Marian Rejewski. The man from Bydgoszcz who broke the Enigma code

MARI ARIAN AN

REJEWSKI This story is full of elements found in a lot of comic books: a great mystery, a battle between intelligence agencies and chases, escapes and dramatic events.

And there is a hero.

Rejewski was a man whom some older inhabitants of Bydgoszcz knew as a quiet man living in an apartment at 10 Dworcowa Street and who was a stable husband and father. Many others passed him every day on the street when he was going to work in the morning. And they had no idea that thanks to this modest accountant, World War II ended a few years earlier than it could have. That this inconspicuous man saved hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of lives.

Marian Rejewski, the man who broke the secret of the Enigma - a cipher machine, which the Germans were convinced was unbreakable.

As another hero, Jan Nowak Jeziorański, a legendary courier from occupied Poland, who met with Rejewski in Great Britain during the war, remembers, “[Rejewski] did not stand out from the crowd and he never drew any attention to himself. It never occurred to me at the time that I had before me a man who, in my opinion, contributed more to the victory over Hitler than all the armies did.”

Marian Rejewski was not only a mathematical genius, but also a man of extraordinary courage and righteousness. Regardless of the dangers threatening him from the communists, he returned to Poland after the war to be together with his wife and children.

During his lifetime he was not allowed to receive due respect and glory, which is why we do it today, remembering one of the greatest inhabitants of Kujawy and Pomerania.

Piotr Całbecki Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship

T H E M A N F R O M B Y D G O S ZC Z WHO BROKE THE ENIGMA CODE

text

Maciej Jasiński illustrations

ISBN 978-83-949231-7-4

Jacek Michalski

text Maciej Jasiński illustrations Jacek Michalski content advisor dr Krzysztof Osiński

phot. Wikipedia

T H E M A N F R O M B Y D G O S ZC Z WHO BROKE THE ENIGMA CODE Marian Rejewski was born on August 16, 1905 in Bydgoszcz. He graduated from the local State Junior High School in 1923 and then began his studies in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Poznan. On March 1, 1929, he obtained a master’s degree in philosophy.

Shortly before graduation, he enrolled onto a cryptology course organised by the Cipher Bureau of The Second Department of the Polish Army. After obtaining a master’s degree and finishing a one-year internship at Göttingen, he started working at the University of Poznań, while working part-time for the Cipher Bureau. In 1932, he became a full-time employee of the Bureau in Warsaw. Several months later, he managed to crack the Enigma machine code used by the German army.

He was the first person in the world to apply techniques from group theory- theorems about permutations - to read the encoded information instead of the previously used statistical and linguistic methods. He also reconstructed the Enigma machine, copies of which were made at the AVA Radio Company plant. However, as the Germans continued to improve the Enigma, Rejewski invited Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki to work with him until the outbreak of World War II, using more modern and more complex methods in order to decrypt encyphered German messages. During this time, Zygalski developed his famous “Zygalski sheets” (perforated cards that were a predecessor to those cards that were used in computer science until the 1980s), and Rejewski developed his cyclometer and then later, the so-called „Bomb”, both of which were mechanical-electrical devices used to automatically break the Enigma code. In 1938, the President of the Republic of Poland awarded Rejewski with the Golden Cross of Merit for solving the Enigma mystery.

In 1934, Marian Rejewski married Irena Lewandowska, a Bydgoszcz inhabitant, with whom he had two children: son, Andrzej and daughter, Janina.

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the Poles decided to pass on their knowledge about the Enigma to their allies the French and British. „At this meeting, we revealed everything we knew and showed them everything we had (...). We learned nothing new from our guests. Neither the British nor the French were able to overcome the first stage of difficulties, they did not have connected rotors or any methods” - wrote Rejewski in his memoirs. After the invasion of Poland by the Germans and then later the Russians, on the night of 17-18 September 1939, the Polish cryptologists crossed the Polish-Romanian border and a week later they were already in Paris. Rejewski’s wife and two children remained in Warsaw, but after the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, they returned to Bydgoszcz. In France, Rejewski, Zygalski and Różycki continued their work and thanks to them, cryptologists managed to decrypt 5084 messages during the French campaign. However, this did not help protect the French from defeat and the three Poles had to evacuate several times, fleeing the Germans before finally, in August 1943, reaching Great Britain. But only two of them – Różycki had died before.

Just under a year later, the British constructed their own decrypting machine using the methods and devices developed

by Rejewski and Zygalski and removed the two Poles from working on the Enigma. This then became an opportunity to create a series of articles, books and films after the war (the last one was made only three years ago), in which the British only attributed themselves to breaking Hitler’s greatest secret.

After the war, Rejewski returned to his wife and children in Bydgoszcz. For over 20 years (during which he wrote down his memoirs and handed them over to the Military Historical Institute in Warsaw), in fear of the communists, he kept his past employment with the pre-war intelligence service a secret. Despite this, the Security Service still kept an eye on him. Before his retirement in 1967 due to health reasons, he worked in Bydgoszcz as an accountant in several state-owned enterprises and cooperative companies. Two years later, he moved to Warsaw with his wife. He died on February 13, 1980. He was buried in Powązki.

In Rejewski’s hometown, Bydgoszcz, a commemorative plaque hangs on the building at 6 Wileńska Street and a monument in his honour stands on the corner of Gdańska Street and Śniadeckich Street. To commemorate the 110th anniversary of his birth and the 35th anniversary of his death, 2015 in Bydgoszcz was announced as the year of Marian Rejewski.

translation Lucas Adamczyk ISBN 978-83-949231-7-4 Polish edition of the comic book „Marian Rejewski - The Man From Bydgoszcz Who Broke The Enigma Code” was financed by the City of Bydgoszcz.

publication date 2020 edition 500 copies publisher Agencja Reklamowa GALL sc ul. Szosa Chełmińska 50, 87-100 Toruń gall@gall.torun.pl commissioned by Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region

Contact: Office of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region in Toruń Address: Plac Teatralny 2, 87-100 Toruń, tel. +48 56: 6218600, 6218610 e-mail: punkt.informacyjny@kujawsko-pomorskie.pl www.kujawsko-pomorskie.pl facebook.com/WojewodztwoKujawskoPomorskie twitter.com/lubietubyc instagram.com/kujawskopomorskie youtube.com/user/umwkp issuu.com/kujawsko-pomorskie flickr.com/photos/kujawskopomorskie

MARIAN

REJEWSKI

THE MAN FROM BYDGOSZCZ WHO BROKE THE ENIGMA CODE

text

Maciej Jasiński illustrations

Jacek Michalski

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text Maciej Jasiński illustrations Jacek Michalski content advisor dr Krzysztof Osiński

phot. Wikipedia

T H E M A N F R O M B Y D G O S ZC Z WHO BROKE THE ENIGMA CODE Marian Rejewski was born on August 16, 1905 in Bydgoszcz. He graduated from the local State Junior High School in 1923 and then began his studies in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Poznan. On March 1, 1929, he obtained a master’s degree in philosophy.

Shortly before graduation, he enrolled onto a cryptology course organised by the Cipher Bureau of The Second Department of the Polish Army. After obtaining a master’s degree and finishing a one-year internship at Göttingen, he started working at the University of Poznań, while working part-time for the Cipher Bureau. In 1932, he became a full-time employee of the Bureau in Warsaw. Several months later, he managed to crack the Enigma machine code used by the German army.

He was the first person in the world to apply techniques from group theory- theorems about permutations - to read the encoded information instead of the previously used statistical and linguistic methods. He also reconstructed the Enigma machine, copies of which were made at the AVA Radio Company plant. However, as the Germans continued to improve the Enigma, Rejewski invited Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki to work with him until the outbreak of World War II, using more modern and more complex methods in order to decrypt encyphered German messages. During this time, Zygalski developed his famous “Zygalski sheets” (perforated cards that were a predecessor to those cards that were used in computer science until the 1980s), and Rejewski developed his cyclometer and then later, the so-called „Bomb”, both of which were mechanical-electrical devices used to automatically break the Enigma code. In 1938, the President of the Republic of Poland awarded Rejewski with the Golden Cross of Merit for solving the Enigma mystery.

In 1934, Marian Rejewski married Irena Lewandowska, a Bydgoszcz inhabitant, with whom he had two children: son, Andrzej and daughter, Janina.

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the Poles decided to pass on their knowledge about the Enigma to their allies the French and British. „At this meeting, we revealed everything we knew and showed them everything we had (...). We learned nothing new from our guests. Neither the British nor the French were able to overcome the first stage of difficulties, they did not have connected rotors or any methods” - wrote Rejewski in his memoirs. After the invasion of Poland by the Germans and then later the Russians, on the night of 17-18 September 1939, the Polish cryptologists crossed the Polish-Romanian border and a week later they were already in Paris. Rejewski’s wife and two children remained in Warsaw, but after the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, they returned to Bydgoszcz. In France, Rejewski, Zygalski and Różycki continued their work and thanks to them, cryptologists managed to decrypt 5084 messages during the French campaign. However, this did not help protect the French from defeat and the three Poles had to evacuate several times, fleeing the Germans before finally, in August 1943, reaching Great Britain. But only two of them – Różycki had died before.

Just under a year later, the British constructed their own decrypting machine using the methods and devices developed

by Rejewski and Zygalski and removed the two Poles from working on the Enigma. This then became an opportunity to create a series of articles, books and films after the war (the last one was made only three years ago), in which the British only attributed themselves to breaking Hitler’s greatest secret.

After the war, Rejewski returned to his wife and children in Bydgoszcz. For over 20 years (during which he wrote down his memoirs and handed them over to the Military Historical Institute in Warsaw), in fear of the communists, he kept his past employment with the pre-war intelligence service a secret. Despite this, the Security Service still kept an eye on him. Before his retirement in 1967 due to health reasons, he worked in Bydgoszcz as an accountant in several state-owned enterprises and cooperative companies. Two years later, he moved to Warsaw with his wife. He died on February 13, 1980. He was buried in Powązki.

In Rejewski’s hometown, Bydgoszcz, a commemorative plaque hangs on the building at 6 Wileńska Street and a monument in his honour stands on the corner of Gdańska Street and Śniadeckich Street. To commemorate the 110th anniversary of his birth and the 35th anniversary of his death, 2015 in Bydgoszcz was announced as the year of Marian Rejewski.

translation Lucas Adamczyk ISBN 978-83-949231-7-4 Polish edition of the comic book „Marian Rejewski - The Man From Bydgoszcz Who Broke The Enigma Code” was financed by the City of Bydgoszcz.

publication date 2020 edition 500 copies publisher Agencja Reklamowa GALL sc ul. Szosa Chełmińska 50, 87-100 Toruń gall@gall.torun.pl commissioned by Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region

Contact: Office of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region in Toruń Address: Plac Teatralny 2, 87-100 Toruń, tel. +48 56: 6218600, 6218610 e-mail: punkt.informacyjny@kujawsko-pomorskie.pl www.kujawsko-pomorskie.pl facebook.com/WojewodztwoKujawskoPomorskie twitter.com/lubietubyc instagram.com/kujawskopomorskie youtube.com/user/umwkp issuu.com/kujawsko-pomorskie flickr.com/photos/kujawskopomorskie

MARI ARIAN AN

REJEWSKI This story is full of elements found in a lot of comic books: a great mystery, a battle between intelligence agencies and chases, escapes and dramatic events.

And there is a hero.

Rejewski was a man whom some older inhabitants of Bydgoszcz knew as a quiet man living in an apartment at 10 Dworcowa Street and who was a stable husband and father. Many others passed him every day on the street when he was going to work in the morning. And they had no idea that thanks to this modest accountant, World War II ended a few years earlier than it could have. That this inconspicuous man saved hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of lives.

Marian Rejewski, the man who broke the secret of the Enigma - a cipher machine, which the Germans were convinced was unbreakable.

As another hero, Jan Nowak Jeziorański, a legendary courier from occupied Poland, who met with Rejewski in Great Britain during the war, remembers, “[Rejewski] did not stand out from the crowd and he never drew any attention to himself. It never occurred to me at the time that I had before me a man who, in my opinion, contributed more to the victory over Hitler than all the armies did.”

Marian Rejewski was not only a mathematical genius, but also a man of extraordinary courage and righteousness. Regardless of the dangers threatening him from the communists, he returned to Poland after the war to be together with his wife and children.

During his lifetime he was not allowed to receive due respect and glory, which is why we do it today, remembering one of the greatest inhabitants of Kujawy and Pomerania.

Piotr Całbecki Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship

T H E M A N F R O M B Y D G O S ZC Z WHO BROKE THE ENIGMA CODE

text

Maciej Jasiński illustrations

ISBN 978-83-949231-7-4

Jacek Michalski