Roman Träger

Roman died in 1987 in Bydgoszcz and is buried at Cmentarz Nowofarny in the city.

The Trägers' contribution to the fight against Nazi Germany was for a long time ignored in People's Republic of Poland, as official communist propaganda tried to minimize the role of the Home Army and other non-communist groups in fighting the Nazis. It was only in the 1970s, after some limited political and social reforms, that a commemorative plaque for both father and son was finally put up, at the kamienica in Wełniany Rynek (Wool Market) where Augustyn lived during the war.

Of the four copies made by the Home Army, one, hidden in the basement of former Arka workers Hanna and Adam Mickiewicz, was accidentally destroyed by Soviet soldiers who were billeted at the Mickiewiczes' home and used the basement as a latrine and waste dump. Another copy was buried in the ground, but soon after the war a housing project was constructed on top of the site. A third copy was burned by its holder who was afraid of being imprisoned if it were found by the Polish Communist Secret Police or the NKVD; during the Stalinist era in Poland, former Home Army were persecuted by the authorities and the microfilm would have been proof that he had been a member of the organization. The fourth copy survived however, sewn into Hanna's corset and was not found despite several searches of the Mickiewiczes' home and the arrest of Adam (he was released after Stalin's death in 1953 during the resulting period of political liberalization). Based on these experiences Hanna kept the existence of the final microfilm secret for many years, to keep appearances wore the corset in everyday life, and did not come forward with the information until after the fall of communism, in 1991. When finally recovered many of the microfilms had sweat stain on them and some were unreadable. The recovery took several years; the first restored documents were not available until 1999.

He was the son of Augustyn Träger, who was also active in espionage against the Germans. Roman's biggest accomplishment was the compilation of reports about the German factory and testing facility of V-1 and V-2 rockets on the island of Usedom. After these reports were given to the Polish Armia Krajowa (Home Army), who in turn passed them on to British intelligence in London, the Allies bombed Peenemünde in Operation Hydra in 1943, killing two V-2 rocket scientists and delaying V-2 test launches by seven weeks.

Roman passed his reports on to his father who, in May 1943 traveled to Warsaw where he submitted them to the intelligence unit of the Home Army, codename Lombard. The reports were sent on to the Polish government in Exile in London and given to British Intelligence. The information provided by Roman, including a map of the facilities made by him, which indicated the objects which should be bombed, led the British to carry out a bombing raid on Peenemünde in August 1943 (see also Operation Crossbow).

Roman Träger (born March 17, 1923 in Bytom - died March 21, 1987 in Bydgoszcz), codename "T2-AS" (for "Trager Junior-Ace"), was a Polish soldier and intelligence officer during the Nazi occupation of Poland.

Roman was born March 17, 1923 in Bytom, a son of Augustyn Träger. Before the war the Träger family, of Austrian origins on Roman's grandfather's side, lived in Bydgoszcz.