The genius of evil Blofeld came from Gdynia. Moreover, this opponent of Agent 007 from the books of Ian Fleming might have had a surprising historical prototype. Did the writer hear about him from the Polish superagent Krystyna Skarbek?
The title secret organization that Bond has to deal with in the movie "Specter" was founded by our compatriot. Fleming called him quite exotic - Ernst Stavro Blofeld - but noted that he was the son of a Pole and a Greek woman. The very appointment of SPECTER (the Special Executive of Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Retaliation and Extortion) was the crowning achievement of Blofeld's long treacherous career. It started on the eve of World War II. And it is in this period that the prototype of the boss of SPECTER should be sought.
Own net, other people's money
As Fleming wrote in Operacja Piorun (1961), Blofeld studied economics and history at the University of Warsaw in the interwar period, and then engineering and electronics at the Warsaw University of Technology. Then, around 1933, he started working at the headquarters of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. There he understood the power of information, especially in the face of world war. He thus dealt with the confidential correspondence he copied.
Blofeld first appeared in the novel "Operation Lightning". Above the cover of the first edition.
He established contacts with Nazi Germany, took into account the Soviets and Czechs ("but he gave them up as insolvent or late paying"), and finally chose the Americans and Swedes (from whom Blofeld "poured a downpour of money").
However, the Polish intelligence, the famous Division of the Second General Staff of the Polish Army, did not sleep. When Blofeld sensed "that the Polish Two are on his heels , went to Gdynia, went to the Registry Office and the church where he was baptized, and under the pretext of checking the details of an imaginary friend, he precisely cut out pages with his own name and birth certificate. "
He obliterated his tracks, obtained a foreign passport and left for a safer place:first to Stockholm, and then to Istanbul, where he obtained the right to stay as ... a refugee. Then he assembled an even more powerful spy net and found a suitable principal.
Archbandzior from Poland
"First, he prudently made sure who would win, and only after Rommel was kicked out of Africa, did he decide to take on the Allies," explains Fleming. However, Blofeld was not satisfied with this:having settled in South America under a changed name, he began to devise more murderous plans.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld in one of his earlier film incarnations. "You Only Live Twice" from 1967.
Of course, paper could handle anything, and Fleming could have invented a villain as colorful and flawless as he wanted. However, it should be remembered that the writer often relied on his own experiences and specific characters. Fleming worked for British Naval Intelligence during the war. He planned complicated operations, he was also the creator of a commando unit specializing in operations behind enemy lines. Echoes of these events were reflected in his novels. Agent 007 was created from memories of various spies. And the first Bond-girl Vesper Lynd was an echo of Fleming's acquaintance with the superagent Krystyna Skarbek. It is therefore logical that Blofeld could have had some historical prototype as well.
Flawed Musketeer?
Fleming wrote that Blofeld was born on May 28, 1908. This date is indeed a birthday, except that ... of Fleming himself. So it won't help us much. In turn, the name of the head of SPECTER was borrowed by the author from a school friend . But what about the resume? Could Fleming have used the story of a Pole with confusing roots, endowed with technical talents and having access to secret data, who created his own spying network during World War II and played an intelligence game with superpowers? Was there someone like that? Yes, he was.
You will learn even more about Polish traces in great history by reading Adam Węgłowski's book. "A very Polish history of everything" (Znak Horyzont 2015).
His name was Stefan Witkowski. He was born in Moscow. His father was Polish, although years later there were rumors about Witkowski's German origins . Stefan grew up in Gniezno (not in Gdynia, like Blofeld, because at the beginning of the 20th century it was only a small summer resort). He studied at the Warsaw University of Technology (like the head of SPECTER), he was an inventor and businessman. In the 1930s he made contact with British intelligence.
When World War II broke out, Witkowski fought to defend the country. He was probably active in the sabotage unit supporting the Independent Operational Group "Polesie" and had access to a Polish secret weapon:anti-tank rifles wz. 35 ("Ur") . In 1939, he founded the underground organization "Muszkieterzy". He had numerous contacts in Poland and abroad. He tried to provide intelligence data directly to the British, but of course he was also in touch with the Polish underground authorities.
He was a risk taker. He used many nicknames - acted as Stevit (almost like Stavro, one of Blofeld's names) . He and his people traveled under different identities, even as German officers. And this is where the mystery begins.
Stefan Witkowski (left). Was he the prototype for Blofeld?
According to some, Witkowski got into a deal with the Nazis, he even acted to create collaborative Polish authorities! And that is why on September 18, 1942, in Warsaw, he was shot by the Home Army executors, and left a card on his body with a meaningful comment:"The greatest Polish bandit"! According to others, Witkowski was always a patriot, and he died as a result of regrettable Polish-Polish games.
Skarbek's mouth
However, Fleming did not have to know the whole truth to create Blofeld on the basis of facts and legends about Witkowski. It was impressive, after all, that the "Musketeers" reached the head of the Abwehr himself, Wilhelm Canaris, or that they sent people on a seemingly deadly mission to the Anders army that was being formed in the USSR. The understatements and exaggerations related to Witkowski (for example, about the fact that he allegedly worked on the "rays of death") added color to him. It does not matter for a writer's inspiration whether the Pole was a hero or a scoundrel - like Blofeld.
Krystyna Skarbek. Did the master of intelligence unknowingly make her friend Witkowski a literary archbishop?
But how and why would Fleming be interested in a mysterious Polish conspirator at all? Well, she got to know Witkowski well Krystyna Skarbek, the famous agent of the British SOE, who collaborated with the "Musketeers". She became acquainted with Fleming after the war, they had a romance lasting about a year, about which I wrote more in my book "A very Polish history of everything" . The creator of Bond was fascinated by the personality of the Polish woman - wrote that she radiates the charisma needed for a good literary hero. So he also needed to know the story of her life:adventures and dramas, names and former collaborators. Witkowski was one of the most important and colorful.
Skarbek was murdered in 1952. Apparently it was only the revenge of one of her rejected lovers. But by a strange coincidence, many of Witkowski's friends died after the war or were forced to hide. As if there was a ghost hanging over them. And the specter in English is just specter …