She chose a wild career , that of a professional motorcyclist . She joined the famous sports club Dynamo and became a prominent motorcycle racer . Then the troubles came . It was 1939 ; Russia was experiencing Joseph Stalin 's Great Terror , when millions were taken away to die , often inexplicably . Natalia was twenty-two . A young mechanic from Dynamo came courting her . When she boasted of her imperial lineage , he tried to blackmail her into sleeping with him . When she refused , he threatened to report her to the Lubyanka . Married and the mother of one , Natalia slapped him hard across the face . He was very tall and muscular , but " I was a very strong woman , " she said proudly . Still , she panicked and burned all of her family papers . She changed her sports club and went to another famous one , Spartak . But in several weeks the Lubyanka summoned her . The secret police people were explicit . She had only two options , they said . Either she became a secret agent or she would be shot
Great Terror
Great Purge
Natalia Androsova