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Enigma code: London exhibition charts work of Polish cryptographers

PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk 10.03.2016 17:12
The Jozef Pilsudski Institute in London is to unveil an exhibition called “Enigma Relay”, highlighting the role of Polish cryptographers in the race to break the code of Nazi Germany’s Enigma machine.
Picture courtesy of Polish embassy in LondonPicture courtesy of Polish embassy in London

The exhibition will be launched on Sunday, 13 March, and opens to public two days later.

It is to be accompanied by workshops for local schools, and a series of lectures on the history of the Enigma by cryptology specialists, concluding with a conference in the autumn.

Polish experts broke the Enigma code in 1932. They passed their work on to their French and British allies in the summer of 1939, on the eve of World War II.

Code-breaking efforts were continued by the British at Bletchley Park, a manor in central England that was commandeered by Britain’s intelligence services during the war.

Anna Stefanicka, Secretary General of the Pilsudski Institute, said: “With the popular interest in the Enigma story on the rise, this exhibition gives us a new means of engaging with the British public.”

She added: “I am convinced that projects showcasing our shared history, like ‘Enigma Relay’, can help deepen understanding between the Polish community and wider British society.”

The decoding of Enigma Machine ciphers used by Germany played a key role in the Allied war victory, according to historians, who have argued that the conflict was shortened by several years thanks to information gleaned by cryptographers. (pk)

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