He was the idol of pre-war Warsaw, a movie star, playboy. Igo Sym - the son of a Pole and an Austrian woman - denied his homeland at the time of the trial. He chose to collaborate with the Nazi occupier. For treason and cooperation with the Germans, the underground sentenced him to death.

Karol Sym (because that was his real name) was born in Innsbruck on July 3, 1896 to a Polish-Austrian family. He was the second of the three sons of the Polish couple Antoni Sym and the Austrian Julia Sep. He dreamed of a stage since he was a child - and he had the conditions for it. In World War I, he fought for four years in the ranks of the Austro-Hungarian Army, reaching the rank of lieutenant. After Poland regained independence, he served in the infantry until 1921. A handsome lover, he began his career outside the army as ... an accountant in a bank. Later, already in Warsaw, he worked as a clerk.

Though the job was good, she didn't bring coconuts - which would put a shadow on Sym's later life. His marriage with Helena Fałat, the daughter of Julian Fałat, a well-known painter and rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, broke up because of money (or, in fact, the lack of it). The woman, used to luxuries, did not intend to live on a clerical salary.

At one point, she took the child and became involved with a wealthy doctor from Warsaw - Marian Niemczycki. Soon after, fate brought the divorcees together again. They met at the funeral. Their 9-year-old son died of meningitis. Helena could not stand the loss and committed suicide. Meanwhile, Sym entered the private film acting school of Wiktor Biegański.

Igo Sym. Too soft in "r"

He entered the artistic world as a survivor. According to some biographers, a family tragedy meant that he never remarried. He focused on the career he began in 1925 with a performance in the crime film "Vampires of Warsaw (as an attorney Tadeusz Wyzewicz)

The debut did not give Sym, who already used the name Igo at the time, fans or money. So he earned extra money by translating the conversations of filmmakers from Poland, Germany and Austria. During one of the meetings, it caught the eye of producers from Vienna. He was hired by Sascha-Filmindustrie AG.

In Austrian productions, he played rather side roles. He was a partner, among others Marlena Dietrich and Lilian Harvey. Nevertheless, he cared about upholding the opinion of an international star including fueling rumors about yourself. One of them claimed that the aforementioned Marlena Dietrich did not resist its charm. Was it really so? This is not known, at least Sym liked to show his friends a photo of the actress with a dedication. In return, he gave her a much more original gift ... The saw he played on can still be seen in the Dietrich museum. The "instrument" is engraved with the words "Igo Sym 1927".

Igo Sym (left) made his debut in the film "Vampires of Warsaw" in 1925. No copy has survived to this day.

After Austria, Sym had a film episode in Berlin, but he did not make his way to the top here either. He played in unambitious comedies. As noted by Iwona Kienzler, the author of the book "War fate of pre-war stars":"A career in German cinema, if of course you can talk about a career, ended for him when he entered the cinemas of sound films - apparently the actor had serious problems with pronouncing hard, the German "r". Despite these failures, Igo returned to Warsaw as a winner, radiant with the alleged foreign fame.

Women's hypnotist

After returning from the West, he performed in cabarets. Although he did not have a dramatic talent, he was perfectly capable of capturing the fair sex. At the end of the performance, he always chose one of the admirers, invited her to the stage and adored her in front of the audience.

It was thanks to the women who pounded at his performances with doors and windows that Syma was placed on a par with the greatest actors of the time - Adolf Dymsza, Mira Zimińska or Hanka Ordonówna. Anyway, Ordonka also did not manage to resist the charm of one of the most handsome Polish actors.

They met on the set of the movie "Spy in a Mask", in which she sang her famous hit "Love will forgive you everything". For Ordonówna, this was not the first "side jump". She had an affair with, among others, the acting star of that time, Juliusz Osterwa. When Igo Sym appeared on the horizon, she threw herself into his arms. She rightly assumed that her husband - aristocrat Michał Tyszkiewicz - would turn a blind eye to it.

"Syma and Ordonka's relationship was short, but passionate and stormy. It is said that Ordonówna ended it, who repentantly returned to her husband , and Count Tyszkiewicz forgave his unfaithful wife for the first and not the last time, "writes Iwona Kienzler in his latest book," War fate of pre-war stars. "

With a swastika in the lapel

In the second half of the 1930s, Sym had another German episode in his career. He worked for the local UFA label. Apparently, when visiting Poland, he often complained that he was fed up with that country and the growing Nazi obsession. But did he really think so? Soon the truth would come out. In the end, fate said "I check" .

In September 1939, Sym engaged in the construction of fortifications in Warsaw. During the fights for Warsaw, he served in the civil guard. Later, however, he revealed the cards. First, he got a job as a translator, then a job at the city hall. He often visited the house of the governor of the Warsaw district, Ludwig Fischer. In this way, he "came up with" the position of the governor's advisor for artistic matters. He was responsible for running the Polish and German stages at the Theater der Stadt Warschau, functioning in the building of the pre-war Polish Theater.

Igo Sym with Hanka Ordonówna and Leon Boruński in Łódź in 1935.

He was seen not only with a Nazi armband, but also in a Nazi uniform, scandalizing the artistic community. His colleague, actress Lidia Wysocka later recalled with horror:

It was the beginning of the occupation and I didn't recognize the German formations by their uniforms yet, so I don't know what uniform it was. Sym came out dressed like that from some office at Piłsudski Square. I could not be wrong. It was him. Before he noticed me, I turned and walked across the street.

The painful truth about Syma quickly began to reach people around him. He was a Nazi spy - long before the war. Even in the years leading up to the conflict, many people were surprised that the lover was full of luxuries (expensive furs, perfumes, cars and knick-knacks, which he eagerly collected). Where was he getting the money for?

When Poland was taken over by the Germans, Sym stopped hiding. Once, on the street, he met Gena Galewska, the daughter of a well-known pre-war set designer. When he saw her gaze fixed on the Nazi armband on the sleeve of his jacket, he said nonchalantly:“Did you imagine that I used to live only from the theater? Nothing of the sort. ”

The lover will not forgive you

As a man of the Nazi "culture", Sym dealt with organizing unsophisticated mass entertainment - because that was the only way the occupant had foreseen for Poles . He received a license to run the Komedia theater, and then an operetta. It was about delivering comedies and revues, often serving vulgar humor, lined with sex. Pre-war actors were even forced to work in such places. If they refused, they were threatened with harassment.

Igo Sym with Hilde Krahl in the German production film "Serenade".

Such was the fate of many Polish actors, including Hanka Ordonówna. Because she opposed playing in Nazi productions, she was detained by the Gestapo. She came to the Pawiak. “Her husband, Count Tyszkiewicz, made every effort to regain her freedom. Rejecting pride and a wounded male honor, he turned to her former lover for help. Igo Sym refused, although due to his position at the time, he could easily pull the appropriate strings to get Ordonka out of prison "- writes Iwona Kienzler in" The war fate of pre-war stars. "

Why didn't he help the old love? Perhaps he wanted to get back at her for ditching him. It is possible, however, that Sym's refusal was to be a signal to the entire community. In the meantime, the traitor who was referred to in underground brochures as "the sewer" began to ... blackmail his former colleagues.

Igo threatened to imprison those actors who dared to reject involvement in the Nazi, propaganda, anti-Polish libel "Return to the Homeland". The film was about bad Poles who abused the German minority - until the arrival of their noble saviors, the Nazi army. Sym did not play in the controversial production himself, but his participation in recruiting the cast was widely known. For this and other crimes, the underground sentenced him to death.

"You have thugs, for Poland"

On March 7, 1941, in the morning, someone knocked on the door of his Syma apartment in Warsaw at ul. Mazowiecka. My sister-in-law answered. Two men stood in the cage (Roman Rozmiłowski "Silver" and Corporal Wiktor Klimaszewski "Mały") who politely asked to see Sym. As soon as the woman turned around, the bombers stormed inside. Igo, in a bathrobe, went out into the corridor. "You are rogues, for Poland," he heard, then felt a burning pain in his chest. He collapsed to the floor, shot to the very heart.

According to Andrzej Kunert, only General Stefan "Grot" Rowecki, the commander-in-chief of the Union of Armed Struggle, and later of the Home Army, could have issued consent to the removal of such a famous figure. The historian emphasizes that the case also had its own propaganda dimension:

The sym was too famous and the underground needed an action that would remind all of occupied Poland that there was an underground army, that the fight was ongoing . So, first of all, they gave up poisoning him, although such an offer had been made. Secondly, when the information that the traitor was going to escape was received, it was decided to accelerate the action. The spectacular killing of Sym was needed by the underground.

The Germans, on whom the attack made the expected impression, organized a funeral for Sym. Mourning was also announced and cinemas and theaters were closed for its duration. In retaliation, they arrested 18 women and around 100 men . Among them were, among others Stefan Jaracz, Leon Schiller, Zbigniew Sawan, Janusz Warnecki, Elżbieta Barszczewska and Zofia Małynicz. Twenty hostages were also shot. It was the price to take out the traitor.

Interestingly, Igo's older brother Ernest never collaborated with the Germans. He was an important man of the Polish underground. As an employee of the Nasierowski pharmaceutical factory and the Department of Chemistry of the National Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw, he had access to resources needed to produce explosives and produced bombs for the Home Army. After the end of the World War, he continued his academic career and did not leave Poland.