Reports from Nazi soldiers and the Baroness herself state that geneticist Arnim Zola copied the brain patterns of Nazi scientist Heinrich Zemo, just as Zola had done with Adolf Hitler. Whereas Hitler's mind was transferred into a clone upon death, becoming the Hate-Monger, Zemo's mind was allegedly transferred into the body of a young woman to disarm others. Regardless, the Baroness' first recorded activities involve donating money and arms to numerous terrorist states in Eastern Europe. Contracting with the Yakuza, Heike hired the White Ninja to steal the madness-inducing Cassidy Crystals from Osborn Industries. She planned to bombard world capitals with Cassidy Crystals, believing the terror-stricken masses would then welcome a takeover by her Nazi Party. Silver Sable enlisted Spider-Man to stop the Baroness, and they traveled to her Black Forest, Bavaria castle, overcame Heike and the White Ninja, and stopped the Crystal-filled missiles. In the process, Heike was exposed to the Crystals and driven temporarily insane. Seeing herself as a monster, she smashed her face into a mirror to tear off her skin. Blinded by blood, she tried to launch the missiles, but inadvertently pressed the self-destruct button. The Baroness fought off Spider-Man's efforts to rescue her before the castle blew up.

Surviving, she later claimed her origins to be false, and she married Baron (Helmut) Zemo, Heinrich's son. Wearing a costume patterned after Helmut's, with both of them wearing latex masks over their scarred faces, Heike relocated to Castle Zemo in Malpaso, Mexico. They chose 25 children who fit their Aryan profile from Damon Dran's white slavery ring,, adopting and brainwashing them as their Kinder (named for the Nazi Wunderkinder, or Wonder Kids, a.k.a. the Hitler Youth). Heike met with the radical feminist Superia to discuss empowering the children. When Superia offered Heike a position of power in her organization, Heike expressed interest and her willingness to eliminate Helmut. Overhearing the conversation, Helmut had Heike and Superia gassed and bound, but released Heike after she told him she was only manipulating Superia to gain her process for physical enhancement. However, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Diamondback (Rachel Leighton), and Free Spirit-all having tracked the missing children-overcame the Zemos' defences and attacked them. Both Zemos dove into a molten vat of Adhesive X, protected by their insulated costumes, and escaped down a tunnel, but Captain America recaptured them. Helmut Zemo later heard that Heike died in prison.