Edward Fokczyński
Encyclopedia
Edward Fokczyński was one of the four directors of the AVA Radio Company
, an electronics
firm established in Warsaw
, Poland
, in 1929. AVA produced radio equipment for the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau
, which was responsible for the radio communications of the General Staff's Intelligence Section (Oddział II).
After the Cipher Bureau's mathematician-cryptologist Marian Rejewski
in December 1932 deduced the wiring in the German
Enigma
rotor cipher machine, AVA produced Enigma "doubles" and all the electro-mechanical equipment that was designed at the Cipher Bureau to facilitate decryption of the German ciphers.
. He worked there as a journeyman locksmith before moving in 1913 to Łódź, where he found a job in the electrical engineering
firm of Knapik and Company.
In 1919 Fokczyński enlisted in the Polish Army, serving in a radio battalion and later in Field Wireless Station No. 4. Mustered out in 1922, he worked a couple of years as a technician in the infant Polish broadcasting
industry, where he was judged capable, intelligent, reliable, and gifted in radio work.
In 1927, Fokczyński opened a small radio workshop in a single room in Warsaw
. Sporadically he received orders from the Cipher Bureau
; Captain Maksymilian Ciężki
, chief of the Bureau's German section (BS 4), had known him since his army years. In 1929–32, the shop on Warsaw's New World Street, ten minutes' walk from the General Staff building, was transformed into the AVA Radio Company
. The electronics firm subsequently moved to new facilities in southern Warsaw's Mokotów
district.
On a cost-plus
basis, AVA produced radio equipment for the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau
, which was responsible for the radio communications of the General Staff's Intelligence Section (Oddział II).
After the Cipher Bureau's mathematician-cryptologist Marian Rejewski
in December 1932 deduced the wiring in the German
Enigma
rotor cipher machine, AVA produced Enigma "doubles" and all the electro-mechanical equipment that was designed at the Cipher Bureau to facilitate decryption of the German ciphers. The Poles' reading of German cipher
s laid the foundation for the western Allies' Ultra
cipher-breaking operations, beginning seven years later, during World War II
. Before the war, AVA also produced the Cipher Bureau-designed Lacida
rotor cipher machine.
After the invasion of Poland
in 1939, Fokczyński was one of the essential Cipher Bureau
and AVA
personnel who made it to France
to continue their war on the Enigma cipher at PC Bruno
, outside Paris
, where the Poles collaborated with their French and British allies. When France capitulated to Nazi Germany
in June 1940, Fokczyński and his colleagues were transported by their French host, Colonel Gustave Bertrand
, to a post codenamed Cadix
, outside Uzès
, in southern, Vichy France
.
On November 8, 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa
(Operation Torch
). On November 9 Bertrand evacuated Cadix, and the Poles set out for the Côte d'Azur. Two days later, the Germans abruptly invaded the French Free Zone
, putting an end to the collaborationist but semi-autonomous Vichy regime and on November 12 occupying Cadix.
The Polish team sought, in small groups, to cross the Pyrenees
from France into Spain
. On 13 March 1943 one such expedition, which included Cipher Bureau chief Colonel Langer
, Major Ciężki
, Antoni Palluth
and Fokczyński, was arrested near Perpignan
by the Gestapo
. They had been betrayed by their guide. The two officers were sent to Frontstalag 122 at Compiègne
, France, and on 9 September 1943 to the S.S. concentration camp, Sonderkommando Schloss Eisenberg, in Czechoslovakia
; they were liberated by American forces on 10 May 1945. Palluth and Fokczyński were sent as slave labor to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
, near Berlin
, where both died before war's end. Palluth was killed in an Allied air raid; Fokczyński died from exhaustion. None of the Poles betrayed to the Germans the secret of Enigma decryption.
AVA Radio Company
The AVA Radio Company was a Polish electronics firm founded in 1929 in Warsaw, Poland. AVA designed and built radio equipment for the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau, which was responsible for the radio communications of the General Staff's Oddział II .After the Cipher Bureau's...
, an electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
firm established in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, in 1929. AVA produced radio equipment for the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau
Biuro Szyfrów
The Biuro Szyfrów was the interwar Polish General Staff's agency charged with both cryptography and cryptology ....
, which was responsible for the radio communications of the General Staff's Intelligence Section (Oddział II).
After the Cipher Bureau's mathematician-cryptologist Marian Rejewski
Marian Rejewski
Marian Adam Rejewski was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in 1932 solved the plugboard-equipped Enigma machine, the main cipher device used by Germany...
in December 1932 deduced the wiring in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Enigma
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
rotor cipher machine, AVA produced Enigma "doubles" and all the electro-mechanical equipment that was designed at the Cipher Bureau to facilitate decryption of the German ciphers.
Life
Fokczyński was an autodidact whose formal education did not extend beyond four grades of primary school at PabianicePabianice
Pabianice is a town in central Poland with 69 648 inhabitants . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County...
. He worked there as a journeyman locksmith before moving in 1913 to Łódź, where he found a job in the electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
firm of Knapik and Company.
In 1919 Fokczyński enlisted in the Polish Army, serving in a radio battalion and later in Field Wireless Station No. 4. Mustered out in 1922, he worked a couple of years as a technician in the infant Polish broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
industry, where he was judged capable, intelligent, reliable, and gifted in radio work.
In 1927, Fokczyński opened a small radio workshop in a single room in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. Sporadically he received orders from the Cipher Bureau
Biuro Szyfrów
The Biuro Szyfrów was the interwar Polish General Staff's agency charged with both cryptography and cryptology ....
; Captain Maksymilian Ciężki
Maksymilian Ciezki
Maksymilian Ciężki was the head of the German section of the Polish Cipher Bureau in the 1930s, during which time the Bureau decrypted German Enigma messages....
, chief of the Bureau's German section (BS 4), had known him since his army years. In 1929–32, the shop on Warsaw's New World Street, ten minutes' walk from the General Staff building, was transformed into the AVA Radio Company
AVA Radio Company
The AVA Radio Company was a Polish electronics firm founded in 1929 in Warsaw, Poland. AVA designed and built radio equipment for the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau, which was responsible for the radio communications of the General Staff's Oddział II .After the Cipher Bureau's...
. The electronics firm subsequently moved to new facilities in southern Warsaw's Mokotów
Mokotów
Mokotów is a dzielnica of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Mokotów is densely populated. It is a seat to many foreign embassies and companies...
district.
On a cost-plus
Cost-plus contract
A cost-plus contract, also termed a Cost Reimbursement Contract, is a contract where a contractor is paid for all of its allowed expenses to a set limit plus additional payment to allow for a profit. Cost-reimbursement contracts contrast with fixed-price contract, in which the contractor is paid a...
basis, AVA produced radio equipment for the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau
Biuro Szyfrów
The Biuro Szyfrów was the interwar Polish General Staff's agency charged with both cryptography and cryptology ....
, which was responsible for the radio communications of the General Staff's Intelligence Section (Oddział II).
After the Cipher Bureau's mathematician-cryptologist Marian Rejewski
Marian Rejewski
Marian Adam Rejewski was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in 1932 solved the plugboard-equipped Enigma machine, the main cipher device used by Germany...
in December 1932 deduced the wiring in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Enigma
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
rotor cipher machine, AVA produced Enigma "doubles" and all the electro-mechanical equipment that was designed at the Cipher Bureau to facilitate decryption of the German ciphers. The Poles' reading of German cipher
Cipher
In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...
s laid the foundation for the western Allies' Ultra
Ultra
Ultra was the designation adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by "breaking" high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. "Ultra" eventually became the standard...
cipher-breaking operations, beginning seven years later, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Before the war, AVA also produced the Cipher Bureau-designed Lacida
Lacida
The Lacida was a Polish rotor cipher machine. It was designed and produced before World War II by Poland's Cipher Bureau for prospective wartime use by Polish military higher commands.-History:...
rotor cipher machine.
After the invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
in 1939, Fokczyński was one of the essential Cipher Bureau
Biuro Szyfrów
The Biuro Szyfrów was the interwar Polish General Staff's agency charged with both cryptography and cryptology ....
and AVA
AVA Radio Company
The AVA Radio Company was a Polish electronics firm founded in 1929 in Warsaw, Poland. AVA designed and built radio equipment for the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau, which was responsible for the radio communications of the General Staff's Oddział II .After the Cipher Bureau's...
personnel who made it to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to continue their war on the Enigma cipher at PC Bruno
PC Bruno
PC Bruno was a Polish-French intelligence station that operated outside Paris during World War II, from October 1939 until June 9, 1940. It decrypted German ciphers, most notably messages enciphered on the Enigma machine.-History:...
, outside Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where the Poles collaborated with their French and British allies. When France capitulated to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in June 1940, Fokczyński and his colleagues were transported by their French host, Colonel Gustave Bertrand
Gustave Bertrand
Gustave Bertrand was a French military intelligence officer who made a vital contribution to the decryption, by Poland's Cipher Bureau, of German Enigma ciphers, beginning in December 1932...
, to a post codenamed Cadix
Cadix
Cadix was the codename of a World War II clandestine Polish-French intelligence center that operated at Uzès, on the Mediterranean coast in southern, Vichy France, for over two years from September 1940 to November 9, 1942.-History:...
, outside Uzès
Uzès
Uzès is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.It lies about 25 km north-northeast of Nîmes.-History:Originally Ucetia, Uzès was a small Gallo-Roman oppidum, or administrative settlement. The town lies at the source of the Eure, from where a Roman aqueduct was built in the first...
, in southern, Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
.
On November 8, 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
(Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
). On November 9 Bertrand evacuated Cadix, and the Poles set out for the Côte d'Azur. Two days later, the Germans abruptly invaded the French Free Zone
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, putting an end to the collaborationist but semi-autonomous Vichy regime and on November 12 occupying Cadix.
The Polish team sought, in small groups, to cross the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
from France into Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. On 13 March 1943 one such expedition, which included Cipher Bureau chief Colonel Langer
Gwido Langer
Lt. Col. Karol Gwido Langer was chief of the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau from at least mid-1931.-Life:...
, Major Ciężki
Maksymilian Ciezki
Maksymilian Ciężki was the head of the German section of the Polish Cipher Bureau in the 1930s, during which time the Bureau decrypted German Enigma messages....
, Antoni Palluth
Antoni Palluth
Antoni Palluth , was a civilian employee in the German section of the Polish General Staff's interbellum Cipher Bureau.-Life:...
and Fokczyński, was arrested near Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...
by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
. They had been betrayed by their guide. The two officers were sent to Frontstalag 122 at Compiègne
Compiègne
Compiègne is a city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.The city is located along the Oise River...
, France, and on 9 September 1943 to the S.S. concentration camp, Sonderkommando Schloss Eisenberg, in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
; they were liberated by American forces on 10 May 1945. Palluth and Fokczyński were sent as slave labor to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
, near Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where both died before war's end. Palluth was killed in an Allied air raid; Fokczyński died from exhaustion. None of the Poles betrayed to the Germans the secret of Enigma decryption.
See also
- AVA Radio CompanyAVA Radio CompanyThe AVA Radio Company was a Polish electronics firm founded in 1929 in Warsaw, Poland. AVA designed and built radio equipment for the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau, which was responsible for the radio communications of the General Staff's Oddział II .After the Cipher Bureau's...
- Biuro SzyfrówBiuro SzyfrówThe Biuro Szyfrów was the interwar Polish General Staff's agency charged with both cryptography and cryptology ....
(Cipher Bureau) - Marian RejewskiMarian RejewskiMarian Adam Rejewski was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in 1932 solved the plugboard-equipped Enigma machine, the main cipher device used by Germany...
- Enigma machineEnigma machineAn Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
- Cryptanalysis of the EnigmaCryptanalysis of the EnigmaCryptanalysis of the Enigma enabled the western Allies in World War II to read substantial amounts of secret Morse-coded radio communications of the Axis powers that had been enciphered using Enigma machines. This yielded military intelligence which, along with that from other decrypted Axis radio...
- UltraUltraUltra was the designation adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by "breaking" high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. "Ultra" eventually became the standard...
- LacidaLacidaThe Lacida was a Polish rotor cipher machine. It was designed and produced before World War II by Poland's Cipher Bureau for prospective wartime use by Polish military higher commands.-History:...
External links
- Laurence Peter, How Poles cracked Nazi Enigma secret, BBC News, 20 July 2009