Breaking the Enigma code
Polish contribution to victory

Andrzej Dabrowa, Ph.D.

Enigma machine Marian Rajewski Henryk Zygalski Jerzy Rozycki
Introduction

The following article on the history of breaking the Enigma code and the effect it had on the progress of WW2 is based upon well-documented books, reports written by the involved individuals and statements made by the leading Allied leaders. Substantial effort was made to make this article as historically accurate as possible. The intent is to cover most of the aspects of Enigma history but to avoid details that can be found in the references. Those who wish to increase their knowledge or go into more detail are directed to the references given at the end of this article.

I would like to express my thanks to Mr. J. Garlinski, W. Kozaczuk and F. Hinsley for permission to use photographs from their books.

Chapters
  1. Synopsis
  2. Historical background
  3. Breaking the Enigma code
  4. Polish decrypting effort 1930-1939
  5. Polish decrypting effort 1939-1945
  6. English decrypting effort - the beginnings
  7. England - Bletchley Park
  8. United States in the secret war
  9. Battle of Britain
  10. British northeast Africa
  11. Invasion of French northwest Africa
  12. Battle of the Atlantic
  13. Battle of the terror weapons V1 & V2
  14. German atrocities
  15. Enigma security
  16. Conclusion
  17. Epilogue
  18. Glossary and abbreviations
  19. References

1. Synopsis

After WW1 Poland found itself squeezed between nationalistic Germany and communist Russia. The Treaty of Versailles, a mere slap on Germany's wrist, offered little security. Political, economic and social unrest gave rise to fascism and to rapid rearmament. Russia, after a bloody revolution, continued its imperialism by engaging in war with Poland and by annexing its Asian neighbours.

The adoption of an encrypting machine called Enigma for the German army's high level communications created a problem for Polish intelligence in decoding intercepted messages. Consequently, in 1932, Poland established a modern cryptology department at the University of Poznan. After a few months the three young Polish mathematicians shown below derived very smart methods and succeeded in breaking the Enigma cipher.
Marian Rajewski Jerzy Rozycki Henryk Zygalski
Marian Rejewski Jerzy Rozycki Henryk Zygalski

For the next few years, before and during the war, Poland had the ability to decrypt intercepted coded German messages. As Enigma evolved into a more complex and sophisticated machine, so too did the Polish methods and techniques. Just before the beginning of WW2 the Poles transferred all their know-how and equipment to the French and British Allies for their use in the coming war. When war started on September 1st, 1939, the Polish cryptologists were quickly evacuated through Romania to France. By October 1939 the reorganised cryptology unit started to decrypt Enigma messages again. Until the fall of France on June 17th, 1940 the Polish unit operated officially in France. After that they went underground in "Vichy" France, where they operated until November 1942 when the Germans occupied southern France. Their escape to neutral, but friendly with Germany, Spain was a disaster as they were apprehended and imprisoned in cruel interment camps. Two key cryptologists and three radio operators managed to escape and reach England but most fared much worse. Two senior intelligence officers and three engineers were caught by the Gestapo and were sent to German concentration camps. The two officers were liberated by the US Army but the three engineers perished.

The British, using the Polish decrypting methods amongst others, established a secret organisation of about 10,000 people at Bletchley Park to intercept, decrypt and disseminate German Enigma messages and intelligence. Selected Allied high-ranking commanders received these decrypted German, rephrased for extra security and protected by the explicit Ultra regulations, starting with the Battle of Britain, through the Battle of the Atlantic, the landing in Africa, the invasion of the Continent and the bombing of the V1 and V2 weapon sites.

The Polish effort in breaking Enigma's code shortened World War 2 in Europe by six to twelve months, sparing hundreds of thousands of casualties and saving Western Europe from occupation by the Red Army. This, however, did little to help Poland which was abandoned to the mercy of communism by its allies. Fifty years of oppression brought economic disaster and personal suffering to its 35 million people. None of the Polish cryptologists received any recognition from the French, British or Americans.

In the year 2000 the Polish president, Mr. Aleksander Kwasniewski, made posthumous awards of the highest Polish military medals to Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Rozycki and Henryk Zygalski. The breaking of the Enigma code has been singled out by many war historians and great leaders as one of the greatest contributions to the war effort.

(c) 2003 A R Dabrowa