IGO SYM in Poland - Beautiful and Damned !

Описание: Handsome and athletic Austrian-Polish actor Igo Sym (1896-1941) played classy gentlemen, aristocrats and army officers in Polish, Austrian and German films of the 1920's. After the German Invasion of Poland he decided to co-operate openly with the
Gestapo and in 1941 he was killed by members of the Polish resistance movement. Since that time , the name of Igo Sym has been in Poland a synonym of the traitor and miscreant.

Karol Juliusz 'Igo' Sym was born in 1896, in Innsbruck, Austria, as a son of Austrian citizen, Antoni Sym and Polish woman, Julia Sept. During World War I he served in the Austrian Army, becoming a lieutenant. After the war, he served in the Polish infantry until 1921, then took up the job of a civil servant. His film debut took place in Poland 1925, in the horror film Wampiry Warszawy/The Vampires of Warsaw.

In 1927 he left for Vienna, where he signed an exclusive contract with Sascha--Filmstudios AG.
At the beginning of the 1930's Igo Sym starred in German films and in 1932 he returned to Poland and settled in Warsaw. He appeared in the entertaining cabaret thriller "Szpieg w masce"/The Spy in the Mask (1933), starring famous singer Hanka Ordonówna :    • Видео   .
Unexpectedly, he then concentrated on stage work in Warsaw's theatres -- with his excellent Polish language. Then he recorded two songs for Polish Syrena-Electro label. He would play in revues and operettas, singing, dancing and accompanying himself by playing the singing saw. Still in 1939 he did play secondary roles in Polish films: "Złota maska"/The Golden mask (1939) and "Żona czy nie żona"/ A Wife Or Not a Wife (1939) :    • Видео   .

When the Deutsches Reich invaded Poland in 1939, Sym signed the Reichliste and took part as Volksdeutscher in re-structuring the Polish theater life. He became in charge of the German theatres in Warsaw. In late 1939, Sym also became a Gestapo agent. According to preserved documents, the actor had been cooperating with Berlin before 1 September 1939. At the beginning of the war he helped to organize a trap, in which Hanna 'Hanka' Ordonówna was caught (Ordonówna had been Sym's pre-war partner on the screen and his friend from Warsaw's theaters...). She was hiding for the Nazis but arranged one day to meet Sym at her old residence and there she was arrested by the waiting Gestapo. They put her in prison in Pawiak, but she would survive the war and died in 1950. Polish resistance quickly found out Sym's involvement, and a group of agents, led by Teatr Komedia actor Roman Niewiarowicz, started to trace his activities.

In 1940 Igo Sym successfully tried to win Polish actors to play in the baiting propaganda film Heimkehr (1941, Gustav Ucicky). In early 1941, the headquarters of the underground Polish resistance group Związek Walki Zbrojnej (ZWZ) decided to liquidate the collaborator. Sym's behavior was loudly trumpeted by the Nazis, and his assassination would show the Poles that the underground movement was active, always ready to punish all traitors. At first, the ZWZ planned to poison the actor, but later decided to shoot him instead. At 7:10 a.m. on March 7, 1941, two Polish agents knocked at the door of Sym's apartment in Warsaw. One of the agents shot Sym with a Vis pistol. Igo Sym, struck in the heart, died on the spot. On the same day, German loudspeakers on the streets announced that hostages had been taken as revenge for Sym's death. Then, posters appeared on the walls stating that more hostages would be taken and curfew would be enforced from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. The Nazis threatened to shoot all hostages unless those responsible for assassination were found. All theatres were closed, and about 120 people were arrested, including teachers, physicians, lawyers and actors. The population of Warsaw was given three days to find Sym's murderers. As nobody was found, on March 11 in Palmiry, 21 hostages were executed. Several actors were also arrested and sent to Auschwitz, among them such notable figures as directors Stefan Jaracz and Leon Schiller.
/Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia, and IMDb./

As an interesting artist who contributed to Polish culture and from historical point of view - as a shameful personality who contributed into the occupant's suppressing actions carried on in that country - Igo Sym seems to be worth remembering.

All visuals regarding Sym and used in the video are of Polish origin, 1926-37 -- JP's collection.

1930 German Derby 78rpm record presents semi-mythical Karkoff-Orchester with an anonymous chorus vocalist in a bit "Marschieren" tango. For the use of the video it was played and transferred without any mastering or cleaning process; except for a great number of clicks caused by the misuse of the steel needle; they had to be cut out (digitally).

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