On December 14th 2011 the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression held a celebration in memory of Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz, one of the most famous agents of the Allied Forces during World War II. The event took place in Nowy Świat St., near the house where Iwanow-Szajnowicz was born.

Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz was born on 14^th December 1911 inWarsaw. His Russian father and Polish mother divorced when he was young. His mother then married a Greek and emigrated with her son to Thessalonica in 1925. Iwanow-Szajnowicz was brought up in the spirit of patriotism which prompted him to take out Polish citizenship. In the 1930s, he was one of the best European swimmers and represented Poland in water polo. He studied agriculture in Belgium and France where he obtained the title of engineer. He spoke six languages.

After the outbreak of World War II and the arrival of the first wave of Polish refugees inGreece, Iwanow-Szajnowicz helped to organize the evacuation of soldiers from Thessalonica. In 1940, Agency “A” of the Second Bureau of the Commander-in-Chief’s Staff in Athens enlisted him to serve in Polish intelligence. After the fall of Greece, he was transferred to Agency “T” in Jerusalem and, in agreement with the base for communications with Poland of the Sixth Bureau of the C-in-C’s Staff in Cairo, was sent toGreece, where he was to work for both organizations.

In October 1941 he was relocated to the Thessalonica region by a British submarine, which is indicative of the importance of his mission. Later he was probably transferred to the British special forces, that could utilize his capabilities more effectively. In Communist Poland’s propaganda, the lie was put about (e.g. in the film “Agent No. 1.”), that Iwanow-Szajnowicz reported to the command of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade, where he was treated with suspicion as the son of a Russian. In turn, the British were supposed to see a potentially great intelligence agent in this educated and athletic Pole and afterwards relocated him toGreece.

This Polish agent supplied the British with valuable military and political information on occupied Greece, it’s war industry and sea and rail freight schedules. He was known for his daring sabotage actions, in which he utilized his rare combination of remarkable agility and good intelligence training. He coordinated initiatives aimed at sabotaging military production and blowing up military railway transports. The destruction of German U-Boats - the U-133 in the bay of Eleusis, and the U-372 in Corinth– with magnetic mines, is considered to be one of his greatest achievements. He eluded the Gestapo twice. On 8^th September 1942, he was captured by the Germans, betrayed by one of his associates. On 2^nd December, a German court handed him a triple death sentence. He died on 4^th January 1943 in Kesariani, shot during an escape attempt from the place of his execution.