Jerzy Sosnowski

Jerzy Ksawery Franciszek Sosnowski (Lemberg, Austrian Galicia, 3 December 1896 – 1942, 1944, or 1945, in Poland or the Soviet Union) was a Major in Section II ("Dwójka") of the Polish General Staff and a Polish spymaster in the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany (1926–1934), where he used the pseudonyms Georg von Nałęcz-Sosnowski and Ritter von Nalecz.

His father was an engineer who owned a construction company in Lemberg, capital city of Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In August 1914 Jerzy Sosnowski joined the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in the Austrian army, and late in the same year he was transferred to the cavalry officers’ academy in Holice.

Upon arriving in German capital, Sosnowski presented himself as a Polish Baron Ritter von Nalecz, who deeply disliked Jozef Pilsudski and wanted to closely cooperate with Germany.

In December 1926, he talked her into cooperating with Polish intelligence, as she, owing to her connections, had a detailed knowledge of the German General Staff.

Sosnowski's quick successes raised temporary suspicion among officers of the Second Department of the General Headquarters in Warsaw.

In 1929 Sosnowski, with help from Renate von Natzmer, acquired a copy of a war game against Poland, called Organisation Kriegsspiel.

"[6] According to some sources, Benita von Falkenhayn wanted to marry Sosnowski, and thus save her life by obtaining a Polish passport, but Adolf Hitler is said to have thwarted this attempt.

[8] 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.

Sosnowski denied all charges, but on June 17, 1939, he was found guilty of treason and co-operation with Germany and sentenced to 15 years as well as a fine of 200 000 złotys.

He allegedly worked as an expert on Polish and German affairs, and among others, he reportedly participated in interrogations of General Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz.

[3] After the outbreak of German-Soviet War, Sosnowski, who had become an NKVD agent, taught at an espionage school in Saratov, where, in 1943, he was promoted to the rank of colonel.