Gdańsk. They found fragments of the Enigma encryption machine

It started with work in the forest in Świbno on Sobieszewska Island in mid-November. – We have been conducting routine research on the island for many years, in accordance with permits – the conservation authority, the owner of the area and the Gdańsk Forest District – Dominik Markiewicz from the Latebra Foundation tells us.

This particular discovery was made by Magda, who has recently been involved in such research.

– I was walking with the detector and I heard a sound I had never heard before. I don't use the detector very long, so I asked Michał to come to this trench. I thought it was some kind of explosive, the signal of which I didn't know before – says the woman in the video shared online. – We came, Michał started digging the hole and we found the Enigma drum – he adds with a smile.

At first they weren't sure what it could be. After the removal, the Enigma fragment was identified by Dominik Markiewicz, and subsequent discoveries only confirmed it.

– During the work, we recovered many elements indicating previous suspicions. We found 8 Enigma rotors, parts of its housing and other components. In addition, we recovered elements of field telephones, laryngophones, and elements of radio stations – says Markiewicz.

He adds that all this indicates that they found a communication point of retreating German troops.

The authenticity of the find was also confirmed by Dr. Marcin Westphal, deputy director for substantive matters of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk.

– In my opinion, what was found were the remains of the Enigma encryption machine and the remains of a radio station. When the troops had to withdraw or be taken prisoner, they destroyed this secret, valuable equipment so that it did not fall into the hands of the Soviets – Westphal said in an interview with RMF24.pl.

The Latebra Foundation is preparing a report for the Pomeranian Provincial Conservator of Monuments, which will decide where the Enigma will ultimately be placed. As Markiewicz says, the discoverers will persuade the conservator to keep the exhibit in Gdańsk.

The Laterba Foundation published a video documenting the research on social media. The recording shows that even experienced members of the foundation are surprised by the discovery.

– There's adrenaline, I won't say it, my hands were shaking too. We've dug up a lot of these things in our lives, but never Enigma, says one of them, Jarosław.

The discovery was first reported by the website trojmiasto.pl

In 1932, mathematicians Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski learned the secret of the operation of the German electromechanical Enigma cipher machine. They did this for the first time using mathematical methods. Until then, mainly linguistic methods were used in cryptology.

Constructed in the 1920s, Enigma was intended to conceal business correspondence. However, it was quickly used in the German armed forces. Three Polish mathematicians designed a copy of the encryption machine. Copies of this device were made at the AVA Radiotechnical Factory in Warsaw. In the summer of 1939, the Polish military authorities handed over to France and Great Britain copies of the machines along with information about the broken cipher.

In September 1939, Rejewski, Różycki and Zygalski evacuated through Romania to France. Jerzy Różycki died in January 1942 on a ship that sank in mysterious circumstances in the Mediterranean Sea. The other two mathematicians continued working with German ciphers while working in a Polish Army unit in Great Britain.

Work on breaking subsequent versions and improvements of the Enigma cipher continued at the British cryptological center in Bletchley Park. According to historians, thanks to the fact that the Allies knew the information sent by Enigma, World War II lasted 2-3 years shorter and, consequently, it saved the lives of 20-30 million people in Europe and around the world.