Ratline

[H]e laid hold of the first ratline with his right hand, then sprung to the second, with his left, and so on alternately, right and left, up to the last, close to the futtock shrouds.

That meant it was not possible to use ratlines — that is, to make rope ladders out of the shrouds by adding small connecting pieces of ropes.

Marc Masurovsky, of the European Shoah Legacy Institute, has a remarkable knowledge of the Nazi ratlines and Allied intelligence.