Poland's overlooked Enigma codebreakers

[davidbfpo]

A short BBC story:
The first breakthrough in the battle to crack Nazi Germany's Enigma code was made not in Bletchley Park but in Warsaw.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28167071

GCHQ's Director at the Polish ceremony said:
What happened here in 1939 changed the course of history and we are here to honour those who are responsible.

We owe the Poles a great debt for their work and decision to share their knowledge as war loomed with France and Great Britain. Curiously two of the Poles fled to France, after May 1940 worked in Vichy France before fleeing to Spain in late 1942 and then to England. Their French partners did not escape when Vichy fell and throughout their captivity stayed silent.

[davidbfpo]

Now the Polish government has launched a touring exhibition entitled "Enigma – Decipher Victory” to remind the world of their crucial contribution.

Maciej Pisarski, deputy chief of mission, Polish Embassy in Washington, said:
The story of Engima was very important to us and the breaking of Enigma code was one of the most important contributions of Poland to the Allies victory during the Second World War. Our contribution to Enigma is something that we learned a lot about as children in Poland but we have a feeling that the knowledge is not so widespread. It was a crucial association which gave the allies the edge over the Germans.
We were trapped on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War which meant we did not get the credit that we should have received and nobody wanted to admit that anyone in Eastern Europe had anything to do with Enigma.
We felt it was important to fill in the blanks. It is our moral obligation to right this wrong and put this picture in a more complete way.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/12158055/Polish-codebreakers-cracked-Enigma-before-Alan-Turing.html

[Ulenspiegel]

A short BBC story:

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28167071

GCHQ's Director at the Polish ceremony said:

We owe the Poles a great debt for their work and decision to share their knowledge as war loomed with France and Great Britain. Curiously two of the Poles fled to France, after May 1940 worked in Vichy France before fleeing to Spain in late 1942 and then to England. Their French partners did not escape when Vichy fell and throughout their captivity stayed silent.


The Enigma story is found in an old book based on BBC series "The secret war". The first crucial break throughs were achieved by Polish guys who got for a few hours hands on a German Enigma of the diplomatic corps and were able to deduce some important basic features.

So at least the UK had no problem to acknowledge the Polish contributions.

[davidbfpo]

It is odd though that @ Bletchley Park Museum, the memorial to the Poles is in a rather obscure spot - although the recommended guided tour ends there. Nowhere else is the Polish contribution displayed from memory.

I always find the fact that the two of Polish crypto developers managed to escape to France, after May 1940 they sheltered in Vichy France and never said anything to the Vichy regime, let alone the Germans.