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Enigma machine set to star in Gdansk WWII Museum

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 12.10.2011 13:21
The Internal Security Agency (ABW), Poland's counter-intelligence department, has signed a contract for the permanent loan of a model of the famed Enigma cipher machine to the upcoming Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk.

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“The Enigma machine will be one of the most important exhibits in the main exhibition of the museum,” enthused Dr Pawel Machcewicz, director of the forthcoming enterprise.

Ciphers decoding from German Enigma machines during World War II played a crucial role in the Allied victory.

Some historians contend that the success of the operation shortened the war by several years, saving millions of lives.

Work at decrypting the ciphers was focused at Bletchley Park, a manor in central England that had been been commandeered by British Intelligence for the war effort.

As is commemorated in a memorial at Bletchley, Polish cryptographers paved the way for the Allied breakthrough.

In July 1939, on the eve of war, the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau demonstrated to their British and French counterparts how to crack the Nazi communications system. The Poles had been the only ones to penetrate the network, and had been unravelling German codes since 1932.

Three mathematicians, Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Rozycki and Henryk Zygalski were instrumental in the Polish operation.

Besides the Enigma machine model, Poland's Internal Security Agency will be contributing many more items to the museum.

The planned opening for the institution is 2014, and the state is contributing 358.4 million zloty (83 million euros). (nh/pg)

tags: Enigma, gdansk, WW II
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