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Unit 387 & Hillsdale College

Today we’re going to introduce you to a brilliant woman whose contributions in both world wars of the twentieth-century ensured Allied victories. After World War II, her efforts were shoved aside, and others took the credit while her extraordinary skills were, and this is putting it mildly, underutilized. However, in today’s world when we bemoan the lack of women in the field of writing code, a century ago, Elizebeth Smith Friedman was a ground-breaking cryptanalyst or, codebreaker. In other words, she did the complete opposite of writing code ⏤she broke it.

Elizebeth Smith Friedman, US cryptanalyst. Photo by U.S. Government (date unknown). NSA. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Elizebeth Smith Friedman, US cryptanalyst. Photo by U.S. Government (date unknown). NSA. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.

Did You Know?

Did you know that the Japanese had an encryption machine similar to the Nazi’s enigma machine? The Allies called it the “Purple Encryption Machine.” After the Japanese learned that the Americans had broken their code in 1936, they developed a new system to encipher their messages. The Japanese called their new machine the “97 Alphabetical Typewriter” or, better known to the American spy organizations as “Purple.” It was made up of two typewriters with an electrical rotor system and a 25-character alphabetic switchboard. The machine was actually an improvement over the Nazi enigma machine. Without going into a lot of technical stuff (because I don’t understand it), suffice it to say, “Purple” was extremely difficult to crack. The U.S. Army hired William Friedman in 1939 to break the “Purple” code. It took Friedman and his team almost three years to fully decipher “Purple.” In the process, Friedman had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized. Despite never having seen an actual “Purple” machine, Friedman’s team was able to reconstruct one and produced eight functional replicas. Two years into the war, the Allies were able to track the Japanese navy’s movements as well as other military communications. Friedman had cracked enough of the “Purple” code by 1941 to learn the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately, this knowledge was never used.

Fragment of an original Japanese Type 97 “Purple” cipher machine. Photo by United States Air Force (2007). National Museum. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Fragment of an original Japanese Type 97 “Purple” cipher machine. Photo by United States Air Force (2007). National Museum. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
William Friedman in front of an AT&T cipher machine. Photo by anonymous (c. 1919). PD-Published prior to 1924. Wikimedia Commons.
William Friedman in front of an AT&T cipher machine. Photo by anonymous (c. 1919). PD-Published prior to 1924. Wikimedia Commons.

Let’s Meet Elizebeth Smith Friedman

Elizebeth Smith Friedman. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Courtesy of the George C. Marshall Foundation, Lexington, Virginia.
Elizebeth Smith Friedman. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Courtesy of the George C. Marshall Foundation, Lexington, Virginia.

Elizebeth Smith (1892-1980) was one of ten children born into an Indiana Quaker family. She attended Wooster College (Ohio) but transferred to Hillsdale College (Michigan) in 1913. Elizebeth joined the Pi Beta Phi (“Pi Phi”) sorority and graduated in 1915 with a degree in English literature (a favorite author was Shakespeare). After moving back to her parent’s home and a stint in the public-school system, Elizebeth was asked to join Riverbank Laboratories which was owned by Colonel George Fabyan (1867-1936). It seems the Colonel Fabyan and Elizebeth shared a common interest in Shakespeare and he wanted her to help prove his theory that Sir Francis Bacon had written Shakespeare’s plays. Read More Unit 387 & Hillsdale College

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If I Sleep, Thirty People Die

One of the things I try and do is introduce you to people who have had very interesting lives. Hopefully, the majority of them have led good lives but unfortunately, there are some who have not. Not too long ago, you were introduced to the “Auschwitz Tattooist”  (read The Auschwitz Tattooist here) as well as a Belgium woman who sacrificed her life to save Jewish children (read Something Must Be Done here). Today, you’ll meet a very courageous young man who at the age of eighteen became the French Resistance’s most skilled forger and in the process, saved the lives of 14,000 Jews including countless children. He estimated that thirty forged documents could be produced in one hour. So, Adolfo Kaminsky didn’t sleep much because, “If I sleep, thirty people die.”


July Historical Events

This is a new feature for our bi-weekly blogs. I’ll pick out some interesting events that took place in the historical month of our blog. Don’t worry, we’ll continue with the “Did You Know?” call-outs as many of you have commented so positively about it. So, here goes ⏤ let me know if I should continue this! 

6 July 1189 Richard the Lionheart comes to the English throne after his father, King Henry II, dies. As the English king, Richard spent less than six months in Britain (so much for the Robin Hood story).
7 July 1456 Joan of Arc is posthumously acquitted of her crimes. This really didn’t help Joan as she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, but at least her reputation was saved (which likely paved the way for sainthood).
28 July 1540 King Henry VIII married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. There were immediate marital problems and several days after appearing as a couple on the Jerry Springer show, Catherine was dispatched to meet the executioner.
14 July 1789 Mobs storm the Bastille. How could I have left this one out?
16 July 1945 The first atomic bomb is detonated in the New Mexico desert. I wish I could have left his one out.
17 July 1955 Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California. Okay, why would I include this here? Simply, nostalgia. Sandy worked here in the mid-1970s (Bear Country) and we took our kids to the park many times during the thirty-four years we lived in Southern California. Spoiler Alert for a lot of you: all the original rides are gone (trust me, “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” really wasn’t).

Let’s Meet Adolfo Kaminsky

Adolfo Kaminsky (born 1925) was a member of a Russian Jewish family who fled Russia, moved to Paris, but were kicked out of France and settled in Argentina where Adolfo was born. His father was a tailor and in 1932, moved the family back to Paris after the French government allowed them to return albeit under their Argentina passports. After a year, they moved to the Normandy area where young Adolfo began working for a dry-cleaning business and developed an interest in chemistry and specifically, dyes. Adolfo would soon build a lab where he could experiment and teach himself the basics of chemistry.

Self-portrait of Adolfo Kaminsky at the age of 19. Photo by Adolfo Kaminsky (c. 1944). ©️ Adolfo Kaminsky.
Self-portrait of Adolfo Kaminsky at the age of 19. Photo by Adolfo Kaminsky (c. 1944). ©️ Adolfo Kaminsky.

Read More If I Sleep, Thirty People Die