2025/12/01 by Eugen Antal, Carola Dahlke, R. G. Jahn · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #European history and politics #German History and Society #World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact
paper · doi:10.1080/01611194.2025.2557311
openalex publication_date 2025/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/12/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
Schlüsselgerät 41 (cipher device 41) is a rare but very advanced mechanical cipher machine from World War II. It was developed by Fritz Menzer in 1941, and used by the German Abwehr at the end of the war. Virtually nothing was known about this machine until the last decade. The authors of this study recently succeeded in finding the previously missing operating instructions and key documents in Czech archives. As a result, last unanswered questions about how the machine worked and how it was used in the field can now be clarified.