Henryk Bak

Henryk Bak is Piet Hoffmann’s contact and behind-the-scenes ally within Wojtek International, a role that gives him sustained access to Hoffmann’s ascent and to the organization’s business. Their working relationship rests on trust that Hoffmann knows is founded on a lie; in Warsaw, Henryk’s practical involvement in examining hidden amphetamine makes that relationship part of the operation itself.

Identity and Position

For three years, Hoffmann had met Henryk regularly at Wojtek International’s head office, usually once a month. Henryk helped him from behind the scenes as he worked his way up the organization. He was one of many people who trusted Hoffmann without knowing that the identity on which their confidence depended was false. The novel presents him first through this function: not as a public leader, but as a reliable contact whose assistance helps make Hoffmann’s position inside the company credible.

Henryk’s authority is conveyed through access and familiarity rather than a formal title. When Hoffmann arrives in Warsaw, he calls Henryk to confirm that the plane has landed and that he will meet the group at the agreed time and place. Henryk tells him that two additional figures will attend: deputy CEO Zbigniew Boruc and the man known as the Roof. The change in the meeting’s company unsettles Hoffmann, while Henryk remains the established point of contact linking him to the organization’s senior figures.

Warsaw Meetings

The first meeting takes place in a large, old building in Mokotów. Henryk waits outside on the steps; he and Hoffmann shake hands but do not attempt small talk. The encounter is restrained, and the location carries the weight of the organization’s authority. Upstairs, Boruc and the Roof are already waiting in a bright, warm meeting room. Hoffmann recognizes the force of their formal welcome and understands that retreat would make his position untenable. Henryk’s presence at the threshold of this meeting marks him as the familiar intermediary between Hoffmann and the company’s upper ranks.

Thirty-six hours later, Hoffmann meets Henryk and Boruc again, this time at a Stockholm hotel. The visit from the head office is described as a demonstration of seriousness. The sequence makes the earlier Warsaw gathering more than an isolated introduction: the organization is investing attention in Hoffmann, and Henryk accompanies that attention across the two encounters. Although the evidence does not specify what was settled at the hotel, the meeting reinforces Henryk’s role as the continuing contact in a relationship that has moved beyond routine monthly visits.

Handling the Hidden Shipment

Henryk’s most concrete operational role appears during the inspection of amphetamine concealed in a building’s ventilation system. Hoffmann opens the hiding place and removes eighty-one pale metal tins from a temporary opening in a pipe near a fan heater. Henryk waits until the tins have been set out, then selects three for examination: the leftmost tin, one from the middle, and the second from the right. He tells Hoffmann that the remaining tins can be kept, and Hoffmann returns the other seventy-eight to the hiding place.

Henryk then opens his black briefcase and lays out basic testing equipment: scales, test tubes, a scalpel, and a pipette. The quantity recorded is 1,087 grams, a kilo of amphetamine plus the tin’s weight. He signals to Hoffmann that the measurement is exact. Henryk also takes a small scraping from one of the lumps and uses a prepared solution to test it, waiting before holding the tube up to a window to assess the result. These actions establish him as more than a messenger: he participates directly in sampling and weighing the concealed product. The scene does not disclose the test’s final result, but it shows the shipment being handled according to a deliberate inspection procedure.

Trust, Deception, and Narrative Role

Henryk’s relationship with Hoffmann is built around a sharp asymmetry. Henryk has helped him advance and is among those who trust him; Hoffmann, meanwhile, knows that this trust attaches to a lie. The contrast gives the familiar routines of their work—monthly meetings, calls to confirm an arrival, handshakes, and practical cooperation—a double meaning. They are evidence of a functioning partnership, but also of how effectively Hoffmann’s assumed identity has taken hold.

The Warsaw inspection anchors Henryk’s character in the organization’s material work. His selection of three tins and use of the scales and testing equipment place him alongside Hoffmann in a transaction involving concealed amphetamine, while his repeated presence in company meetings connects that activity to Wojtek International’s business network. The evidence establishes his contact role and his participation in this examination, but does not clarify how much he knows about Hoffmann’s true identity or what becomes of him afterward. His importance lies in the position he occupies: a trusted intermediary whose assistance helps Hoffmann move through the organization, even as the trust between them is compromised by the secret on which Hoffmann’s advancement depends.