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Divers initially thought they had found an ordinary printing machine in Gelting Bay that got tangled up in nets. But underwater archaeologist Florian Huber quickly realized the historical significance the object is discovering.
“Over the past 20 years, I have come across exciting and strange finds. But I didn’t even dream of one day finding one of the legendary Enigma devices, “he said.
In the Nazi army, these machines were used to receive and transmit secret messages during World War II. But the British bought the code and that helped the Allies gain an advantage in the Atlantic.
The code was solved in Bletley Park in southern England, the main British cryptology center in times of war. It is believed that it helped shorten the war and save thousands of lives.
Shortly before Germany surrendered in May 1945, some 50 submarine crews were ordered to sink them in Gelting Bay, near the border with Denmark. To prevent the allies from taking over. The encryption devices were also ordered to be destroyed.
In all, the Germans sank more than 200 of their submarines in the North and Baltic Seas at the end of the war.
The Enigma machines that encoded the messages are believed to have been produced in the hundreds of thousands. However, only a few hundred survivors are known. They are sold at auctions for tens of thousands of euros.
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