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The Second World War in General Please use this forum to discuss other World War Two related subjects not covered by the main categories.

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Old 24th April 2018, 16:46
John Beaman John Beaman is offline
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SS Enigma?

Did the Waffen SS or General SS units use Enigma machines for communications?
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Old 24th April 2018, 18:29
Orwell1984 Orwell1984 is offline
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Re: SS Enigma?

Yes they did.
For example here’s a paper talking about decoding SS enigma messages:
http://cryptocellar.org/pubs/bgac.pdf
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Old 25th April 2018, 03:54
John Beaman John Beaman is offline
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Re: SS Enigma?

Thanks so much Orwell!! Great stuff.
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Old 25th April 2018, 09:47
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Re: SS Enigma?

The German intelligence services used it too, as did the Reichsbahn apparently.
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Old 25th April 2018, 11:53
Bruce Dennis Bruce Dennis is offline
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Re: SS Enigma?

Hello John,
As you have heard, yes they did. Like all German users they had different models at different times, so different approaches were taken by those on the Allied side working to read it.
Was it a general question or did you have a particular time and place in mind?

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Old 26th April 2018, 02:35
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Re: SS Enigma?

Yes, the Reichsban did as well.



Ed
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Old 26th April 2018, 14:30
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Re: SS Enigma?

Just to add that Waffen-SS material is mixed in amongst the Army and Luftwaffe decrypts whereas the intelligence services' traffic is in separate file series (e.g. HW 16).
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Old 3rd February 2019, 14:15
Boomerang Boomerang is offline
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Re: SS Enigma?

John:

I'm not sure if this is still a 'live' thread, or if you already have everything you need.

In any case, here is a document that provides some further information about the specifics of SS Enigma:

https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/70/docum..._holocaust.pdf

As mentioned earlier, the Reichsbahn also used Enigma machines. There are details near the bottom of this webpage:

http://chris-intel-corner.blogspot.c...h?q=Reichsbahn

The above blog is actually a fantastic resource about WW 2 codes and code breaking.

It's interesting that if used absolutely correctly, Enigma was unbreakable (at the time). The correctly used Gestapo Enigma was never broken. Apparently the Luftwaffe was particularly lax, making the code breakers job much easier than it could/should have been.

Don W
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Old 3rd February 2019, 22:02
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Re: SS Enigma?

Thank you, Don W. It is very odd that NSA should release certain documents in 2009 and 2010.


The Abwehr also had their own Enigma. For those who can read German:


https://www.amazon.com/Chiffriermasc.../dp/3899755480
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