On May 1, 1908, a child of a Polish count and a banker's daughter was born, coming from a Polish-Jewish family. Krystyna Skarbek, because that was her name, in 1938 married a Polish writer, Jerzy Giżycki (she had been married once before). The young spouses went to East Africa, where they enjoyed the sun ...
On September 1, 1939, the idyll ended. The Nazis entered their homeland, there was nowhere to go back. In the same year, determined Krystyna, wanting by all possible means to fight for Poland, left for England. On the spot, through a friend, she made contact with the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from which she was transferred to the Special Operations Management (SOE).
She received her first assignment in the same year. Christine Granville (this was one of the pseudonyms used by Krystyna Skarbek) was directed to Hungary, where she met a very close "friend" - Andrzej Kowerski. Not only was she a woman, but she also hadn't undergone training to become a SOE agent! Nevertheless, she received a mission - she was to support the Polish resistance movement.
The art of biting your tongue
Until January 1941, when they were arrested by the Hungarian police, Christine and Kowerski crossed the Polish-Hungarian border six times with Polish refugees. During the interrogation, none of them broke.
Krystyna Skarbek and Andrzej Kowerski.
They both told credible stories about themselves and denied affiliation with the resistance with great conviction. Granville emerged masterfully. During the interrogations, she bitten her tongue with all her might, which filled her mouth with blood.
Instead of answering questions, she spat blood and stubbornly persuaded interrogators that she was seriously ill with tuberculosis and that she did not have much time left. This perfect lie saved her and Kowerski.
After the two agents were released from detention, the British embassy in Budapest arranged for their papers and evacuated from Hungary. In 1941 they appeared in Cairo.
The local office SOE did not know what to do with a temperamental Polish woman. Tasks were planned for her in various parts of Europe, and finally in 1943 she went to England, where she received her first agent training.
Christine herself caused minor problems to her superiors. The young, beautiful woman was well known to the Gestapo in Eastern Europe , which in a way ruled out this area of activity.
Krystyna Skarbek among French partisans. August 1944
Beautiful, or rather too beautiful for an agent, was noticeable and especially men remembered her face very quickly which made it difficult to blend in with the crowd and was a threat to her during the service.
Krysia threatens the Gestapo men
Finally, on July 7, 1943, she was transferred by plane to France. There, under the code name "Pauline", she was to work as a courier for the Résistance network. Soon after, its commander, along with two of his associates, was arrested by the Gestapo. Krystyna then made an almost doomed attempt to free them.
As if nothing had happened, she burst into the home of a local policeman, claiming to be General Montgomery's niece. She demanded to see the head of the Gestapo, announcing that she had important news for him, but his translator appeared instead.
For three hours, the agent kept telling him that the captured people were high-ranking Allied officers. She lied that she was in constant radio contact with her superiors, who - if the prisoners were not released immediately - would pacify the village the same night.
Churchill's favorite agent had that peculiar twinkle in her eye…
She colored her description with the information about what the Allies would do to the Germans and all collaborators . She repeated it so persistently until the translator believed that the only way to save her own life was to hand over the prisoners to her (which he immediately did).
What happened to the beautiful agent?
After the war, Christine had a lot of jobs. She was, among others, a waitress, saleswoman and flight attendant. Her romances also multiplied, and the men were ready to do anything for her. After such stormy adventures, she did not know how to fully find herself in the post-war reality . Death did not find her asleep either.
She lived anxiously, she died anxiously, June 15, 1952, stabbed to death in London by a jealous friend .
Admittedly, her life was short, but the adventures of war allowed her to go down in history forever. She is considered one of the most remarkable women agents of World War II.
Not only have numerous articles and even books been devoted to her, but she also became the prototype for the character of Vesper Lynd, the heroine of one of the James Bond stories - "Casino Royal". She had an affair with the author of the Bond novel, Ian Fleming ... Currently, a feature film directed by Agnieszka Holland is being made. "Christine:War My Love" .