Hans-Peter Luzius

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Hans-Peter Luzius (born  February 29, 1912 in Berlin-Steglitz , † after 1964) was a German mathematician and cryptologist . During the Second World War he worked in Inspection 7 Group VI (In 7 / VI), i.e. the cryptanalytical group of the High Command of the Army (OKH) based on Matthäikirchplatz, not far from the Bendler block , in Berlin.

Life

Born the son of the businessman Jacob Peter Luzius, he passed his Abitur on March 12, 1930 and began studying at the University of Berlin in the summer semester of 1930 , supplemented by one semester (summer semester 1931) at the University of Göttingen . He toured the United Kingdom in 1933 and the United States shortly thereafter . There he worked for some time as an actuary for the Alliance Insurance Company and perfected his knowledge of the English language . He was later certified as having "almost perfect English with a strong American accent ".

He completed the state examination for teaching qualifications in mathematics , physics and chemistry in April 1936. In 1938 he was at the University of Berlin with the dissertation "method for the approximate calculation of the risk reserve fund in life insurance using the moments" doctorate . His doctoral supervisor was Paul Riebesell (1883–1950). In 1941 he was called up for military service and almost immediately transferred to OKH / In 7 / VI. From February 3, 1941, he worked in Section  7 “Security of Own Procedures”, initially under Carl Boehm (1873-1958) and, after Boehm's departure, from April 1941 under his previous deputy Hans Pietsch (1907-1967).

The American strip pusher M-138-A embodies one of the methods that could be broken

After the German declaration of war on the United States on December 11, 1941, an "American Department" was set up at OKH / In 7, to which Luzius was transferred. One of his first cryptanalytic successes he has achieved there was the breakdown of the American Strip Cipher  (image) ( German  "strip slider" ), which cryptographically the cipher device M-94 corresponded, but the discs instead of simple stripes used that are more easily replaced could. There were methods using 25 and 30 strips.

In 1943, together with his colleagues Rudolf Kochendörffer (1911–1980), Willi Rinow (1907–1979) and Friedrich Steinberg, he managed to break into the M-209 , a rotor originally developed by the Swedish cryptologist Boris Hagelin (1892–1983). Cipher machine that was widely used by the US military during World War II. From the German side it was designated as AM-1 for "American Machine No. 1".

Towards the end of the war, in October 1944, intelligence reconnaissance of the German army was restructured and merged. This is how the office of the General of Intelligence (GdNA) came into being. Immediately before the end of the war , large parts of the OKH turned south towards Bad Reichenhall . Lucius, on the other hand, headed north, most recently to Flensburg , where he lived after the war. He was involved in the German Actuarial Association (DAV) and wrote several publications between 1956 and 1964.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Short biographies ( please enter the surname “Luzius” in the search mask of the “ Short biographies of the DMV ”), accessed on July 4, 2019.
  2. ↑ Frode Weierud and Sandy Zabell: German mathematicians and cryptology in WWII. Cryptologia, doi: 10.1080 / 01611194.2019.1600076 , p. 24.
  3. ^ Army Security Agency: Notes on German High Level Cryptography and Cryptanalysis . European Axis Signal Intelligence in World War II, Vol 4, Washington (DC), 1946 (May), pp. 4-10.
  4. ↑ TICOM / I-211: Preliminary Interrogation of Dr. Hans-Peter Luzius of OKH / In. 7. archive.org (English), p. 2.
  5. ↑ Short biographies ( please enter the surname “Luzius” in the search mask of the “ Short biographies of the DMV ”), accessed on July 4, 2019.
  6. ↑ TICOM / I-78: Interrogation of Oberstlt. Mettig on the History and Achievements of OKH / AHA / In 7 / VI. Pp. 11–12, accessed on July 2, 2019.
  7. ↑ Frode Weierud and Sandy Zabell: German mathematicians and cryptology in WWII. Cryptologia, doi: 10.1080 / 01611194.2019.1600076 , pp. 24-25.
personal data
SURNAME Luzius, Hans-Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mathematician and cryptologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 29, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin-Steglitz
DATE OF DEATH after 1964