Statue of Marian Rejewski

In the newer part of town, a block north of Hotel Pod Orłem on ul Gdańska, you can find a seated statue of celebrated Bydgoszcz citizen and mathematician Marian Rejewski (1905-1980). Conservatively depicted in suit and glasses, the great mathematician is seated modestly on a bench. Next to him is the likeness of an Enigma machine, the device he once defeated.

Mathematicians are usually stereotyped as bookish, unworldly creatures. But not so Bydgoszcz-born Rejewski, who took on the Nazi ciphers to become one of the heroes of WWII.

Rejewski was teaching at Poznań University in 1932, a year before Hitler came to power, when he was seconded to the Polish army's Cipher Bureau. Using a mix of intuition and mathematical equations, he soon deciphered the inner workings of the Enigma machines, which encrypted German military traffic, years before the famous British Ultra project began its work at Bletchley Park outside London.

In 1939, with war imminent, Rejewski's team decided to reveal all to the astonished cryptology teams of France and Britain. This data was to be of invaluable assistance to Poland's allies, as periodic upgrading of the German devices meant the decryption work was an ongoing project.

When Poland was overrun, Rejewski's team fled to France via Romania, evacuating again to Algeria when France was invaded. Returning to work undercover in unoccupied Vichy France, Rejewski fled to Spain in 1943, where he was promptly robbed by his pistol-wielding guide and imprisoned by the Spanish police. Released after a few months, he headed through Portugal and Gibraltar, to finally end up in Britain. Here he resumed his code-breaking efforts, though relegated to relatively minor projects.

In 1946, Rejewski returned to Bydgoszcz to be reunited with his family. In the mid-1970s the story of the Polish role in cracking Enigma broke, and Rejewski was feted both internationally and at home. He died a national hero in 1980.