Having destroyed with his terrific swim capabilities German ships and then with a terrible bay over 300 aircraft of the "Luftwaffe" Greek-colonel Georgios Ivanov was one of the most effective saboteurs of the WWII.
His life and action
Jerzy Szajnowicz Iwanow was an athlete, a native of Poland, born in Warsaw on 14-12-1911. After the death of his Russian father, his Polish mother married the Greek Yannis Lambrianidis and moved family to Thessaloniki. In his teenage years in 1928, Ivanov was written to the great sports club of Heracles of Thessaloniki, initially fighting successfully in his football team. But swimming soon won him. From 1931 to 1935 he participated in Pan-Hellenic bathing competitions.
In 1934 he won the first place in the 100 meters free with time 1 and 22. At the same time he was also struggling with the Heracles water polo team, which at that time was by far the largest sports club in the city.
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In 1935 he acquired Polish nationality, in 1938 he finished his studies in agriculture at the university. He spoke quite satisfactorily six languages (Greek, Polish, Russian, French, English and German). When Poland collapsed at the beginning of the Second World War, Ivanov tried to join the exiled Polish army, but did not catch up because Poland collapsed in a few days. After the capture of Greece by the Germans, he traveled to the Middle East where he joined the Polish brigade "Karpathia".
In the Second World War
Polish intelligence services recognized Ivanov's rare abilities and, in cooperation with the English secret services, he trained him intensely into sabotage and unorthodox war. When Ivanov's training was perfected, he returned to Greece (in particular in Athens) on 13 October 1941 with the British submarine Thunderbolt having the code name of agent "Bolly".
He had an order from Cairo to come in contact with a new small resistance organization founded by John Bogotinos, Dimitris Yannatos and the brothers Constantine. But immediately after his arrival in Athens, he was arrested by the Germans on 18 December after treason.
Ivanov managed to escape from his cell in Averoff Prison in a bold and almost cinematic way. The Germans won him with 500,000 drachmas (reckoning at the time) and his moves in Athens became very difficult and dangerous. With the help of all the small resistance and courageous people such as the legendary Lila Karagianni, Ivanov managed to find hiding places and ways to escape from any monster.
When the first German submarines arrived in Salamina in 1942, Ivanov decided to sabotage the U-133 as it was the largest, had immersed a British destroyer and used it for the training of Italian sailors. The way he chose was impressive and very difficult.
He was provided with an explosive clock mechanism, which he tied around his waist and swam from the coast of Piraeus to the Salamis naval station. He placed the bomb in the submarine hulls, which was then patrolled for 2 hours. The German submarine was blasted and plunged into a submarine with its 45 crew members on 14 March 1942.
The official German exhibition of the time claimed that the submarine had been hit by a mine, although there are signs of the report suggesting that perhaps the submarine sinking might have been sabotaged.
After this great success, Ivanov continued the sabotage on warships of the Axis. So it blew in exactly the same way the Spanish steamship "Saint Isidorus" used by the Germans as cover for smuggling. In May 1943, Ivanov managed to enter disguised as a German soldier at Hellenic Airport, blowing a large number of German planes explosively. The same sabotage was repeated at Elefsina Airport, destroying 87 airplanes! But now all their occupying forces are searching with perseverance and intensity and are constantly coming to capture it.
Capture and execution
On September 8, 1942, after the betrayal of Pantelis Lamprinopoulos, the superstopper Gerzi Ivanov is captured with many close associates (Dimitris Giannatos, Kostas Giannatos, Michalis Papazoglou, Vasilis Maliopoulos).
The trustee received 2,000,000 drachmas. In the "trial" that followed, the accused were all sentenced to death by summary proceedings. Archbishop Damaskin himself visited Ivanov shortly before his execution to support him in his difficult last moments.
On January 4, the seventeen convicts were taken to Kesariani for execution. While they were carrying pedestrians there, Ivanov tried to escape again, though handcuffed. He managed to get away, but his persecutors shot him, injured him on the shoulder and caught him again.
All fighters were set up in the ten steps. Few moments before Ivan's last words were executed: "Long live Poland, live Greece".
Assessment of the overall action
The overall action of Ivanov is difficult to assess, as there are insufficient and fully cross-referenced elements for his action. Our knowledge is based mainly on the post-war testimonies of his collaborators who were saved but who could not recall the events. Of course there is no relevant information in the press, as censorship did not allow references to sabotage.
Thus, apart from the four big blows we have described and we are absolutely sure, Ivanov was probably responsible for many smaller sabotages that are not known in their details. Libyan's half-brother, alive, argues that because of his brother's action, about 450 aircraft engines were being destroyed in the Middle East and returned and many planes were dropped due to this sabotage.
In addition to sabotage and sabotage, Ivanov collected valuable information about the Allies, which he sent via the Middle East radio. Ivanov faced many additional difficulties in his movements in Athens. Because he had Slavic facial features and the Authorities had his photos from the first conception, he was constantly disguised and his freedom of movement was limited. His outfit circulated all along with his photograph, the amount for his capture was important and that was where he eventually sealed his tragic fate.
Nowadays Poland has proclaimed Ivanov a national hero, his memory remains alive and timely as statues have been set up and his name has been honored on streets and squares all over the country. In Greece, Ivadov's statue was built in Thessaloniki on Langadas Street, there is a street with its name, and since 1953 and every year there are organized swimming trips in the city under the name "Ivanofia".
To his credit, Heracles has given his name to his indoor gym, which is also the hot seat of the basketball team, known by the Panhellenic as "Ivanofio".
Because Ivanov's action was unorthodox and particularly bold, he was inspired by the film script. The color film was shot in 1972, it is an expensive Polish production called "Agent Nr 1" and describes Ivanov's action in the World War II. Her filming took place mainly in Athens, in the actual locations of the events. Finally, both countries honored Ivanov with the greatest talent of their bravery.
Recently the GM Heracles organized events for the hero Ivan and inaugurated the exhibition at the War Museum while the Polish authorities actively participate in all the events and information of SDNA.Gr report that a new film production is planned in Hollywood for the life of Ivanov ...
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