What did the Polish Cipher Bureau contribute to breaking the Enigma machine?
The Polish Cipher Bureau was the first to break the German military Enigma, with Marian Rejewski reconstructing its rotor wiring in December 1932 using the mathematical theory of permutations and groups. The Bureau developed the bomba kryptologiczna and Zygalski perforated sheets to maintain decryption as Germany repeatedly upgraded the system. In July 1939 the Bureau transferred its techniques and Polish-built Enigma replicas to France and Britain, providing the foundation for Allied Ultra intelligence.
When did the Polish Cipher Bureau first crack the German Enigma code?
Marian Rejewski first reconstructed the internal structure of the German military Enigma in December 1932. A statistical review ordered in January 1938 showed the Bureau was solving 75 percent of all intercepted Enigma messages in the sample period.
Who were Rejewski, Różycki, and Zygalski of the Polish Cipher Bureau?
Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki, and Henryk Zygalski were the three mathematician-cryptologists hired by the Polish Cipher Bureau in September 1932 after completing a secret cryptology course at Poznań University. Rejewski led the mathematical attack on Enigma; Zygalski invented the perforated-sheet method; Różycki died in January 1942 when the French passenger ship SS Lamoricière sank in the Mediterranean.
What happened at the Polish Cipher Bureau's Pyry meeting in 1939?
On the 25th and the 26th of July 1939, five weeks before World War II began, the Polish Cipher Bureau revealed its Enigma-decryption methods at Pyry, south of Warsaw. Each allied delegation received a Polish-built Enigma replica and the details of the Bureau's techniques, including Zygalski sheets and the specifications for the cryptologic bomb. Britain pledged to prepare two full sets of Zygalski sheets covering all 60 possible rotor orders.
What happened to Polish Cipher Bureau personnel during World War II?
After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, key Bureau personnel evacuated to France and worked at PC Bruno outside Paris, then at Cadix in Vichy France from October 1940. Jerzy Różycki died at sea in January 1942. Marian Rejewski and Henryk Zygalski escaped over the Pyrenees in January 1943, were arrested by Spain, and reached Britain after the Red Cross secured their release on the 4th of May 1943. Bureau chiefs Gwido Langer and Maksymilian Ciężki were captured by the Germans in March 1943; Antoni Palluth perished in German captivity. None of them betrayed the secret of Enigma decryption.
When was the Polish Cipher Bureau's role in breaking Enigma first made public?
In 1967, Polish military historian Władysław Kozaczuk first publicly revealed Poland's role in his book Bitwa o tajemnice (The Battle for Secrets). His account appeared seven years before F. W. Winterbotham's The Ultra Secret brought the broader story of Enigma decryption to international attention in 1974.