Gwido Langer
Encyclopedia
Lt. Col. Karol Gwido Langer (2 September 1894 in Zsolna
, Austria-Hungary
- 30 March 1948 in Kinross
, Scotland
) was chief of the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau
from at least mid-1931.
, Upper Hungary
(today Žilina in Slovakia
) but spent his childhood in Cieszyn
, where his family came from.
By then, according to Polish military historian Władysław Kozaczuk, the Bureau had been formed by merger of the Radio Intelligence Office and the Polish-Cryptography Office. Langer remained at the head of the Cipher Bureau and its successor field agency until the latter was effectively disbanded in November 1942 upon the German occupation of southern France's Vichy
"Free Zone."
Major Langer had on January 15, 1929, after a tour of duty as chief of staff of the First Infantry Division
, become chief of the General Staff's Radio Intelligence Office, and subsequently of the Cipher Bureau.
As the Cipher Bureau's chief, Langer was ultimately responsible for Polish cryptography
; Polish military-intelligence
radio communication
s; radio intelligence and tracking down of clandestine enemy intelligence radio transmitters
operating in Poland; Russian-cryptogram interception and decryption; and German-cryptogram interception and decryption.
Langer's Cipher Bureau
has become famous for having in December 1932 broken the German Enigma
cipher
and read it until the German invasion of France in May–June 1940, and perhaps after that.
In March 1943, as Lt. Col. Langer, his deputy, Major Maksymilian Ciężki
, head of the prewar B.S.-4 (the Bureau's German section), Lt. Antoni Palluth
and civilians Edward Fokczyński
and Kazimierz Gaca were attempting to cross from German-occupied France into Spain
, they were betrayed by their French guide and captured by the Germans.
Interrogated
about work on Enigma
, Langer "decided [to] mix truth with lies, and [...] present my lies in such a way that they had the veneer of truth." He told the Germans that before the war the Bureau had sporadically solved Enigma ciphers, but that during the war they had no longer been able to. Langer advised the panel of his interrogators that, since Major Ciężki
knew more about the subject than he, they should summon Ciężki. "They agreed, and Ciężki managed to convince them that the changes [that the Germans had] made [to the machine and its operating procedures] before the war made decryption during the war impossible." The two Polish officers thus succeeded in protecting the secret of Allied Enigma decryption, thereby enabling Ultra
to continue doing its vital work for Allied victory.
After Langer and Ciężki had been liberated by the Allies and had reached Britain, Langer was crushed to find himself blamed for his men's capture by the Germans. He died at the Polish Army Signals camp at Kinross
, Scotland
, on 30 March 1948 and was buried in an unmarked grave at Wellshill, near Perth, Scotland
. On 1 December 2010 his body was exhumed, and on 10 December it was interred at the Communal Cemetery in Cieszyn
, Poland
.
Žilina
Žilina is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of approximately 85,000, an important industrial center, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a...
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
- 30 March 1948 in Kinross
Kinross
Kinross is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was formerly the county town of Kinross-shire.Kinross is a fairly small town, with some attractive buildings...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
) was chief of 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 ....
from at least mid-1931.
Life
Langer was born in ZsolnaŽilina
Žilina is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of approximately 85,000, an important industrial center, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a...
, Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary
Upper Hungary is the usual English translation for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia...
(today Žilina in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
) but spent his childhood in Cieszyn
Cieszyn
Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....
, where his family came from.
By then, according to Polish military historian Władysław Kozaczuk, the Bureau had been formed by merger of the Radio Intelligence Office and the Polish-Cryptography Office. Langer remained at the head of the Cipher Bureau and its successor field agency until the latter was effectively disbanded in November 1942 upon the German occupation of southern France's Vichy
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...
"Free Zone."
Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division
Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division was a tactical unit of the Polish Army between the World Wars. Formed on February 20, 1919, partially of veterans of the I Brigade of the Polish Legions, the unit saw extensive action during the Polish-Bolshevik War and World War II.As one of the most...
, become chief of the General Staff's Radio Intelligence Office, and subsequently of the Cipher Bureau.
As the Cipher Bureau's chief, Langer was ultimately responsible for Polish cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
; Polish military-intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
radio communication
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
s; radio intelligence and tracking down of clandestine enemy intelligence radio transmitters
Direction finding
Direction finding refers to the establishment of the direction from which a received signal was transmitted. This can refer to radio or other forms of wireless communication...
operating in Poland; Russian-cryptogram interception and decryption; and German-cryptogram interception and decryption.
Langer's Cipher Bureau
Biuro Szyfrów
The Biuro Szyfrów was the interwar Polish General Staff's agency charged with both cryptography and cryptology ....
has become famous for having in December 1932 broken the German 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...
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...
and read it until the German invasion of France in May–June 1940, and perhaps after that.
In March 1943, as Lt. Col. Langer, his deputy, Major 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....
, head of the prewar B.S.-4 (the Bureau's German section), Lt. 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 civilians Edward Fokczyński
Edward Fokczyński
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...
and Kazimierz Gaca were attempting to cross from German-occupied 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...
, they were betrayed by their French guide and captured by the Germans.
Interrogated
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
about work on 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...
, Langer "decided [to] mix truth with lies, and [...] present my lies in such a way that they had the veneer of truth." He told the Germans that before the war the Bureau had sporadically solved Enigma ciphers, but that during the war they had no longer been able to. Langer advised the panel of his interrogators that, since 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....
knew more about the subject than he, they should summon Ciężki. "They agreed, and Ciężki managed to convince them that the changes [that the Germans had] made [to the machine and its operating procedures] before the war made decryption during the war impossible." The two Polish officers thus succeeded in protecting the secret of Allied Enigma decryption, thereby enabling 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...
to continue doing its vital work for Allied victory.
After Langer and Ciężki had been liberated by the Allies and had reached Britain, Langer was crushed to find himself blamed for his men's capture by the Germans. He died at the Polish Army Signals camp at Kinross
Kinross
Kinross is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was formerly the county town of Kinross-shire.Kinross is a fairly small town, with some attractive buildings...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, on 30 March 1948 and was buried in an unmarked grave at Wellshill, near Perth, Scotland
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
. On 1 December 2010 his body was exhumed, and on 10 December it was interred at the Communal Cemetery in Cieszyn
Cieszyn
Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....
, 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...
.
Honours
- Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (posthumously in 2010)
- Cross of Valour - twice
- Gold Cross of Merit
- Cross of IndependenceCross of IndependenceCross of Independence was one of the highest Polish military decorations between World Wars I and II. It was awarded to individuals who had "fought heroically for the independence of Poland," and was released in three versions.- History :...
- Medal Międzysojuszniczy "Medaille Interalliée"