Arrest and Return To Poland
In the fall of 1933, the Abwehr found out about the Polish network of agents, probably due to the treachery of Lieutenant Jozef Gryf-Czajkowski, who was a double agent and who had previously held Sosnowski’s post in Berlin. Also, a German actress Maria Kruse, another of Sosnowski’s lovers, helped the Abwehr with the operation.
Sosnowski was arrested by the Gestapo on February 27, 1934, during a party in an apartment at 36 Lützowufer Street. Within a few days, more people were incarcerated, including Benita von Falkenhayn, Renate von Natzmer, and Irene von Jena. Günther Rudloff managed to avoid arrest, as he claimed that due to cooperation with the Pole, he managed to get useful intelligence information. The Nazis found out about Rudloff's activities later, and facing the death sentence, he committed suicide on July 7, 1941.
The process began in February 1935. On the 16th of the same month, von Falkenhayn and von Natzmer were sentenced to death and later beheaded, while Sosnowski with von Jena were sentenced to life imprisonment. Sosnowski himself was shocked at the deaths of his mistresses, as he was quoted in Time, in the August 17, 1936 issue: I am haunted by the deaths of those women. Until I was released in an exchange of prisoners I had seen no human face for 14 months. My food was lowered to me by guards from a trap door. The tragic deaths of those two - my former associates - haunt me night & day and I can only attempt to gain peace through prayer for their souls. According to some sources, Benita von Falkenhayn wanted to marry Sosnowski, and thus save her life by obtaining a Polish passport, but Adolf Hitler thwarted this attempt.
The agent was released in April 1936, when he was exchanged for three German spies, caught in Poland. As Polish headquarters had always been suspicious of Sosnowski and his astonishing successes, he was accused of fraud and high treason and put under house arrest. His trial started on March 29, 1938, in the Military District Court in Warsaw. Sosnowski denied all charges, but on June 17, 1939, he was found guilty of treason and cooperation with Germany and sentenced to 15 years as well as a fine of 200 000 zlotys fine. He wanted to appeal against the decision, but the outbreak of World War II made it impossible .
Read more about this topic: Jerzy Sosnowski
Famous quotes containing the words arrest, return and/or poland:
“An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.”
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (18691948)
“To save the theatre, the theatre must be destroyed, the actors and actresses must all die of the plague. They poison the air, they make art impossible. It is not drama that they play, but pieces for the theatre. We should return to the Greeks, play in the open air: the drama dies of stalls and boxes and evening dress, and people who come to digest their dinner.”
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