Maksymilian Ciężki (;
Samter,
Province of Posen (now
Szamotuły,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
), 24 November 1898 – 9 November 1951 in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
) was the head of the
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
Cipher Bureau's German section (''BS–4'') in the 1930s, during which time—from December 1932—the Bureau
decrypted German
Enigma
Enigma may refer to:
*Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling
Biology
*ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain
Computing and technology
* Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup
* Enigma machine, a family ...
messages.
During the German
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
in September 1939, Ciężki escaped to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
to continue work on breaking Enigma
ciphers. In 1943 he was captured by the Germans and interned in an
S.S. concentration camp.
Career
In the 1930s, Ciężki, as an army captain, was chief of the Polish
General Staff Cipher Bureau's German section (''
Biuro Szyfrów-4'', abbreviated ''BS-4''). This section "broke" (
decrypted) German Enigma machine
ciphers. Ciężki was also deputy to the Cipher Bureau's chief, Major (later, Lt. Col.)
Gwido Langer, and in addition supervised the
radio-intercept stations at
Starogard in the
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor (german: Polnischer Korridor; pl, Pomorze, Polski Korytarz), also known as the Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia (Pomeranian Voivodeship, easter ...
, at
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
in western Poland, and at
Krzesławice, near
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
in southern Poland.
In March 1943, now-Major Ciężki, Lt. Col. Langer, Lt.
Antoni Palluth and civilians
Edward Fokczyński and
Kazimierz Gaca were betrayed by their French guide and captured by the Germans as they attempted to cross from German-occupied France into
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Ciężki and Langer were sent to an SS
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
where, during interrogations, they managed to protect the secret of Enigma decryption. They convinced their interrogators that, while the Poles had had some success with solving the Enigma early on, changes introduced by the Germans just before the start of the war had prevented any further decryption.
Palluth, Fokczyński and Gaca — according to Col.
Stefan Mayer Colonel Stefan A. Mayer (1895 — 23 March 1981, London) was a Polish military intelligence officer and prewar chief of Counterintelligence within the Polish General Staff's Section II (''Oddział II''). In that capacity, he supervised the General ...
, prewar chief of the intelligence department in Section II of the Polish
General Staff — likewise "were acquainted to the last detail with the... breaking
fEnigma. They were kept by
heGermans in most awful conditions
t a time
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
when
heEnigma secret was still of great importance for the Western Allies. Langer and his four comrades did not reveal
tto the Germans, thus
aking it possible to continueexploiting this source of
ntelligencetill the end of the war."
In mid-1945, liberated, Major Ciężki and Lt. Colonel Langer arrived in London, where they were badly received by Colonel Gano, chief of the Polish Section II in Britain. Gano had believed a distorted account by Lt. Colonel Bertrand that represented the failure to evacuate Langer's group from France as having been due to Langer's hesitation and lack of nerve. Langer and Ciężki were sent to a Polish signals camp at
Kinross
Kinross (, gd, Ceann Rois) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire.
History
Kinross's origins are conn ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, where Langer, bitter, disappointed, and convinced that he had been betrayed by the French when they no longer had need of him, died on 30 March 1948.
Ciężki died on 9 November 1951, after living the last three years on subsidies from the Assistance Board.
[ ]Władysław Kozaczuk Władysław Kozaczuk (23 December 1923 – 26 September 2003) was a Polish Army colonel and a military and intelligence historian.
Life
Born in the village of Babiki near Sokółka, Kozaczuk joined the army in 1944, during World War II, at Bia� ...
, ''Enigma
Enigma may refer to:
*Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling
Biology
*ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain
Computing and technology
* Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup
* Enigma machine, a family ...
'', 1984, p. 221, note 4.
See also
*
List of Poles
This is a partial list of notable Polish or Polish-speaking or -writing people. People of partial Polish heritage have their respective ancestries credited.
Science
Physics
* Czesław Białobrzeski
* Andrzej Buras
* Georges Charpa ...
Notes
References
*
Władysław Kozaczuk Władysław Kozaczuk (23 December 1923 – 26 September 2003) was a Polish Army colonel and a military and intelligence historian.
Life
Born in the village of Babiki near Sokółka, Kozaczuk joined the army in 1944, during World War II, at Bia� ...
, ''
Enigma
Enigma may refer to:
*Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling
Biology
*ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain
Computing and technology
* Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup
* Enigma machine, a family ...
: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How It Was Read by the Allies in World War Two'', edited and translated by
Christopher Kasparek
Christopher Kasparek (born 1945) is a Scottish-born writer of Polish descent who has translated works by numerous authors, including Ignacy Krasicki, Bolesław Prus, Florian Znaniecki, Władysław Tatarkiewicz, Marian Rejewski, and Władysław ...
, Frederick, MD, University Publications of America, 1984, .
*
Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, ''Enigma: the Battle for the Code'', London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000, .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciezki, Maksymilian
1898 births
1951 deaths
People from Szamotuły
Polish Army officers
Polish cryptographers
Pre-computer cryptographers
Cipher Bureau (Poland)
People from the Province of Posen
Polish prisoners of war
Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom