After the
Invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, Sym stayed in German-occupied Warsaw. Known before the war for his pro-German stance, the actor signed the
Volksliste, thus becoming a
Volksdeutscher. Due to his fame, the Germans considered him an asset in legitimizing their authority. The
General Government's propaganda department therefore made him director of Warsaw's
Theater der Stadt Warschau, formerly
Teatr Polski (the
Polish Theater). Sym was also director of the
Nur für Deutsche cinema, the
Helgoland (formerly the
Palladium), and licensee of the
Teatr Komedia. Sometime in late 1939, Sym became a
Gestapo agent. According to preserved documents, he had collaborated with
Berlin since before 1 September 1939. At the beginning of the war he helped set a trap which caught actress
Hanka Ordonówna (who had been Sym's prewar screen partner and a friend from Warsaw's theaters). Polish resistance quickly learned about this, and a group of agents led by
Teatr Komedia actor Roman Niewiarowicz started tracking Sym's activities. On 10 October 1941, the film
Heimkehr debuted in
Berlin's
Ufa-Palast am Zoo cinema. The
Nazi propaganda movie directed by
Gustav Ucicky told a story about the pre-1939 German minority in Poland's
Volhynia, resettled during
Nazi–Soviet population transfers. The Germans, presented as noble, peace-loving people, were brutally persecuted by vicious Poles. In the final scene, Polish soldiers lead arrested Germans to execution; however,
Wehrmacht airplanes and tanks appear, saving the community. Sym did not perform in the film, but he actively collaborated in its production,
casting Polish actors who were more or less willing to take part. Several actors refused, including
Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski. Sym finally found some actors who were accepted by director Ucicky. After the war, these actors were punished for collaborating with the Germans. Sym's collaboration with the Germans contrasts with the conduct of his younger brother, Ernest, who, during his official activities as a chemist, clandestinely produced explosives for Poland's
Home Army. ==Assassination==