[Icelander]

Andrezej Horváth
Codename Cherub

Andrezej is a gypsy recruited in Romania. When the Red Army revealed that their policies towards the Roma people were no more favourable than the ones of the former masters of the land, Andrezej looked for a way out. He was able to convince an OSS officer, Frank Wisner, to take him on as a radio operator and in the service of the US, he eventually moved into occupied Germany.

A small and slight boy, no more than 5’4” and perhaps a 110 lbs. soaking wet, Andrezej is not one to inspire fear or horror. In fact, most people would overlook him on the street, as he is exceptionally good at seeming to be nothing more than another schoolboy or day-labourer. In this, he is helped by the fact that he still looks to be in his teens. If someone were to take a closer look at him, they’d notice that his withdrawn demeanour conceals an unprepossessing beauty. Thick raven curls frame his delicate face and his dark eyes are large and expressive. Looking into those eyes, however, shatters the illusion of a beautiful youth. They are haunted, there is no other word for it.

Andrezej is closed-mouthed about his past. In his 11-year service with US intelligence, only the following details have come out, and that in bits and pieces. He is much older than he looks, as he was apparently born in Spain to a Gitani mother and a Vlax father in 1928. His family travelled, usually between Spain, the south of France and Italy. When the Spanish Civil War started, his father was fought for the Republic. In 1937, Andrezej started running messages and moving supplies for his father’s band of guerrillas. He was present when his father was killed in an airstrike late that year. Along with a group of other Roma who did not wish to take part in the war, his mother and siblings left Spain as well, and Andrezej was forced to go against his furious objections.

Andrezej’s mother knew few people in France and did not like it there. She moved on to Italy, which eventually proved uncongenial and the next stop, in 1939, was Yuguslavia. For a few short years, the family was happy. Then came the Axis invasion of the country and they found themselves under German rule. As the harassment and repression of their people continued to mount, several of the group, most Gitanis, wanted to try to leave the country and try for neutral Spain, where the war had ended a long time ago. Andrezej’s mother, though, was unwilling to break German passport regulations, having seen far less severe transgressions punished with severe beatings.

In 1942, most of the family was transported to southern Poland, near the small town of Oświęcim where they were to be interned in a camp intended for families of non-Aryan background. The name of this camp was Section B11e and the town was at the time known by a German name, Auschwitz. Andrezej does not speak of what happened during the two years he spent at the camp.

On August 6th, 1944, Section B11e was dissolved. Andrezej was among those who were shipped to factories where they were expected to contribute to the war effort. He somehow managed to escape shortly afterwards and made his way to Bucharest, where he knew that his father had some family who might help him. He reached Bucharest after the coup in Romania had removed that country from the Axis side, but was unable to find any of his father’s family. One of the people he talked to, taking pity on the obviously dejected and lost boy, get him in contact with the Americans, whom he said were always looking for local interpreters. Andrezej didn’t speak much Romanian, but he had a very good reason to learn quickly and found ways to make himself so useful to the OSS that when they left the country, he followed them.

For three years between the end of the war and until the CIA finally started to build on the contacts left by the OSS, he found himself with little to do and survived by petty crime in the American occupation zone of Germany. When the CIA arrived in Germany, he found himself being used as a courier and watcher. He performed well enough to merit training in these skills, mostly getting it from the British in exchange for running the occasional errand for them as well. Andrezej learned well and became quite proficient at surveillance and counter-surveillance, so that eventually the SIS eventually tried to steal him away from the CIA. Andrezej was loyal, though, to the ones who had rescued him, and he had become captivated by the idea of being allowed one day to emigrate to America. For that he would need a tidy sum of money, however, many years of pay for his work as a watcher and courier.

With the hardening of the US position in 1950, the CIA’s de-facto strategy shifted from containment to rollback, even though this would not become official US policy for another three decades. As a consequence, Andrezej found himself trained in weaponry, explosives and covert action as preparation for his eventual role as ‘stay-behind’ if war erupted or, even more alarmingly, in preparation for sending him on some secret mission behind Soviet lines. He already had good reflexes and instincts and one of his trainers, a former Marine Raider, remarked that “he was a lethal little feller, sure ‘nuff”.

When William King Harvey arrived as Station Chief in early 1952, it did not take him long to discover Andrezej as one of his most loyal, courageous and competent agents. His poor German prevented him from doing much work in actually recruiting and running agents, but he had few peers as a surveillance expert, courier and, increasingly, Harvey’s bodyguard (of which he usually had several, advance and perimeter, as well as at least one doing close protection).

Equipment:
Expensive Brown Concealed Carry Overcoat (Holdout +5; Weight 3 lbs.); Moccasins (Stealth +1, 1 lbs.); East Berlin labourer’s outfit in tan and brown (Disguise +1, 2 lbs.); Ithaca Auto & Burglar 20G 2.5” shotgun (Weight-reduced by gunsmith) with No. 4 buckshot (Dam 1d(0.5) pi-; Range 30/600; RoF 2x20), muzzle down on an expensive one-point sling under the left shoulder (Holdout -3, Fast-Draw (Longarm) +0, Weight 4.8 lbs.); Escheverria Star Mod MD pistol in 7.63x25mm Mauser with high-visibility sights, stock and 16-rd extended magazine in Condition Three in custom cross-draw flap holster on right side (Holdout -3, Fast-Draw (Pistol) -2, Weight 4.2 lbs.); Good-quality Concealed LBV (+1 Holdout; -1 Fast-Draw (Ammo) with two 16-rd 7.63x25mm Mauser extended magazines, 2 32-rd 7.63x25mm Mauser extended magazines, 2 13-rd 9x19mm magazines and 6 No. 4 buckshot 20G shells (Weight 6 lbs.); FN-Browning High-Power 9x19mm Parabellum pistol in undercover holster in the small of the back (Holdout (-2+2) +0; Fast-Draw (Pistol) -2, Weight 3.4 lbs.); Navaja (folding knife) with 11” blade (Very Fine; Balanced) thrust into left side of belt (0.7 lbs.); Razor-sharp presentation coin (Knife skill, sw-4 cut, Weight neg.); Covert Survival Kit (Optimised for urban survival, so exchanging snares and fishing kits for $50 dollars, Weight 0.5 lbs.).
Total Weight: 25.3 lbs.