It's time to end the unhealthy fascination with Her Majesty's most famous agent and with the product of communist cinematography, Hans Kloss. Why deal with fictional characters, if Poland had a spy who not only acted with spectacular momentum, but also really existed?
Jerzy Sosnowski was born into a Polish noble family. Before the First World War, he was a member of the Lviv branch of the Polish Gymnastic Society "Sokół".
When the war broke out, he joined Piłsudski's troops and fought until 1918, in the meantime attending a school for officers. After regaining independence, he remained in active service as a lancer. On the battlefield, he achieved four V-class Crosses of Valor and Virtuti Militari.
From the beginning of the 1920s, this bright young officer had an eye on the emerging intelligence services of the Second Polish Republic. In the end, Sosnowski was recruited and on January 1, 1925, he became a two-man, that is, an employee of the famous Division of the Second General Staff of the Polish Army, dealing with, inter alia, intelligence, counterintelligence and diversion.
A hot period was starting in European politics. Poland, which had regained independence only a few years earlier after 123 years of partitions, was under threat from all sides, and its defenders needed eyes and ears in every critical center. Especially just beyond the western border. Although the Treaty of Versailles greatly weakened the country's military potential, it would be dangerous naiveté to believe that Germany will humbly abide by its terms. In addition, the Weimar Republic undertook military cooperation with the USSR, de facto outflanking Poland, which simply could not be ignored.
Jerzy Sosnowski, Polish ace of intelligence (photo:public domain)
Monitoring the Reichswehr, the armed forces of our western neighbor, has become a matter of the utmost importance. The superiors from Division II decided to use the irresistible personal charm of a handsome lancer, who was fit, brave and able to keep a cool head. As Sławomir Koper writes in his latest book "Polish spies" , Polish intelligence decided to change tactics:
[Versailles Treaty records - ed. ed.] reduced the number of officer positions, as a result of which a lot of office positions were occupied by ladies. […] In Germany, exhausted by war, it was not easy to get a good marriage party at that time, so the lonely and frustrated Reichswehr workers could become an easy prey for the gallant lancer.
Berlin's high life
In February 1925, Sosnowski first left for Paris with his wife (who had previously been Colonel Rómmel's fiancée, recaptured by him in an atmosphere of scandal) and racing horses, and then without a wife (the marriage broke up), but with horses, go to Berlin. There, he introduced himself as baron Georg von Nalecz-Sosnowski, a wealthy landowner. Thanks to the generosity of Division II, he could make a lot of noise around him. He spent money, paid his friends' bills, played at races as a horse owner and successfully competed in them himself, gaining popularity among the local socialite. Most of all, however, he was a devilishly effective seducer.
Hans Kloss, known from the spy series, seduces another woman in almost every episode to obtain important information or secret documents. The exploits of the television spy are nothing compared to what Sosnowski did. The handsome lancer started by falling in love with the beautiful Benita, who was so blinded by love that, knowing that she was an agent of Polish intelligence, she gave him her friends working in Reichswer.
Among them was an extremely valuable associate - Irene von Jena, who held a position in the budget department of the German armed forces. Documents confirming all the Reichswera expenses, including the military cooperation between Germany and the USSR, proving the violation of the Versailles Treaty passed through her hands.
Sosnowski seduced his agents, pampered them, took them to the most expensive places, and finally began to offer large sums for copies of documents to which they had access at work. At the same time, he made them accustomed to exquisite life and made sure that they did not accidentally put aside a larger sum of money and become independent. Years later, it is impossible to properly answer the question of what was it about a Polish agent that made all his co-workers fall in love and officially romanced several of them at once. At the same time, his agents knew about each other and had no complaints about their lack of fidelity.
The super spy from the series Hans Kloss has acquired his own museum (photo:bonczek_hydroforgroup, CCA 2.0 license)
Sosnowski also recruited a friend of Benita Günther Rudloff, whom he helped to deal with gambling debts. This account turned out to be especially valuable because the man was a high-ranking Abwehr officer who was hiding a Polish spy. Thanks to him, our agent could operate undetected for so long - Rudloff registered him as ... an associate of the German military intelligence. This cover made it possible to dispel all suspicions about Sosnowski's true intentions.
A plan to attack Poland?
Thanks to the extensive network, he also managed to gain access to many other secret information, including, as Sławomir Koper writes in his book "Polish Spies", data on German research on armored weapons and aviation. He obtained so many documents that he had to develop a special system for transferring information to Warsaw.
His network obtained such large amounts of documents that the spy began to dose them to Warsaw in order not to lower the price he received for the information. It was so effective that in the end Division II began to wonder if it might be materials crafted by the Abwehr. Meanwhile, Sosnowski kept working, finally winning the plan of a war between Germany and Poland. When he presented his superiors with the possibility of purchasing this information for a staggering sum of 40,000 marks, Warsaw decided that such a chance was simply not possible.
German Fokkers D.XIII in the secret aviation center in Lipiecko (photo Bundesarchiv, RH 2 2292, Bild No. 207, license CC BY-SA 2.0 de)
The spy stole the materials from his co-workers and gave them to Poland free of charge, but the credibility of the document was questioned along with the loyalty of his co-worker. In Division II, people began to suspect that he was a double agent. Ultimately, Warsaw rejected the prey and allowed it to be sold to other intelligence services. The French and the British were more than willing to take over the plans to attack Poland, which turned out to be the most real.
Marshal's pet
As long as Lieutenant Colonel Tadeusz Schaetzel, who favored Sosnowski, was in the position of the head of Division II, his position was safe. Moreover, almost all of Germany's surveillance was based on this one agent's net. Józef Piłsudski also favored his hellishly effective spy and was personally interested in his achievements. With his death, Sosnowski lost his protective umbrella. Things started to get nasty in Berlin as well.
Lea Kruse, who performed under the pseudonym Niako, during the tour of Poland (photo:public domain)
Abwehr finally managed to propose a Polish agent to a woman who blunted his so far infallible instinct and who did not want to be part of the "harem" he had organized in the German capital. The dancer Lea Kruse reported on the unfaithful lover to Abwehr, and at the same time ... warned him of his troubles.
Finally Sosnowski decided to leave, but he was not going to do so quietly. With a truly uhlanic fantasy, he decided to organize a farewell party, to which he would invite members of his network and Abwehr agents at the same time. As a man known for his extravagant games and sparing no expenses on the parties he organized, he attracted the entire cream of Berlin's social life. The party ended when the Gestapo burst into the apartment and arrested the host and many guests.
Information sources:
- Koper S., Polish spies, Bellona 2018.
- Kurpis W., Berlin mission, Bellona 1983.
- Misiuk A., Special services of the Second Republic of Poland, Bellona 1998.
- Pepłoński A., Polish Intelligence on the USSR 1921-1939, Bellona 1996.