InJanuary1929,amisdirectedpackagefromBerlinarrivedatthecustomsofficeinWarsaw,Poland.ItwasquicklyfollowedbyaGermanofficial,whodemandeditsreturn.Customsofficersbecamesuspicious,andsecretlyopeningthepackagetheytookphotosandmadediagramsofthemachineinsidebeforereturningittotheGermans.ItturnedouttobeGermany'sfamousEnigmacodingmachine.
TheBritishandFrenchhadsofarfailedtobreaktheGermancodes.Now,withthehelpofthephotosanddiagrams,thebrilliantPolishcryptologistMarianRejewskistartedtoworkontheproblem,andsoonwasabletoreadGermanEnigmatraffic.In1939,fiveweeksbeforetheGermaninvasionofPoland,RejewskiandhiscolleaguespresentedtheirresultsonEnigmadecryptiontoBritishandFrenchintelligencerepresentatives.ThiscontributedsignificantlytothedefeatofNaziGermany.
一九二九年一月,一個包裹由柏林誤寄到波蘭華沙市海關。一名德國官員隨即趕到,要把包裹領回。海關人員起疑,偷偷打開包裹,拍下裏面那臺機器的照片,並繪下圖樣。那原來是德國著名的恩尼格瑪密碼機。
英法兩國一直都無法破解德國的恩尼格瑪密碼。現在,有了照片、圖樣的幫助,波蘭傑出密碼家馬里安.雷耶夫斯基着手研究,不久就可以閱讀德國的恩尼格瑪通信。一九三九年,在德軍入侵波蘭五個星期之前,雷耶夫斯基和同事把破解恩尼格瑪密碼的研究結果交給英法情報人員,在擊敗納粹德國的事業上,貢獻甚大。