Picnic in Bydgoszcz: Rejewski’s “bomb” and the “Cyphers Game”

The Rother Mill in Bydgoszcz held a popular science picnic on 19 August to celebrate the 118th birthday of Marian Rejewski – the mathematician and Bydgoszcz resident who famously broke the Enigma code. Participants in the picnic explored the secrets of cyphering and cypher-breaking in a practical way – by solving riddles – and wondered who this brilliant mathematician might be today. Rejewski (1905-1980), together with two other mathematicians: Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski, constructed a cryptologic bomb in the 1930s, commonly referred to as Rejewski’s “bomb,” a mechanical-electrical device used to break the cryptograms of the German cypher machine “Enigma.” At the picnic, it was possible to see “live” such a device, and at the IPN’s New Technology Division stand, it was possible to move back in time to take on the role of a cryptologist breaking Soviet cyphers during the 1920 Polish-Bolshevik War in the virtual world of the “Cyphers Game.”

As many as seven exhibitors took part in the picnic: IPN’s New Technology Division, the Enigma Cipher Centre, the IPN Delegation in Bydgoszcz, the Pedagogical Provincial Library in Bydgoszcz, the PTTK City Branch in Bydgoszcz as well as Roboproject and Freelab Września. Thanks to the cooperation of many entities, there was no shortage of attractions. The New Technology Division’s offer (“Cyphers Game,” “Szybowcowa ’87,” Digital Heroes) perfectly answered the question of whether there is a need for brilliant inventors such as Polish cryptologists these days.

The event – a celebration of science at the Rother Mill – by promoting the achievements of Rejewski and other Polish cryptologists, drew visitors’ attention to the importance of science and the talents of people surprisingly close to us – hailing from our neighbourhood – changing the world around us.

Take a look at the photo gallery: