Zum Hauptinhalt springen
Nicht aus der Schweiz? Besuchen Sie lehmanns.de
Between Hitler and Churchill - Yaacov Falkov

Between Hitler and Churchill

Two Jewish Agents and the Attempt by the British Counterintelligence Service to Prevent a Secret Agreement between the Polish Government-in-Exile and Nazi Germany

(Autor)

Buch | Softcover
366 Seiten
2025
Academic Studies Press (Verlag)
979-8-89783-005-3 (ISBN)
CHF 38,35 inkl. MwSt
Between Hitler and Churchill tells an unbelievable story of two Polish Jews who determined the course of World War II. One, by secretly brokering a Polish-German rapprochement that might end the war. Another – by assisting British intelligence in thwarting this move by killing the middleman.
Between Hitler and Churchill exposes an unknown facet in the World War II history: the attempt of a senior official in the Polish government-in-exile to collude with the Third Reich and a successful British intelligence operation which thwarted this move in its infancy. This surprising and fascinating event is described through the personal stories of its two main protagonists, Polish Jews. One of them mediated the said Polish-German contacts, while the other assisted the British in capturing the mediator in the Middle East and murdering him there without trial. Although it reads like a historical thriller, the book is based on British, Polish, German and Russian diplomatic and intelligence reports, many of which are revealed and analyzed here for the first time.

Dr. Yaacov Falkov is an Israeli-Latvian historian and former Visiting Scholar at Oxford University, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), and The World Holocaust Remembrance Center Yad Vashem. He teaches at Tel-Aviv University, consults for Holocaust museums in Israel and Latvia and writes extensively about World War II history.

Important Background Events 

Officer Ranks of the Polish Armed Forces during World War II 
Major and Minor Dramatis Personae 
Glossary of Terms, Abbreviations, and Acronyms 
Acknowledgments 


Introduction. A Chance Encounter at the Warsaw International Airport and Its Surprising Ramifications



Preamble: Talking with the Enemy
A Common Destiny, with Limited Liability 
The Kingdom’s Most Important Prisoner 
The Enemy of My Friend Is My Friend 
The Fuehrer Wishes to Strike a Deal 
The Reich’s Key Bargaining Chip
An Unexpected Short-Term Symbiosis 
Offers of Friendship amid a Bloody Bacchanal 
The Loyal Professor’s Double Game 



Part One

VILE TRAITOR OR SUPERHERO?


Chapter 1

From Provincial Polish Jew to Chilean Diplomat

Obscure Origins 

Renouncing His Roots

Getting Acquainted with Berlin 

The Fiasco in Paris and the Return to Poland 

Rescuing Jews and Reaching out to the Nazis 

In the Frock Coat of a Diplomat 


Chapter 2

The Miracle Worker of Occupied Warsaw

The Escape from Hell as a Pleasure Trip 

The Great Comeback in France 

The Office on Frascati Street 

The Road to Freedom through the Enemy Lair 

Gestapo Officers Thrown Into the Street 

The Birth of the Wondrous Union of the “Tiger” and the “Fox” 

“I Have Done Something for Poland” 


Chapter 3

The Top Player of Fascist Bucharest

The Polish War on Romanian Soil 

No More Trips to the General Government 

The Polish Rival and His Bulgarian Connections 

The End of the Fragile Partnership 

The Move to Turkey 

The Polish Desk at the Chilean Embassy 

 

Chapter 4

A Base of Operations and Secret Negotiations on the Banks of the Bosporus

In the Backyard of the World War 

An Open and Cynical Struggle 

Among Criminals and Nazi Spies 

Acting at the Behest of the Polish Government 


Chapter 5

Suspicions, Preparations for Neutralization, and an Abduction in Istanbul

The Beginning of the Great Hunt 

The Object of Surveillance from the Ambassador Hotel 

A Partner in the Crosshairs 

“A Little, Cunning Jew” 

The Odd Inmates of the Latrun Prison Camp 

The Last Stage in the Struggle for the Fate of “Lis” 

A Belated Alibi from the Gestapo Files 

The Failure of the Game of Prevention 

The Most Sensitive Undertaking 

“The Turks Have Given an Outstanding Performance!” 

Hints in the Ambassador’s Diary 

A Noble Flight 


Chapter 6

Publicity, Investigation, and a Mysterious Death in the Sands of Haifa

A Worldwide Sensation 

The Mysterious Inmate P. 

The Invention of a Nazi Superspy 

The Intelligence Analyst Crying out in the Wilderness 

Futile Interventions 

An Anonymous Grave in the Land of the Forefathers 

A Polish Domestic Affair 


Part Two

A COUNTERINTELLIGENCE ACE OR A DESPICABLE SADIST?


Chapter 7

A Plot Hatched in London under the Auspices of MI5

Terrified Poles in Palestine 

The Mystery of Room B at the Westminster Hospital

The Grey Eminence of the Polish Army in Exile 

Cast Down from the London Olympus 



Chapter 8

Egyptian Exile, Professional Fiasco, and Disappearance in the Mists of History 

The Best Investigator in the Middle East 

The Survivor from the KMF 25-А Convoy 

Captain Dunlop Refuses to Rewrite Reports 

“A Super-Intriguer Who Has Fallen out with This Department” 

A Life without Aspirations 


Part Three

THE WORLD AFTER SAMSON AND EDWARD


Chapter 9

The Battle Over the Legacy of “Lis” 

A Tiny Army in a Large Leather Suitcase 

A Polish-Turkish Diplomatic Crisis around the Division of Jewish Property

The Lawyer Florin Writes to General Gürsel 


Chapter 10

The Fates of the Secondary Characters in this Drama, against the Backdrop of the Processes That Shaped Its Course

The Chronicle of a National, Political, and Personal Fiasco 

The Desperate Search for a Polish Quisling 

The Betrayers Betrayed 

Keeping a Low Profile 


Afterword

A Perfect Tragedy of Imperfect Heroes 

Open Ranks

Sane Realists in the “European Jungle” 

The Legacy of Thucydides 




Sources and Bibliography 

Notes

Index of Names

Erscheinungsdatum
Übersetzer Michael Sigal
Zusatzinfo Illustrations
Verlagsort Brighton
Sprache englisch
Maße 155 x 233 mm
Themenwelt Literatur Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
Sachbuch/Ratgeber Geschichte / Politik
Geschichte Allgemeine Geschichte 1918 bis 1945
Geschichte Teilgebiete der Geschichte Militärgeschichte
ISBN-13 979-8-89783-005-3 / 9798897830053
Zustand Neuware
Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR)
Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt?
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
die große Flucht der Literatur

von Uwe Wittstock

Buch | Hardcover (2024)
C.H.Beck (Verlag)
CHF 36,40
der deutsche Vernichtungskrieg gegen die Sowjetunion. Eine Revision

von Jochen Hellbeck

Buch | Hardcover (2025)
S. Fischer (Verlag)
CHF 49,95