AS POLISH INTERVIEW — SZYMANISH HAlina
AUTOR MATEUSZ LABUZ
Krystyna Skarbek is surely the most celebrated Polish intelligence agent from planet War II. Her fame clouded any of the accomplishments of another spies, who besides wrote beautiful past cards. Among them, Halina Szymanska deserves peculiar attention. An enigmatic character, and thus highly interesting. She was expected to be the secret contact of the German chief Abwehr Wilhelm Canaris, who tried to communicate with the Allies on the overthrow of Adolf Hitler.
STARTS
Halina Szymanska was born in 1906 to an aristocratic family. Even if it predisposes her to be in elite social circles. Its origin was given access to salons and access to the most crucial figures of the planet of military and politics. From a young age, she was promising as a capable, intelligent, well-educated woman. erstwhile she became the wife of Antoni Szymanski, who was appointed a military attaché in Berlin in 1932, she led a comparatively quiet life of the woman of the house, who was well found in the salons, entering into a kind of stereotype of a "diploma wife". In the 1930s, she had the chance to get to know the social cream restoring the power of the 3rd Reich Empire. Among many contacts, 1 was peculiarly valuable.
Ms Szymanska recognizes Abwehra's boss
A stay in Berlin was spent on Szymanska taking care of the home and 3 children and “being”. Szymanska participated in many events, rautas, accompanying her husband during authoritative meetings. It's not known erstwhile she made a closer relation with Wilhelm Canaris. At the time, Abwehr's boss did not shun contacts with Poles, they were a origin of crucial information spoken in milady in diplomatic spheres. The intelligence commander was keenly curious in what was happening in Warsaw, eagerly discussing with the staff of the attache. It was under these circumstances that he met Halina Szymanska. The intelligent, young female who was fluent in German was a large talker. Later events indicate that she had to combine them with a unique thread of intimacy. After the outbreak of planet War II, Antoni Szymanski and embassy workers had to flee Berlin. Halina was already in Poland at the time. During the September campaign, Szymanski fought in defence of Lviv and got into russian captivity. He was released from it only after the Sikorski – Majski arrangement and entered the formation of General Władysław Anders' army formed in the ZSRS. But let us return to his wife, for her destiny seems much more interesting. Fearing for her life and 3 insignificant daughters, she decided to search contact with a man who could aid her in a terminally hard situation. She reached Poznań, and there she made contact with Wilhelm Canaris. This one, in turn, rightly advised her not to stay in Poland and offered to go to Bern. He had his own hidden interests in it. During this time, a secret organization was formed in the territory of the 3rd Reich, whose main intent was to counter Adolf Hitler's regime. Members of the alleged “Black Orchestra” rightly believed that in general terms Germany would endure defeat, at the hazard of massive human and material losses. The conspirators had the support of many higher commanders, and possibly the most crucial figure of the organization was Canaris. It is not known how the talks between Canaris and Szymanska took place. I'm certain they were in good spirits. There will be those who might propose their affair. Their shared past to this day has not been full explained, which adds to its spice. The chief of intelligence decided to usage Halina Szymanska to initiate contact with the British, thereby implementing the assumptions of the “Black Orchestra” – all action against the dictatorship brought the conspirators closer to overthrowing it. Why Szymanska? First of all, due to the almost limitless trust Canaris had. Prof. Jan Ciechanowski besides notes the second crucial reason for choosing Poland: “Canaris sought contact with British intelligence, and Poles were suitable as liaisons. In 1940 they were the only militaryly active allies of the British, and these highly valued our intelligence skills.”
ANNEX
In fact, Szymanska rapidly contacted Polish and British intelligence. In December 1939 she was most likely speaking to Captain Szczęsny Chojnacki or Colonel Tadeusz Wasilewski, who represented the Polish agentura in Switzerland. Szymanska got the nickname Halina Czarnowska in Poles. In the following months, she besides met with representatives of Britain, and yet with Allan Dulles himself, who created a dynamic intelligence network in this part of Europe. The Allies realized the tremendous possible of Szymanska contacts. They had a chance to scope the summits of Nazi power, and information from Canaris may have proved invaluable during the forthcoming military confrontations. There are conjectures that the British have coded it “Knopf” as an highly valuable agent of peculiar importance. Why? Canaris travelled repeatedly to Switzerland and Italy, where he held individual meetings with Szymanska, providing her with circumstantial information on the structure of the Nazi state's functioning. It's not rather clear how the conversation between a friend of 2 went. The full substance seems to be inactive covered in mystery today, why the restraint of Szymanska herself after the war served. During the war, Polka was hired on a phase in a Polish message in Bern, which provided her with a legal cover. In addition, she negotiated with the British citizenship for herself and children and a warrant of military retirement. This fact already showed how resourceful a female she was, following highly pragmatic reasons and the request to safe the future of her family. From the German side, her prime contact was sent back by Canaris to Switzerland by Hans Bernd Gisevius, the right hand of the head of Abwehr and a associate of the Black Orchestra. There is no direct evidence of the information Szymanska provided to the British. On the basis of the "Knopf" act, it can be concluded that there were plans for a possible assassination of Hitler, descriptions of the situation on the African and russian fronts, as well as prospects for the operation of the German army. All of this may have proved invaluable in allied planning. The dialog with Canaris – mainly by Gisevius – continued until the arrest of the admiral, who was deconspired in 1944. On April 9, 1945, he was murdered on Hitler's direct command. Gisevius, in the second phase of the conflict, was mainly in contact with Dulles and safe to see the end of the war.
FRUIT LOSS
After the war Halina Szymanska remained in the shadows. She didn't flaunt her intelligence, she didn't look for publicity. She could not return to Poland due to activity in the west. The fresh communist authorities persecuted repatriates who served in the British ranks, which prompted Szymanska to stay on islands where she received military salaries for war merit. She later emigrated from Britain to the United States, where she died in 1989. Andrzej Jarmakowski rightly notes that only erstwhile she was persuaded to interview BBC television. Her large virtue was speechlessness, which brought the erstwhile agent aura of mystery. She never recorded her memories, never published any sensational stories, although her stories – as evidenced by papers of British agencies and eyewitness accounts – could shake the planet of researchers of the past. She took the secrets to her grave without revealing what they truly looked like spectacular and highly crucial to the Allied operations she was straight active in.
It is worth noting that after more than seventy years since the end of planet War II, the past of Polish intelligence agents is inactive sensational stories, in which not everything has been explained. Life stories of the heroine inspire a lively interest of historians and readers, as the author Marek Łuszyn, whose publication entitled “The Needles” was published by PWN Publishing House, collecting very favorable reviews from the audience. Despite the expanding documentation, there are inactive many puzzles waiting to be solved. However, erstwhile we consider how well the native agents were masked, it is hard to anticipate the final details of their résumés. They were surely extraordinary characters, and their life is simply a ready-made script for a sensational film, which is simply a large proof, for example, of Halina Szymanska.
Source:
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FANPAGE VITRINE: World War II
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