Harry Welsch

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Harry Welsch (born  January 28, 1920 in Berlin ) is a German mathematician and cryptologist . During the Second World War he worked as a cryptanalyst in Section  7 “Security of own procedures” within Inspection 7 Group VI (In 7 / VI), i.e. the cryptanalytical group of the Army High Command (OKH) based on Matthäikirchplatz, not far from the Bendler block in Berlin.

Life

View of the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium (drawing around 1894), which was destroyed in the Second World War

education

Harry Welsch always lived in Berlin. In March 1938 he completed his education at the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium  (picture) in Berlin-Schöneberg with the Abitur . Immediately afterwards he was drafted into the Reich Labor Service (RAD) and served there for six months. In November 1938 he began studying at Berlin University , but on July 13, 1939, just a few weeks before the outbreak of war , he moved to the Foreign Office (AA), more precisely in its section Pers Z : an alias for the AA's encryption and decryption service .

Wehrmacht

On October 2, 1940, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht , completed basic training , and was then transferred to OKH / In 7 / VI, where he stayed until the end of the war in May 1945. On April 3, 1941, his work began in Department 1 “General Cryptanalysis” under its director Friedrich Steinberg and his deputy Hans Pietsch . His military rank at that time was radio operator , the lowest rank of all. He only stayed in Unit 1 for a few weeks and was transferred to Unit 3 “French” on April 24, under its head Ob.Insp. Hans Wolfgang Kühn moved to Matthäikirchplatz 4. Shortly afterwards he fell ill and was hospitalized from May 29 to August 25, from September 25 to October 3, and from November 5 to 16, 1941. After that, he appeared to have recovered and was able to resume his duties.

With effect from January 1, 1942, he became a private and also appointed to the position of a special leader  (G). He probably looked at in the course of 1942 with studies on the cryptanalytic security of the Enigma - machine that almost the Wehrmacht coverage for encryption began its message traffic. On November 1st that year he was promoted to sergeant .

On April 13, 1943 Harry Welsch became a member of the newly established nine-person department F "Research" under the direction of Lt. Herbert von Denffer and his deputy Uffz. Willi Rinow . On January 12, 1944, he wrote a 15-page treatise on cryptographic weaknesses of the Enigma with the title "Memo to the depth problem of the Enigma ".

After the war

After the war, he could not return to the university to continue his studies. His parents ran a tailor shop , the "Modesalon Welsch", and after the death of his father in 1946 Harry Welsch had to take over the management, which he held for sixteen years until 1962. From 1957 he managed to resume his studies, this time at the Free University of Berlin . On December 2, 1969, he graduated with a degree in mathematics . From April 1, 1970 to April 30, 1971 he practiced this profession at the Federal Supervisory Office for Insurance and Building Societies (BAV). On May 1, 1971, he moved to the Federal Statistical Office . His further path in life is in the dark.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Frode Weierud and Sandy Zabell: German mathematicians and cryptology in WWII. Cryptologia, doi: 10.1080 / 01611194.2019.1600076 , p. 65.
  2. ↑ Frode Weierud and Sandy Zabell: German mathematicians and cryptology in WWII. Cryptologia, doi: 10.1080 / 01611194.2019.1600076 , pp. 63-65.
  3. ↑ Michael van der Meulen: The Road to German Diplomatic Ciphers - 1919 to 1945 . In: Cryptologia . tape 22 , no. 2 , 1998, ISSN  0161-1194 , pp. 141 , doi : 10.1080 / 0161-119891886858 (English).
  4. ↑ Friedrich L. Bauer : Deciphered secrets. Methods and maxims of cryptology . 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Springer, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-540-67931-6 , pp.  398 .
  5. ↑ Who was Harry Welsch? March 25, 2018, accessed July 2, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Frode Weierud and Sandy Zabell: German mathematicians and cryptology in WWII. Cryptologia, doi: 10.1080 / 01611194.2019.1600076 , pp. 63-65.
personal data
SURNAME Welsch, Harry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mathematician and cryptologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin