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Relic Battlefield-Found Enigma I Cipher Machine

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:20,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD
Relic Battlefield-Found Enigma I Cipher Machine

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Auction Date:2020 Jul 16 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:15th Floor WeWork, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Historic battlefield-found, relic three-rotor Enigma I machine recovered from the ground outside the village of Sülstorf, Germany, approximately 120 miles northwest of Berlin. This is where the German 3rd Panzer Army, commanded by General Hasso-Eccard von Manteuffel, found itself on the last days of WWII. This Panzer Army had been engaged in holding back Russian forces in the defense of Berlin. Following a defeat at Stettin, Germany, they were forced to retreat to the region of Mecklenburg. On May 3, 1945, General Manteuffel negotiated with British generals including Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery so that 300,000 German soldiers would surrender to the British rather than Soviet forces. A framed display of a TLS and signed photograph of von Manteuffel is included. This relic Enigma machine was found at the bottom of a meter-deep hole. The treasure hunter said that the area became a huge prison camp when the Germans surrendered to the British. The German soldiers intentionally buried any equipment they did not want to have fall into the hands of the Allies.

The Germans felt that the Enigma machine codes were unbreakable and continued to use it as the primary code machine for all branches of the military throughout WWII. Therefore, there were standing orders to destroy Enigma machines rather than let these secret cipher devices be captured by Allied forces. As German positions were overrun or preparing to surrender, the Enigma machines would be intentionally damaged to make them non-functional and then discarded into lakes, the ocean, or buried so they would not be found. Typical methods for destroying an Enigma machine included removing and discarding the rotors, smashing the top of the Enigma (including the lamp panel and keyboard) with a rifle butt, kicking in the Steckerboard, and even shooting or placing a grenade inside the machine. The intentional destruction of Enigma machines by the Germans as well as Churchill's orders to destroy all captured Enigma machines is the reason that less than one percent of all Enigma machines survived the war. Nearly all surviving Enigma machines now reside with museums, government intelligence agencies, or private collectors. The serial number of this Enigma—A20437—is still visible on the reflector. The serial number indicates that this machine was built in Berlin in 1944, likely less than one year from the date of Germany's surrender in May of 1945. The manufacturing of Enigma machines continued into early 1945. These Enigma machines were for use by new German divisions being formed from the remnants of shattered divisions as well as newly formed groups of very young and very old combatants. A fantastic, tangible relic of World War II.