azur, ith Szymon M Interview w ea of the ehind the id the person b r Centre Enigma Ciphe
“ENIGMA” COMES FROM A GREEK WORD MEANING “MYSTERY”
Michał Kępski, Poznan Heritage Centre: Marian Rejewski is a hero from Bydgoszcz. Jerzy Różycki, born in Olszana – a city which used to be located in the Kiev Governorate, is remembered as a graduate of a pre-war gymnasium in Wyszków. Only Henryk Zygalski was born in Poznań. The achievements of these three mathematicians are recognised in the whole Poland, if not internationally, which is proven by the fact that the place chosen for their final rest was Poland's National Pantheon in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Cracow. Why then should the story of their lives and the role they played in breaking the Enigma code be told in Poznań? Szymon Mazur: There is a tendency in Poland to commemorate tragedies, catastrophes and national calamities. Not many places, be that museums or monuments, actually show the stories of our success and victories. And I do not mean success only in terms of military victory but success in other areas of life as well for example in science. Working out the principles of operation of the German cipher machine Enigma, was the success of Poznań and Polish science on an international scale. It was in Poznań that in 1930 systematic work on breaking Enigma commenced. It became a seedbed of the digital revolution and led to the development of the first programmable and “thinking” machines. It was in Poznań that Rejewski, Różycki and Zygalski first encountered the mystery of Enigma and it was here that they received the first information on the new German machine cipher. The three young mathematicians, and then cryptologists, came here to study. At the turn of 1928
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and 1929 they took part in a course on cryptology organised by the Second Division of the Polish Army Main Staff. They were outstanding students and were the best in the group. It took only several seconds for Zygalski to solve a cryptographic puzzle given to them by their instructor. The course on cryptology was organised in Poznań because students in this city knew the German language and culture very well, which could prove useful in their work on breaking the Enigma code. Besides, a radio listening station, which intercepted German radio communication, was also located in the city. The course attendees would visit the station, which was probably located at the Cytadela Park, to learn the rudiments of radio listening and interception of wire communication. What were the beginnings of the journey to commemorate these groundbreaking events? I have been fighting for an Enigma museum for nearly 15 years now. As a journalist I watched the process of erecting the Cryptologists Monument, which today stands in front of the Imperial Castle and in my opinion is one of the most interesting in Poznań. When the idea to put it up emerged, a public fundraiser was announced. Unfortunately, back then people were not as keen to contribute as they are today. And though it is embarrassing to admit, the amount of money required for the project was not raised. The initiative was saved by Marek Woźniak, Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region, who allocated a substantial amount of money for this purpose
