Wonder Woman of the Week: Krystyna Skarbek

Krystyna Skarbek’s funeral in 1952 was met with a small crowd, but her role in one of the largest wars in world history may have saved the free world. Krystyna- who went by the name Christine Granville during World War II, was a Polish-born Jew who managed to escape Poland just before the German invasion in 1939. When she found out her nation was in trouble, she signed up with the fledgling spy agency that would become MI6 and went to work as a British Intelligence Operative.

After working in Poland to counter Nazi propaganda, the British Government became impressed by Skarbek’s skills as a spy and deployed her to France. During WWII, a spy’s life expectancy in France was about six weeks. She quickly became one of Britain’s greatest war spies and survived the war.

Unfortunately after the war, Skarbek’s life unraveled and she quickly fell from the wealth of her pre-war family fortune to end up as a maid on a cruise ship. She was killed in 1952 by a man who became obsessed with her. Today however, Poland and Britain both celebrate the life of Krystyna Skarbek- the spy who saved Europe, and this week’s Wonder Woman of the Week.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22482926