitor…I was a prisoner…” she stammered.

“I’ll tell you what you are.” The other man stepped forward, cold eyes mustering her. “You are a disgrace to the German race. A spy for the Polish bandits.”

Terror pooled deep in the pit of her stomach.

How do they know? And what do they know?

“I’m no such thing. I’m a radio operator, a loyal employee of the Wehrmacht. A fervent supporter of our Führer.” She almost choked on the lie.

“We have reason to believe otherwise. You were seen visiting this house,” the first man showed her a piece of paper with Ewa’s address written on it.

“My piano teacher lives there.”

“

Piano

teacher they call it nowadays? Am I supposed to believe your ruse? We arrested the Polish snake and she confirmed you’re a spy on the same day you so conveniently were

captured

by your insurgent friends.”

Lotte shook her head. She didn’t believe that Ewa had given her up, but she’d heard enough of the notorious Pawiak prison and Gestapo torture methods to be doubtful. “I have no idea what this woman did outside the piano classes. I wouldn’t have taken lessons with her if she hadn’t come highly recommended. You can ask my superior Oberführerin Kaiser, she approved of the lessons.”

“Another incredibly convenient coincidence, right?” the Gestapo man said, stepping closer to her and piercing her with his cold and cruel eyes.

“What…coincidence?”

“Oberführerin Kaiser left Warsaw with the Blitzmädels weeks ago,” he said.

“I…didn’t know this…we were supposed to relocate to a safer district of Warsaw on the day I was captured.” She couldn’t hide the trembling in her limbs anymore. For some reason the knowledge that her higher-up and all the other girls had left made her feel lonely. Vulnerable. Not that they could have helped her… “I really was taking piano lessons. I can prove it. I just learned to play my first real piece of music…” Panic snaked up Lotte’s spine. She didn’t want to end up in the Nazis’ hands again. Once was more than enough for a lifetime.

“Save the lies for someone else.” The officer stepped to the door and called for a guard. “Get her out of here. Maybe a night in our hospitality will loosen her tongue.”

No. Please don’t. Please…

she wanted to scream, but her resolve tightened her jaw and kept her from begging for mercy.

Two guards entered the interrogation room, grabbed her arms and hauled her to the end of the hallway, where they tossed her inside a cell and slammed the door shut. Despite the warm sunshine outside, the cold and damp cell intensified the tremble in her body. An opening in the door let dim light inside, just enough to see that there was no furniture in the cell. Not even a bucket to relieve herself.

Ravensbrück had been bad, but this was worse. She shivered and turned around with the certainty of being observed. Her heart thumping in her throat, she strained her eyes to see in the darkness. Nothing. She stepped deeper into the shadowed corner of the cell and hissed in a breath. A filthy, bloodied man in a German uniform, but wearing the red-and-white armband identifying the insurgents, crouched on the floor. For a moment, her heart leapt with joy.

“

Witam!

” she greeted him in Polish. In the hospital she’d learned to carry on a very basic conversation in this language.

The man continued to stare at her, not even blinking, making her doubt whether he’d even heard her. Just when she was about to say something again, he finally raised his voice and spoke in perfect German. “Kriminalassistent Heller said you were a spy. Just like me.”

It would be so easy to commiserate, to tell him everything, to team up with him and maybe – just maybe – find a way out of this rotten cell before the Gestapo had a chance to tear her to pieces. But something held her back.

“I’m not a spy. I’m a radio operator.”

He tried a half-smile with his bloodied face and said, “Come on, we’re in the same boat. You can tell me the truth. I might be able to contact your counterpart and they can get us out of here.”

Lotte tilted her head, wondering why he didn’t contact his own counterparts if it was such an easy task. Was he really a spy? “I’d love to escape, but I don’t know anyone who could help. I’m a simple woman working as a radio operator and I wouldn’t even know what a spy does.”

“Look, girl. I’m just trying to help the both of us. Tell me the truth and we thwart the Nazi thugs.”

Something in his voice made her wary. “I truly appreciate your offer, but I don’t know a thing,” Lotte said, convinced he wasn’t who he claimed to be. She slunk away into the opposite corner, huddling into a ball, her arms around her legs.

Despite her efforts to stay awake, she must have fallen asleep at some point, because she woke with the awful feeling of being watched. She opened her eyes and noticed the other prisoner standing in front of her and staring at her in a way that made her skin crawl.

“What do you want?” she asked, despite having a pretty good idea of his intentions.

“Tell me the truth. You’re my only chance to get out of here and I’m not going to let it pass.” He squatted down, reaching out a hand and toying with her hair.

“I am telling the truth. I’m not a spy.” Lotte slapped his hand away and scrambled to her feet, fear filling every ounce of her body. She moved as far away from him as possible in the confined space of the prison cell, controlling her urge to cry. Back in the camp the women always said, “Who cries tonight, will die tomorrow.” Lotte assumed this was true in a Gestapo prison as well. Although not crying didn’t ensure survival either…

The prisoner gave an angry laugh and followed her. “Why are you lying?”

“Back off and leave me alone,” Lotte warned him, infusing a courage into her voice she didn’t feel. Once again, he’d backed her up into a corner. Her hands shot up in front of her face.

“I don’t think so,” he said with a lecherous chuckle. “If I’m going to die because of you, you’ll at least sweeten my last night.” He shoved her back against the wall and began to tear at her uniform. “Tell me the truth and I’ll stop.”

For a moment the breath stalled in her lungs, the sound of ripping cloth piercing her ears. By now Lotte knew he wasn’t a Polish spy, but a mole for the Gestapo. Although his identity didn’t matter. She wouldn’t let him rape her.

Her time in the convent hadn’t been spent exclusively praying and helping with the orphaned children. Actually, most of the time she’d trained for situations just like this one.

She waited until the filthy man had shoved her skirt up to her waist and leaned closer to press his hard body against hers. Only then did she raise her knee, driving it into his groin as hard as she could while shoving him backwards with both hands.

He howled in pain, grabbed his crotch and fell to the ground, gasping for breath and huddling in a fetal position.

“I asked you to leave me alone,” Lotte said.

“You’ll regret not playing nice with me. There are much worse things awaiting you than sleeping with me,” he howled.

Lotte didn’t answer and was attempting to move around him when his hand shot out and gripped her ankle, unhinging her equilibrium. She spat at him, yanking her ankle away and yelling, “I’m innocent! But you…you are a lowlife criminal and deserve to be locked up in here! Your behavior is shameful and an insult to every other man!”

He crawled to the other side of the cell, still holding his crotch, screaming, “You bitch! I’ll make sure you regret not being friendlier to me!”

She ignored him, smoothed her skirt back down and retreated into the opposite corner, hissing a final warning. “Touch me again, even come near me, and I’ll make sure you never use what you’re holding again. I’ll kick you so hard that your groin comes out your throat.”

This time she forced herself to stay awake. She couldn’t let exhaustion overwhelm her and give him the advantage, so he could rape her while she was defenseless in her sleep. In the wee hours of the morning, heavy footfalls indicated the return of her captors.

“Did she talk?” one of the guards asked.

“No,” the prisoner answered as he was hauled away.

Despite his devious behavior Lotte felt a tiny pang of empathy for him and what awaited him now at the Gestapo’s hands.

They left her to rot in the damp cell without food or drink. Lotte lost track of time, her thirst so unbearable she licked the moisture from the walls. When they came for her again, she had no idea whether mere hours had passed or entire days.

“Did you have some time to think?” the Gestapo officer, who must be Kriminalassistent Heller, asked her, shoving her harshly into the interrogation room.

Lotte set her jaw tight and gave him a dark stare in return.

“Well, well. Looks like you’re one stubborn bitch. But make no mistake, I always get what I want. It just takes longer sometimes.”

“I’m not a spy. I have never done anything to damage Germany.”

“Is that so?” Heller loomed over her with a smug smile.

Lotte didn’t see it coming and yelped when he struck her face.

“It’s about time you started talking.”

“I’m innocent. I swear,” Lotte murmured, flicking out her tongue. The metallic taste of blood assailed her senses and dread flipped her stomach over.

“Who are your contact persons? Who are you working for?” Question after question rained down on her, only interrupted by slapping, punching and kicking.

“I’m not a spy…I’m a radio operator for the Wehrmacht,” Lotte repeated again and again, until two meaty hands gripped her neck. She choked in panic, ready to tell him everything he wanted to know, if only he’d let her breathe again.

She must have fallen unconscious because she woke from chilled water running down her head and gasped.

“Ready to tell me your contacts?” Heller asked.

“I don’t know anything or anyone. I never knew this woman was anything other than a piano teacher.”

“You will talk!” the officer shouted at her, his face becoming beetroot-red, and she feared he’d kill her right there and then. But much to her surprise he turned on his heel and left the room, leaving Lotte alone with her aching body.

Rough rope bound her hands, tied behind her back, and her ankles were chained to the legs of the chair. Licking the blood from her lips, she blinked. Her left eye was swelling rapidly, impairing her vision and removing the ability to keep it open. Hunger pains attacked her stomach, causing unwelcome memories to appear. Through her haze she saw a gaunt and bald woman look at her.

Verena!

This couldn’t be real. The woman, who’d taken her under her wing in Ravensbrück and taught her to survive, couldn’t be here.

“You must focus. Find your strength inside,” Verena said.

Lotte blinked, and the room was empty. She focused on sitting upright, her chin held high. The Nazis could torture her all they wanted. She’d never give her friends away. After an eternal time in agony, the door opened again, and her interrogator returned. Two guards trailing behind dragged a bruised and bloodied man between them.

His head slumped downward. His uniform with the Polish armband was torn apart, exposing cuts, bruises and burns on his entire body. Lotte cringed when they threw him at her feet and he moaned in pain.

“Look at what happens to those who lie to us. Wake him up,” Heller commanded.

A guard approached with a bucket of water and emptied it upon the prisoner. “Get up!”

The poor man stumbled to his feet and Lotte’s heart froze when she saw his face. Recognition hit his brown eyes the same moment it hit her.

Marek! Peter’s comrade. What kind of sick game are they playing here?

“Look at her. Is she a Polish spy?” the Gestapo officer demanded.

Marek stared at her, one eye swollen shut. He gave her a hateful look and then spat at her feet. “She’s a filthy German.”

The officer slapped him. “For all we know she’s working for the Home Army. She posed as a nurse in the hospital we liberated.”

“Liberated? You bastards killed everyone!” Marek hadn’t even finished his sentence when the officer’s fist connected with his ribs. A pitiful groan echoed through the room.

Lotte instinctively wanted to raise her hand to cover her mouth, but the movement was stopped by the coarse rope cutting into her wrists.

“So, you don’t deny knowing this woman?”

Marek righted himself before he answered. “I don’t know her. I saw her once at the hospital. Our people should have killed her instead of taking her prisoner.”

An evil smile spread across Heller’s face and his voice became velvety. “Suit yourself. I’m willing to indulge your revenge. Kill her, and you go free.”

Lotte watched Marek’s face, seeing the stunned look as the officer’s words registered in his brain. She was as good as dead. Even against the tortured and weakened man she didn’t stand a change. This Marek wasn’t a flimsy wimp like the mole they’d planted in her prison cell.

Heller winked, and another Gestapo brute stepped forward, pressing a knife into Marek’s hand. “Kill her, if she’s not a spy. Or spare her life if she’s one of yours.”