Review of The First Enigma Codebreaker: The Untold Story of Marian Rejewski Who Passed the Baton to Alan Turing Gawłowski, Robert. The First Enigma Codebreaker: The Untold Story of Marian Rejewski Who Passed the Baton to Alan Turing , Yorkshire, England: Pen and Sword Books. 2023. 186 + ix pages, Hardcover, £20.00. ISBN 9781399069106.

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes1 Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa: “banking college.”2 A particularly striking translation occurs on page 161 where Rejewski is described as having had an “epileptic fit.”3 Stefan Mazurkiewicz (1888–1945) was a well-known Polish mathematician. Along with two other well-known Polish mathematicians, Warcław Sierpiński and Stanisław Leśniewski, he served as a codebreaker for the Polish Cipher Bureau during the Polish-Soviet War (1919–1921).4 Bertrand (1896–1976) was a French intelligence officer. He obtained Enigma documents from Hans-Thilo Schmidt, an employee of the German cipher bureau, and he passed those documents to the Polish Cipher Bureau. Those documents played a critical role in Rejewski’s determining of the wiring of the Enigma rotors. Bertrand assisted the Polish codebreakers during their time in France.5 Langer (1894–1948) was chief of the Polish Cipher Bureau.6 The Knowlton Award mentioned on pages 167 and 168 is not, as stated, an award given by the National Security Agency, but it is an award given by the Military Intelligence Corps Association. However, Rejewski (along with Alan Turing) was inducted into the NSA Cryptologic Hall of Honor in 2014.Additional informationNotes on contributorsChris ChristensenChris Christensen teaches cryptology and mathematics at Northern Kentucky University. He had the privilege to have been a participant in the 2014 ceremony in Warsaw at which the work of the three Polish codebreakers was honored by the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers with the awarding of a Milestone Award.