The Kronenbergs, a well-known Polish entrepreneurial family, have roots dating back to the Napoleonic era. Lejzor Hirszowicz, Wanda Kronenberg's great-great-grandfather, moved to Warsaw from Wyszogród. Initially interested in studying holy books, he quickly changed his career path and took up the tobacco trade. His father, a rabbi, opposed this.
It quickly became apparent that Lejzor was a talented entrepreneur. He initially conducted retail trade, later wholesale, and eventually became the main tobacco supplier for smokers in Mazovia. Establishing an office and then a bank, Lejzor changed his name to Leopold Kronenberg.
The most spectacular display of the Kronenberg family's wealth was the impressive palace in Warsaw. This building was located on Królewska Street, right next to the Saxon Garden. In the past, the Kronenbergs headed banks, mines, and factories, but they also engaged in numerous charitable activities. They financed, among other things, the construction of the Warsaw Philharmonic and the monument to Adam Mickiewicz, and during the partitions, they supported the printing of Polish newspapers. They also played a significant role in the Russian economy, which earned them the hereditary title of barons of the empire.
Wanda Was Characterized by "Recklessness and Risk-Taking". The Intelligence Quickly Became Interested in Her
Wanda's father, Leopold Jan Kronenberg, was a man of broad horizons. He kept an open house for people from various backgrounds. His wife, Wanda de Montalto-Rowton, of Italian descent, was a widow of an English engineer. Despite different origins—she with an English passport, he a Pole of Jewish descent - they fell in love and settled in Warsaw after World War I.
Leopold and Wanda had two children. Their son, named after his father, was the first to be born, followed by their daughter, who was named after her mother. The young Wanda (born in 1922) quickly became known as "one of the most beautiful ladies of Warsaw high society". Her charm and grace impressed many men, and it was partly because of this that she became a significant figure in society.
This young woman, of the type the Russians call 'razviaznaja barysznia' (a combination of great audacity and temper), whose dominant trait is recklessness and risk-taking. A pretty, slender, dark-haired woman with an oval face and lively, intelligent eyes
- reads a report by the AK (Home Army) agent codenamed Jastrzębiec, as quoted by the portal plus.polskanews.pl.
It is no wonder that Wanda attracted the attention of various state special services. In 1939, Kronenberg, her husband, and two other men formed a group engaged in espionage, probably operating on two fronts - Polish and German. Interestingly, this group was broken up by German intelligence. As a result, two members of the group known as "Orda" and "Dżers" ended up in Auschwitz, and Wanda's husband, Witold Jasiłkowski, known as "Grot," was arrested. Nevertheless, Wanda did not give up espionage. She escaped to Lviv, where she was recruited to work for the Gestapo. It is known that on December 13, 1941, she met with Oberscharführer Otto. Shortly afterward, she started working for the NKVD Division Commissioner and then collaborated with the Polish underground, becoming a double agent.
A Woman of Mystery with Many Names. "Many People, Mostly Men, Fell for Wanda"
Why did Wanda decide to cooperate with the Germans? There is no certainty about this, but there are some suspicions.
Blackmail might have been involved. Wanda's father was suspect due to his origin. By 1941, he had been imprisoned three times. Her mother was also suspect: an Englishwoman, a citizen of a country at war with Germany. Wanda's parents lived in constant danger. (...) Maybe Wanda wanted to save them? Maybe she received an offer she couldn't refuse? Either she cooperates, or they go behind bars. There's also the matter of the arrested 'Grot.' Maybe Wanda hoped to achieve something for him?
- wrote Michał Wójcik, author of the book "The Baroness: On the Trail of Wanda Kronenberg".
Many people, mostly men, fell for Wanda Kronenberg, Edith Müller, Wanda Jegoroff, agent Vera, or Lida (she had several other personas as well). Poles, Russians, Germans, Ukrainians. Apparently, a Romanian too. And probably an Englishman. Mostly military men and conspirators. On the Polish side, soldiers and underground operatives. On the German side, Gestapo officers, SS men, and ordinary Wehrmacht soldiers. Aristocrats and intelligentsia, but also clever peasants. And many ordinary fools. Wanda got rid of the latter without scruples
- Wójcik states, quoted by the portal weekend.gazeta.pl.
However, not everyone fell for her charms. In one of her reports to the AK, Wanda wrote that "the attitude towards her had extraordinarily changed". - I sensed that I needed to get out of there as soon as possible. One of the more sympathetic SD non-commissioned officers gave me a subtle hint that if I valued my freedom, it would be better if I left as soon as possible - wrote Kronenberg.
This referred to Oberscharführer Otto, who publicly declared that Wanda was an agent working for foreign intelligence. The person who helped her was Dr. Schmidt, also known as Paul Firckers. An Abwehr (German military intelligence and counterintelligence) officer, he helped Wanda in May 1942 by taking her from Lviv to Warsaw.
Dr. Schmidt began working for the RSHA, the Reich Main Security Office. Shortly after helping Wanda Kronenberg, he gave her the first task of tracking a Russian collaborator, Boris Smyslovsky. The Russian fell for her charms but quickly came to his senses and realized that someone was working against him. He struck decisively by sending a denunciation of the baroness to SS-Hauptsturmführer Wolfgang Birkner. Smyslovsky wrote in it that Wanda was a British agent.
Meanwhile, Kronenberg was providing reports not only to the Germans but also to the Home Army. Over time, she felt that the Poles were not ready to fully utilize her potential. Reports about her emphasized that she was too young, couldn't focus, and lacked experience.
"'Lida' repeatedly stressed that working for the Gestapo protected her parents and family from the consequences of their Jewish origin" - reads one of the AK reports.
Home Army, Gestapo, or Secret Service? "Whom Is She More Loyal To?"
Analyzing all the documents dedicated to Wanda, Michał Wójcik concluded that the Polish counterintelligence began to underestimate the agent because "everything the girl informs about is coerced information, not worthy of serious consideration." They also emphasized that "she would not hesitate to tell any lie" and questioned her dedication.
"Whom is she more loyal to: the Germans or her own people? So far, no one has realized that she is primarily loyal to herself. Working on both sides, she thinks about herself," wrote Wójcik.
From 1943, Wanda operated on a larger scale, as she was no longer alone. She formed a small group that included three young men: Sergiusz Karol Wołoszyn from the Gestapo and two Kochanowicz brothers, who were convinced they were working for the Allies. Kronenberg recruited them the same way she infiltrated other circles, by seducing them, playing on their emotions, and creating mutual rivalry. She also taught them these tactics. Wanda's colleagues exploited women from the Polish war underground, getting them drunk, seducing them, and extracting information from them.
- She was dangerous because, as the daughter of a famous family, she knew almost all the important people in the country: social and political elites. However, it seems that her espionage activities were not as simple as described in AK reports - Wójcik stated, quoted by the portal dzieje.pl.
They Lined Her Up Against the Wall and Shot Her. Allegedly, They Found a Pistol and a Whip on Her
Shortly afterward, Wanda Kronenberg became a victim of intrigues at the Gestapo headquarters on Aleja Szucha in Warsaw. Cooperation with Alfred Spilker, an SS-Hauptsturmführer in the German army, brought her only trouble. Spilker was the initiator of the Sonderkommando IV AS, a special unit for eliminating the resistance. He had tasked Wanda with creating a list of high-ranking former Home Army members who would agree to cooperate with the Gestapo. Wanda managed to escape this predicament thanks to her charm and manipulation skills. She avoided torture, labor camps, or death.
Ultimately, it was not the Germans but the Poles who sentenced Wanda Kronenberg. Michał Wójcik found that her fate was decided by the Military Special Court in February or March 1944, although it is not clear what she was sentenced to death for. Some sources suggest it was for misleading the Home Army on a critical matter. It is also possible that it was for an attempt to ambush General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski or because she knew too many secrets.
Wanda Kronenberg was executed by Home Army soldiers during the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944. Major Władysław Abramowicz, codenamed "Litwin," wrote in the documentation that when Kronenberg was arrested, a pistol and a whip were found on her. After World War II, it was discovered that an aristocrat received a large compensation from the British government for the death of his daughter. This raises the question: was Wanda Kronenberg also working for the Secret Intelligence Service? We may find the answer when the British declassify their archives.
