katkryptolog

  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 in...

Československé légie v Rusku. Predstavíme si ich ako odvážnych pešiakov na Transsibírskej magistrále. Ale vedeli ste, že okrem bajonetov ovládali aj antény a šifrovacie kľúče? Príbeh o tom, ako naši legionári viedli tajnú „Vojnu v éteri“ proti boľševikom, je jednou z najfascinujúcejších a najmenej známych kapitol ich anabázy. Pôvodný Chaos a Potreba Spojenia Po začiatku bojov s boľševikmi v roku 1918 boli jednotky čs. légií roztrúsené na tisíckach kilometrov – od Penzy až po Vladivostok. Udržať spojenie bolo kľúčové, ale spočiatku takmer nemožné. Pôvodná Služba spojenia spočiatku len s ťažkosťami spoliehala na ruské železničné úrady. Pre fungujúcu vojenskú rozviedku však bolo životne nevyhnutné mať vlastnú rádiotelegrafiu, šifrovanie a hlavne – odpočúvanie nepriateľa. Zrod Rádiotelegrafickej Rozviedky Zmena nastala 19. júla 1918, kedy bola v Nikolsku Ussurijskom zriadená I. čs. rádiostanica pod velením strelca (neskôr kapitána) Tomáša Pištělku . Stanica najprv nadviazala spojenie s ...

  The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) is often romanticized as a beacon of democracy in Central Europe—a time of cultural flourishing, progressive reforms, and the wise leadership of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. But beneath the surface of this "golden age" lay a web of intrigue, corruption, and power plays that tested the young nation's institutions. Political scandals weren't just tabloid fodder; they exposed vulnerabilities in the fragile democracy, involving high-ranking officials, shady deals, and even foreign meddling. Drawing from historical accounts and declassified insights, let's dive into some of the most notorious aféry that shook the republic to its core. The Sugar Scandal (Cukrová Aféra, 1919): A Sweet Deal Gone Sour Just months after Czechoslovakia's birth, the republic faced its first major corruption storm. Amid postwar economic chaos, a Franco-Dutch-Czech banking consortium offered a 300-million-franc loan secured by 300,000 tons of suga...

When we talk about breaking the Enigma cipher machine, Alan Turing’s name often takes center stage in popular media and history books. His brilliance in Bletchley Park and contributions to computer science are undeniable, but the story of Enigma’s decryption is far richer—and more international—than the spotlight on Turing suggests. In this post, we’ll shine a light on the critical contributions of Polish and Czechoslovak cryptographers, who laid the groundwork for cracking the German cipher machine and deserve their place in the narrative. The Polish Pioneers: Rejewski, Zygalski, and Różycki Long before Turing entered the scene, three Polish mathematicians—Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski, and Jerzy Różycki—achieved a monumental breakthrough. In December 1932, working in Poland’s Cipher Bureau ( Biuro Szyfrów ), they cracked the military version of the Enigma, complete with its additional security feature, the plugboard ( steckerbrett ). Using advanced mathematical techniques, particu...

How the Czechoslovak secret service ŠtB breaks the encryption machine Gretag TC 803 at the Spanish embassy in Prague: https://www.info.cz/zpravodajstvi/cesko/akce-sumperk?odemknout=YAYLEWR8KH Detailed description of the encryption machine  Gretag TC 803 : https://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/gretag/803/index.htm Picture of the cipher machine's daily key block   "...Another break-in at the embassy took place on June 27, 1980. In this case, the State Security encountered a problem that it could not deal with. The Spanish started using the Gretag TC 803 encryption machine. ... Daily slips of paper with an encryption key were inserted into it. These were stored in a safe and bound with bookbinding cloth on three sides and in the middle. The canvas thus formed a kind of letter E with four arms. Between the canvas arms were perforated slips of metal foil that were inserted into the encryption machine. One part was designated for each day. Used and unused keys were shredded the...

Article about military ciphers by cpt. Bedřich Frýbort, in "Vojenský svět", 1937, 11 and 12, vol. V. I. part, pp. 438-9, II.part: pp. 479-80, Title of the article in czech: "Šifrování": etc... Content of the article is probably about basic cipher systems used in military exercises in Czechoslovakia. Member of the group C of cipher solutionists at Czechoslovak HQ of the Ministry of Defence headed by lieutenant colonel  Josef RŮŽEK , in czech:"člen šifrové skupiny C HV MNO", according to Porubský, Š.: Application and Misapplication  of the Czechoslovak STP cipher during WWII (report on an unpublished manuscript) . In: Tatra Mountains Mathematical Publications , vol. 70, no. 3, p.47

I found some notes about unknown cipher machine called "Panmilion", constructed by czech military inventor cpt. Josef Sieber.  Instrument called "deformation pantograph", according to another article in Výrocní zpráva za rok 1924, and was invented by same inventor, in: Vojenský zeměpisný ústav, vol. 1925, pp.122-129. Article about cipher machine is from Narodni listy, No. 69, vol. 65, p.10: Next page: Google translate of transcription of the article: Technical patrol. Cipher machine of home construction. Last May, we reported on the remarkable invention of Czechoslovakia. Captain Josef Sieber - a deformation pantograph, the production of which has now been taken over by the Prague company Srb and Štys. Today we can report on a new invention of the same officer, an encryption and decryption machine, which the inventor called "Panmilion" and which not only fully matches the best known designs of these combined machines, but also surpasses them in its pure si...

CS ciphers used in WWII (1939-1945) Mr. Jozef M. Kollár ’s series of articles about the Czech codes, used in WWII, from past e-zine Crypto-World. They are: Cipher‘TTS’ Cipher’Rimska dva’ Cipher‘Rimska osem’ Cipher‘Rimska devat’ Cipher‘Rimska desat’ Cipher‘Rimska trinast’ Cipher‘Eva’ Cipher‘Marta’ Cipher‘Ruzena’ Cipher‘Utility’ Cipher‘Palacky’ Another article about czechoslovakian cipher TTS from WWII, published in Crypto-world 1-3/2014: Czechoslovakian cipher TTS and it's solution  Mr. J.M. Kollar's presentation in pdf format, about czechoslovakian ciphers used in WWII: CS ciphers used in WWII In slovak: Predbežnú verziu prednášky J.M. Kollára o ČS šifrách v WW2 nájdete tu prezentacia01_Kollar.pdf Professor Otokar Grosek and M. Vojvoda, P. Zajac's Powerpoint presentation about CS ciphers used in WWII, with detailed explanation of German SIGINT solution and pictures from Mr. Jiri Janecek's books. Lecture No. 6 PP...

Keďže moje niekoľkomesačné neúnavné bádanie v oblasti historickej kryptológie prinieslo viaceré prekvapivé a nové informácie, chcel by som sa aspoň stručne podeliť o obsahoch nadchádzajúcich článkov, ktoré by sa mohli objaviť na tomto mieste, ak bude dostatočný záujem. 1. Pokračovanie eseje o Rajmundovi Lullovi, kombinatorickom umení  a hľadaní univerzálneho jazyka. 2. Šifry používané "našimi" kráľmi, šľachticmi, dejateľmi a dobrodruhmi (uhorský kráľ Matej Korvín, utajená korešpondencia počas Vešeléniho sprisahania, nomenklátor grófa Juraja Rákociho, kardinála Petra Pazmáňa...) 3. Česká " Maffie "- tajný výbor tvoriaci protirakúsky odboj za I. svetovej vojny a spôsoby šifrovania posielaných správ - (napr. pomocou známeho "Ludolfova čísla", polyalfabetická substitúcia s "českou abecedou" a ing. Baráčkov šifrovací "stroj" ai.), informácie o nových knihách na túto tému a ďalšie ako c. a k. Evidenzburo a lúštenie "maffiánských"...

(...) V říjnu roku 1936 jsem se setkal se zástupci sovětské zpravodajské služby přímo v Moskvě. V delegaci, kterou jsem vedl, byl šifrař pplk. Růžek . Ve svém oboru představoval evropskou kapacitu. Jeli jsme totiž do Ruska také s úkolem studovat se Sověty metody německého šifrování a sjednat vzájemnou výměnu zachycené šifrované německé korespondence. V souvislosti s tím nám sovětští důstojníci ukázali v leningradském prostoru moderně zařízenou odposlouchávací stanici goniosítě. (...) Zo spomienok vtedajšieho šéfa plánovacej a študijnej skupiny 2. oddelenia čs. hlavného štábu plk. Františka Havla zčasti dostupných v knihe Svoboda, L.: Cestami života , I. díl, Praha: Naše vojsko, 1971, s. 48

Sovětský šifrátor M-105 AGÁT byl užíván mezi štáby armád Varšavské smlouvy cca v létech 1970 – 1990 pro předběžné šifrování. Vkládala se do něho skládaná 11stopá heslová děrná páska. Měl běžný válec psacího stroje, kam se na vložený list psal otevřený text, anebo aut. psal šifrtext ve skupinách. Mohl pořizovat a číst pětistopou DP. Viac na: Šifrová služba v ČSLA

Príspevok z veľmi zaujímavej konferencie, konanej  minulý rok v Prahe pod názvom Secret of Ciphers (Tajomstvo šifier): History of Czechoslovak Army Solutionists in the Times of the Cold War (História čs. armádnych lúštiteľov v dobách studenej vojny) Jiří Janeček Abstrakt Lúštiteľská služba v Československej ľudovej armáde, Šifry používané vojenskou spravodajskou službou plukovníka Moravce v Londýne v rokoch 1939 - 1945, Organizácia armádnej lúštiteľskej služby po roku 1945, Nástup  nového režimu  k moci, reorganizácia v roku 1957, Matematika a počítače v lúštení - začiatok v roku 1963 (počítače ELLIOT 803-B, EPOS, MINSK-22, ZPA-600, HEWLETT PACKARD 9845-B + floppy disk, snímač DP S-1500, dálnopis TRANSTEL), Niekoľko kuriozít o lúštení.