The Germans Helped a Captured Polish Spy Escape - But He Ended Up Working Against Them

In November 1941, German intelligence officers arrested a Polish spy named Roman Czerniawski in occupied Paris. For almost a year, he had been running a secret intelligence network that passed information about German military movements to the Allies. Now his organisation had been uncovered, and many of the people working for him were in German hands.

Roman had been an officer and pilot in the Polish Air Force before the war. After Poland's defeat in 1939, he made his way to France, where he continued working against Germany. By late 1940, he had helped establish an intelligence network called Interallié, which eventually included around 150 agents and informants.

Unfortunately, the Germans discovered the organisation. One of Roman's closest colleagues, Mathilde Carré, began cooperating with German intelligence and revealed information about the network. Roman was imprisoned, and the Germans soon realised that he might be more useful to them alive than dead.

An officer from the Abwehr, Germany's military intelligence service, offered Roman a deal. If he agreed to work as a German spy in Britain, arrangements would be made to protect members of his captured network. Roman agreed, but he would ultimately use the arrangement against the Germans.

In July 1942, the Germans arranged an elaborate escape from captivity. A staged accident involving a prison convoy made it appear that Roman had escaped, although he was actually being transported separately under German supervision. He travelled through Spain and Gibraltar before reaching Britain. He was questioned by Allied intelligence officers and eventually revealed that he had agreed to work for the Abwehr.

British intelligence was understandably cautious. After all, the Germans had deliberately sent him to Britain, and they needed to be certain where his loyalties lay. However, Roman eventually joined MI5's Double Cross system, which used agents believed to be working for Germany to send misleading information back to the enemy.

He was given the codename BRUTUS and began passing carefully prepared reports to his German contacts. Some information was genuine, which helped maintain his credibility, while other details were deliberately misleading.

By 1944, Roman was helping with the deception surrounding the Allied invasion of France. His reports supported the false impression that the main invasion would take place near the Pas-de-Calais, even after Allied troops had landed in Normandy on the 6th of June. The hope was that Germany would continue holding forces back rather than sending them to reinforce Normandy.

Roman was one of several double agents involved in this remarkable deception, but his contribution was important. The Germans continued to trust information coming from a man they believed they had successfully recruited.

Roman survived the war and settled in Britain. He died in London on the 26th of April 1985, aged 75.

I find it quite extraordinary that the Germans went to so much trouble to help Roman reach Britain, believing they were gaining a valuable spy. Instead, they had helped put one of their opponents in a position to deceive them.

Image info:

Roman Czerniawski, later known as Agent BRUTUS. Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe / Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.