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bigger prize. Her documents did not stand up to scrutiny and when
the Germans searched the house they and found her radio.Lilian was
arrested and taken to SD headquarters at Avenue Foch in Paris where
she was interrogated before being taken to the infamous Fresnes
Prison. On 8th August 1944, with the allies advancing on Paris, Lilian
and other captured SOE agents were sent by train to Germany. In late
August Lilian arrived at Ravensbrück concentration camp, where along
with SOE agents Violette Szabo and Denise Bloch, she volunteered
for a work party at Torgau in Saxony, where conditions were marginally
better. The women attempted to escape but this failed and they were
sent back to Ravensbrück, where they were beaten and put in an
underground bunker. On 19th October, they were sent to Königsberg in
Brandenburg where they were forced to do heavy labour in the freezinf
winter conditions. Sent back again to Ravensbrück in late January
1945, by this point the woment were in a terrible state. Lilian could
barely walk and Denise Bloch was suffering from gangrene. Their
return to Ravensbrück was to be brief; a few days after their arrival,
the women were taken to the courtyard outside the crematorium. The
camp Commandant Fritz Suhren read them the order for their execution.
The women were then shot in the back of the head with a small caliber
pistol, and their bodies swiftly cremated. An eyewitness reported later
the women were “very brave” and that the Commandant was annoyed
that the Gestapo “did not themselves carry out the execution.” rather
then leavign the task to him.
Post War
After the war ended, Lilian was one of the missing agents whos
whereabouts were investigated by Vera Atkins in her personal mission
to discover their fates. Her mother, who was living in Paris at the time,