Welcome to my blog dedicated to forgotten heroes of history! Today, we dive into the fascinating story of Pavel Baráček-Jacquier, a key figure in Czechoslovak diplomacy and cryptography, whose life was full of secrets, resistance, and brilliant inventions. His breaking of a cipher machine with an unbelievable 15 quadrillion combinations in 1935 was not just a technical triumph, but also a symbol of the fight against German espionage in the interwar period. This story is worth discovering.
Who Was Pavel Baráček-Jacquier?
Pavel Baráček-Jacquier (born 1885, died 1969) was a man of many talents – a Czechoslovak diplomat, inventor, cryptologist, and a key figure in the Czechoslovak resistance during World War I. Born in Prague into a family with French roots (hence the double surname), he studied law and engineering in Paris and Prague. His career began in the Austro-Hungarian administration, but after the outbreak of war in 1914, he joined the illegal resistance for Czechoslovak independence.
In Switzerland, where he lived in exile (1916–1918), he collaborated with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Edvard Beneš. This is where his cryptographic career began – he organized secret communications for the resistance, facing the risk of interception by Austro-Hungarian censorship. According to historical sources, he also collaborated with Vsevolod Svatkovsky, director of the Russian State Telegraph Agency and an alleged agent of the Russian secret service Ochrana (Okhrana), which gave him access to Russian cipher techniques. The Ochrana, the Tsarist security police (1880–1917), was known for sophisticated surveillance and cipher methods, inspiring Baráček's inventions.
After the establishment of Czechoslovakia (1918), Baráček became a diplomatic representative in the Netherlands, Greece, and Switzerland, where he continued his cryptographic work. He was the founder of the Czechoslovak diplomatic cipher service and inventor of machines like the Kryptograf (1916–1918) and Condenser PBJ (1922–1924). The Kryptograf was a prototype based on the Vigenère cipher with an autokey and a scrambled Czech alphabet (31 letters), with a paper version using the St. Cyr cipher slide. The Condenser PBJ, Czechoslovakia's first rotor cipher machine, had an estimated 141 trillion combinations and served the diplomatic service until 1934.
Baráček was a man of serious character, determined to fight for freedom – his collaboration with the Ochrana provided inspiration but also risk, as the Ochrana was known for provocations and infiltration. After World War II, he lectured on cryptography, emphasizing the need for mathematics and lawyers in the field.
The Discovery: Breaking the Unbreakable Machine in 1935
In March 1935, Baráček lectured in Prague on "The Development and Current State of Ciphering." In the article in Prager Presse (March 21, 1935), he described how he broke a "known foreign machine" with "15 quadrillion combinations" in 10 days without knowing the key or the machine. This machine was considered absolutely secure, but Baráček deciphered it using cryptographic methods (likely frequency analysis and periodicity).
From the discussion, the most likely candidate is the Enigma (German machine), with around 1.05 × 10^16 combinations. The Enigma was available in Europe from 1923 and presented in Prague in 1924. Baráček's success was consistent with the Enigma's breaking by Poles in 1932, using weaknesses like operator errors and the reflector. Other candidates, like Sidney Hole's pneumatic machine (adapted by Štolba in Czechoslovakia) or M-138-A (American), had high combinations but lower prevalence in Czechoslovakia in 1935.
This discovery was groundbreaking – in an era of rising German tension, it showed that even "unbreakable" systems have flaws and contributed to the development of cryptography in Czechoslovakia.
Baráček's Influence on Cryptography
Baráček's inventions, like the Kryptograf (with the St. Cyr slide and autokey) and Condenser PBJ, were pioneering in Czechoslovak cryptography. The Kryptograf used a long key (15–20 letters) and message segmentation into sections, increasing security (estimated 10^14–10^29 combinations). His collaboration with the Ochrana gave him inspiration from Russian ciphers, which influenced these systems. After the war, he lectured on the need for cryptography in state security, influencing development in Czechoslovakia.
Baráček's Legacy
Baráček-Jacquier died in 1969, but his story remains inspirational. He was a symbol of how an individual can influence national security through intelligence and innovation. In today's era of cyber threats, he reminds us that cryptography is a key to freedom.
What do you think? Was the Enigma the machine, or a forgotten prototype like Hole's? Comment below!
