Peter Novopashenny (russian: Пётр Алексеевич Новопашенный, Pyotr Alexeyevich Nowopashenny; german: Peter Novopaschenny) (* 18 March 1881 in Russia; † October 1950 near

Orsha Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers. History Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

) was before and during the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a Russian Marine Officer and who worked as a

cryptanalyst Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

for the German Wehrmacht ( OKW/Chi) cipher bureau, working on the Russian desk,

deciphering In philology, decipherment is the discovery of the meaning of texts written in ancient or obscure languages or scripts. Decipherment in cryptography refers to decryption. The term is used sardonically in everyday language to describe attempts to ...

enciphered Soviet communications. A glacier in

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, ...

, part of the Nordenskiöld Glacier Group, was named after him.

Life

After having attended the Naval Cadet School in 1902, Novopashenny served as a naval officer on several Russian warships, firstly on the monitor Admiral Greig (Russian: Адмирал Грейг) in 1903 and a year later on the battleship

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

. In the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

(1904-1905), he participated in the battle with the Japanese fleet in part. He fell into Japanese captivity, from which he was dismissed, however, after a short time. Thereafter, he served on other ships, on the gunboat ''Sivuch'' . In 1910, he graduated from the Nikolaev Naval Academy in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Later, from 1913 to 1915, he commanded the icebreaker

Vaygach Vaygach Island (russian: Вайга́ч, ''Vajgač''; Nenets: Вай Хабць, romanized: ''Vai Habcj’'') an island in the Arctic Sea between the Pechora Sea and the Kara Sea. Vaygach Island is separated from the Yugorsky Peninsula in the ...

(russian: Вайгач) during the

Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition The Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition (GESLO) (1910–1915) was a scientific expedition organized by Russia for the purpose of the development of the Northern Sea Route. This expedition accomplished its goal of exploring the uncharted areas ...

. From 1915 during

, Novopashenny commanded the modern Novik class destroyer ''Desna'' (Russian: Десна). In 1916 he became commander of the destroyer "Constantine" (Russian: Константин). For his services before and during the war, he was awarded the Imperial Russian

Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Hol ...

(Russian: Орденъ Святой Анны) for service (4th stage on 5 May 1904, 3rd stage on 12 August 1907, 2nd stage 12 November 1915). After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, he served briefly in the Soviet Navy, and took in April 1918 under the Centrobalt in the negotiations between the German Navy and the Baltic Fleet in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in part that in Hangö Agreement culminated. Shortly thereafter, he made a break with his

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

expectant home and went into

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

, first travelling to

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and then in 1921 to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In the spring of the same year, Peter Novopashenny became acquainted with the ten year younger German,

Wilhelm Fenner Wilhelm Fenner (* 14 April 1891 in Saint Petersburg † after 1946) was a German Cryptanalysis, cryptanalyst, before and during the time of World War II in the OKW/Chi, the Cipher Department of the High Command of the Wehrmacht, working within ...

, who was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia and who was also fluent in the Russian language. The two immediately hit it off. Novopashenny asked Fenner to help with the planned move to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and confided to him that he successfully worked during the war as director of the Russian cryptanalytic service, breaking the ciphers of the German Baltic Fleet and he intended to provide his experiences to the German General Staff. That same year, he offered a course in cryptology and cryptanalysis to Wilhelm Fenner. Novopashenny worked diligently, often late into the night and after some weeks was successful; the cipher of the current Russian

Military Attache A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

was solved by Fenner. In autumn 1922, Novopashenny and Fenner officially started as employees of the cipher bureau of the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

. Both stayed employed there for next two decades and continued working through the 1938 founding of the (OKW) High Command of the Wehrmacht, working within the cipher bureau, OKW/Chi. While Wilhelm Fenner eventually became Director (German:Ministerialrat (Min.Rat.)) of the Main Group B, while Peter Novopashenny ran the Russian desk and became a successful cryptanalyst, working on the

cryptanalysis Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...

of Soviet radio traffic. After the ending of the war, he was arrested by Soviet secret agents in the town of Ringleben in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

in Autumn 1945 and was detained and later interrogated until 1946 in Berlin. He died in 1950, in a camp near the Belarusian city of

References

External links

German-Russian Treaty of Helsinki
(English translation) signed by Novopaschenny. Accessed: 21 August 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Novopaschenny, Peter 1881 births 1950 deaths 20th-century cryptographers History of cryptography History of telecommunications in Germany Telecommunications in World War II Imperial Russian Navy personnel Russian military personnel of World War I White Russian emigrants to Germany Russian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Soviet detention White movement collaborators with Nazi Germany