Intelligence cooperation between Poland and Japan during the Second World War

Abstract

Military cooperation between Poland and Japan, including cooperation of intelligence officers, began after the two countries established diplomatic relations in March 1919 when Japan recognized Poland as an independent state. This cooperation thrived during the 1930s. Tokyo decided that Warsaw can be a valuable strategic point and a Japanese intelligence coordination centre for Europe, which would be oriented towards the East and the West (the USSR and Germany). In exchange for information, the Japanese allocated Polish intelligence liaison officers in their diplomatic posts in Germany, the Baltic states and Scandinavia. The Japanese enabled them to send reports in the Japanese diplomatic mail and issued suitable forged documents. The centre for this cooperation was Riga and Kaunas, later Berlin, Prague, Königsberg and Stockholm.