How Three Poznan University Students Broke the German Enigma Code and Shortened World War Two

Overview & Synopsis

The story of the Allied breaking of the German Enigma codes in World War 2 was first published in the 1970s. Even now many of the details, especially concerning the critical work in the 1930s undertaken by gifted and dedicated Polish codebreakers remains largely unknown. Their work is credited with saving the Allies several years work and so shortening the war and saving thousands of lives. The holding of the IFIP World Computer Congress in Poznan, home of the Polish codebreakers, gave an opportunity for their work to be highlighted to an international audience. Talks covering the work of the Polish, British and French codebreakers were given and webcast worldwide. In addition, a encoded Enigma message was sent at the start of the day from Poznan to Bletchley Park in the UK where the volunteers of the Bombe team at The National Museum of Computing successfully confirmed their breaking of the message at the start of the afternoon session.