Apel Zjednoczenia Polskiego w WB do społeczeństwa polskiego w Wielkiej Brytanii

Obrona dobrego imienia Polski i Polaków  

W dniu 24go września odbyła się premiera filmu pt. “Enigma” a od 28-go film jest wyświetlany w kinach publicznych.

Film jest oparty na książce o tematyce fabularnej, autora Roberta Harris, obecnie dziennikarza “Daily Telegraph”.

Główną postacią filmu jest Polak, który pracuje w ośrodku kryptograficznym Bletchley Park podczas wojny. Polak ten zdradza sekrety Bletchley Park Niemcom z tego powodu, ze Anglicy ignorują sprawę Katynia, w którym, jak się dowiedział, jedną z ofiar był jego brat.

Tło filmu związane jest z Enigmą i ośrodkiem kryptograficznym Bletchley Park.

Nie w tym rzecz, że angielski autor wybrał sobie postać Polaka jako zdrajcy, choć może nam być z tego powodu przykro i możemy uważać to za skrajny nietakt w stosunku do Polaków, walczących ramię w ramię z Brytyjczykami i dla potomków Polaków w Wielkiej Brytanii. Jest to przywilej autorów powieści beletrystycznych.

Nie do przyjęcia jest fakt, że podczas gdy akcja opiera się na Enigmie i pracy w Bletchley Park, w filmie jest tylko jedna krótka wzmianka, że to właśnie Polacy przekazali pierwotną Enigmę Anglikom.

W przyszłym roku w Bletchley Park odsłonięta będzie tablica z następującym napisem w języku angielskim i polskim, uzgodnionym z Bletchley Park Trust:

“This plaque commemorates the work of Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski - mathematicians of the Polish Intelligence Service, in first breaking the enigma code. Their work greatly assisted the Bletchley Park code breakers and contributed to the Allied victory in World War II.

Tablica ta upamiętnia pracę Mariana Rejewskiego, Jerzego Różyckiego i Henryka Zygalskiego - matematyków polskiego wywiadu, którzy pierwsi złamali kod Enigmy. Ich praca ogromnie pomogła kryptologom w Bletchley Park i przyczyniła się do zwycięstwa Aliantów w II Wojnie Światowej.”

Film nie przedstawia ani nie podkreśla prawdy historycznej i tym bardziej nas szkaluje, pozostawiając widza pod wrażeniem akcji zdrajcy Polaka. Uważamy to za karygodne. Zwracamy się do społeczeństwa o poparcie naszej akcji i wystosowanie listów protestacyjnych do czołowych gazet ”The Times”, “The Daily Telegraph”, “The Independent”, “The Guardian” “The Daily Mirror”, “Evening Standard” i do swoich lokalnych gazet.

Listy można przesłać do Zjednoczenia Polskiego w WB, które przekaże je do gazet.

Poniżej propozycja listu protestacyjnego:

Letters Editor

Sir,

As a member of the Polish community in Great Britain, I consider the film “Enigma”, recently on general release, to be a slur on the Poles in general.

The film, although fictional, is based on the historical fact of Enigma and the work done at Bletchley Park. It completely overlooks the fact that mathematicians of the Polish Intelligence Service were the first to break the Enigma code.

In July 1939, the Polish Intelligence Service passed to British Intelligence a copy of the Enigma machine and the fruits of their work to that date in breaking the Enigma code. It is on the basis of this very significant contribution of the Polish Intelligence Service that the work at Bletchley Park developed and contributed to the Allied victory in World

War II.

It is a fact that no Pole ever worked at Bletchley Park let alone was a traitor.

Yours faithfully,

Reflections on the film “Enigma” by dr Jan Ciechanowski October 2001

The problem with the film “Enigma” based on Mr Harris’s novel is that it mixes fact with fiction in a way which gives the story a whiff of authenticity to a story which in the light of historical truth is very sad fiction indeed. Most of the film was shot at Bletchely Park (to be accurate at a reconstructed Bletchley Park) and splendidly conveys the atmosphere which prevailed in wartime and immediate post war England. All this lends to the film an aura of authenticity. In fact, the film creates a false impression of being a semi-historical film with history being completely perverted. In this context, protestations that the character s portrayed are fictional ring hollow.

Mr Harris fully acknowledges that without the help of the Poles, the British cryptologists would not have been able to read even a single German cipher.

The achievements of Bletchley Park were based on Polish knowledge of Enigma, and Polish acumen and courage.

Without the Poles, the British would not have been able to read the Enigma ciphers; without the British, the achievements of the Poles might have been lost.

Almost all of the cryptological methods and techniques used by the British to read Enigma during the war (including the Shark code used by the German U-boats) had been invented and employed by the Poles. Zygalski’s perforated sheets, the cryptological bombs etc. The main British contribution was the expansion in the scale of operation to keep pace with the demands.

Enigma was an Anglo-Polish achievement. It should be celebrated as such and there is no need to try and rob the Poles of their achievements. Let alone to present a Pole, albeit a fictional traitor, to be a traitor at Bletchley Park, ready to betray his British allies as a revenge against the British authorities who were suppressing information about Katyn where his father/brother was murdered by the Soviets.

In actual fact, the Poles not only were the first to break Emigma, but also guarded the secret of having broken it, form the beginning to the very end of the war.

In March 1943 Col Gwido Langer and Mjr Maksymilian Ciê ¿ ki of Polish Intelligence were arrested by the Germans crossing the French-Spanish border trying to make their way to England. They knew all there was to know about Enigma and Bletchley Park (one of them had visited Bletchey Park). They did not break under German Gestapo interrogation - they kept the faith to Poland and the Allies. In January 1940 , the head of the British Intelligence Service, Col. Stewart Menzies, was very keen to employ Polish cryptologists at Bletchley Park but, it was decided they should remain in France and co-operate with the French.

In view of the Polish achievements in breaking the Enigma and defending the Ultra secrets, to present a Pole as a traitor in a work of fiction but set against the background of such an historical event, seem a very shabby and unfair treatment.

There was a traitor or, if you like, a hero at Bletchley Park. He was not a fictitious Pole but a red-blooded Brit, a Mr John Cairncross. He worked at Bletchley Park during 1942-43 and was passing Ultra material to his Soviet masters. He passed the entire German plans for the battle of Kursk. It can be the subject of debate whether he was a traitor or a hero. However, the British were reluctant to pass raw Ultra data to the Soviets as the Soviet codes were unsafe and the Germans often read them.

Therefore, Cairncross was in fact endangering the security of Ultra while at same time, the Poles were successfully defending it.

It is a pity that all this has eluded Mr Harris’s attention.

Mr Harris claims that he wrote his novel, in part to bring the Katyn massacre to the attention of a wider public and to point out the hypocrisy of the British government in pretending that this crime had been committed by the Germans when they knew for certain it had been ordered by Stalin.

This seems to be another example of Mr Harris again mixing fact with fiction.

Mr Harris slanders his own government which never pretended that the Katyn massacre was perpetrated by the Germans. The British attitude to Katyn was very pragmatic and cynical or, if preferred, economical with the truth. Churchill at the time believed that revealing the whole truth about Katyn was unnecessary for the allied cause as the Red Army was carrying the main brunt of the struggle against the Germans on land. This view was painful to the Poles but it did not incite them to betray their British allies.

The whole truth about Katyn was very well known by 1995 when Mr Harris was writing his novel.

Mr Harris claims that the film does not do justice to his story. In fact, his story is quite simple, there was a Polish traitor at Bletchley Park and the film fully reflects this.

A filmgoer leaves under the impression that the Polish contribution to Enigma was minimal and that a Pole was prepared to betray the secrets to the Germans at a time when the fate of the Battle of the Atlantic hung in the balance.

All this is a gratuitous slur on Poland and on the Poles. It is an unjustifiable attempt to negate Polish achievements and to cast Poles in the role of traitors.

Letters Editor 03/10/01

I am writing to you in connection with the film “Enigma”, on general release, which has raised a great deal of disquiet and consternation among the Polish community.

Although based on a work of fiction, the film nevertheless refers to historical facts viz. Enigma and Bletchley Park. Indeed, Bletchley Park figures in the credits.

We do not question the fact that in a work of fiction, the English author chose to portray a Pole as a traitor, although obviously we feel that this is a gratuitous slur on Poles who fought side by side with their British allies.

What seems unacceptable is the fact that as the story revolves around Enigma and Bletchely Park, there is only one brief mention that it was the Poles who made the Enigma machine available to British Intelligence. The overall lasting impression is of a Polish traitor at Bletchley Park, when no Pole worked there, let alone was a traitor.

The substantial “sine qua non” contribution of Polish Intelligence is conspicuous by there being no mention of it.

The historical context of “Enigma” and Bletchley Park vis a vis the Polish contribution is as follows:

“Mathematicians of the Polish Intelligence Service were the first to break the Enigma code. In July 1939, the Polish Intelligence Service passed over to British Intelligence a copy of the Enigma machine and the fruits of their work done in breaking the code in the years 1932-1939. This work greatly assisted the Bletchley Park code breakers and contributed to the Allied victory in World War II.

No Pole ever worked at Bletchley Park. The characters portrayed in this film are entirely fictitious and bear no relation to any person living or dead.”

I would be grateful if you were to bring this to the attention of your readers.

Yours faithfully,

Andrzej Morawicz

President

18/09/01

Mr Robert Harris

Columnist

“The Daily Telegraph”

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London E14 5DT

Dear Mr Harris,

I am writing to you in connection with the film “Enigma” based on your novel and looking to you for support.

The film “Enigma” due for general release imminently has raised a great deal of disquiet and consternation among the Polish community.

Although based on a work of fiction, the film nevertheless refers to historical facts viz. Enigma and Bletchley Park . Indeed, Bletchley Park figures in the credits.

We do not question the fact that in a work of fiction you chose to portray a Pole as a traitor, although obviously we feel that this is a gratuitous slur on Poles who fought side by side with their British allies.

What seems unacceptable is the fact that as the story revolves around Enigma and Bletchely Park, there is only one brief mention that it was the Poles who made the Enigma machine available to British Intelligence. The overall lasting impression is of a Polish traitor at Bletchley Park, when no Pole worked there, let alone was a traitor.

The substantial “sine qua non” contribution of Polish Intelligence is conspicuous by there being no mention of it.

This state of affairs, I beg to suggest, is completely unacceptable in the context.

In order to do justice to the historical context of “Enigma” and Bletchley Park, we ask for your support to persuade the producers of the film to include a 1 minute trailer at the start and a 1 minute trailer before the final credits of the film which would read:

“Mathematicians of the Polish Intelligence Service were the first to break the Enigma code. In July 1939, the Polish Intelligence Service passed over to British Intelligence a copy of the Enigma machine and the fruits of their work done in breaking the code in the years 1932-1939. This work greatly assisted the Bletchley Park code breakers and contributed to the Allied victory in World War II.

No Pole ever worked at Bletchley Park. The characters portrayed in this film are entirely fictional and bear no relation to any person living or dead.”

I hope that I can find your support in this matter and that you will be kind enough to join us in undertaking to persuade the producers of the film “Enigma” to introduce the trailers.

It would also be much appreciated if in your “Daily Telegraph” column you saw fit to share with us, the readers, the true account of the vital contribution made by Polish Intelligence to the breaking of the “Enigma”.

Yours sincerely,

Andrzej Morawicz

President

08/10/01

Robert Harris, Esq.

The Old Vicarage

Kintbury

Berks. RG17 9TR

The controversy over the film “Enigma”, can be a cause for some satisfaction to you, the film makers and to the Polish community.

The publicity raised has no doubt sharpened people’s interest in the film whilst the Polish community has the satisfaction that the story of the Polish contribution to the breaking of Enigma has captured the attention of millions of newspaper readers.

It is satisfying that the Katyn affair was properly exposed as a Soviet crime.

I would ask you where the idea of a Polish traitor came from? There was a traitor at Bletchley, John Cairncross, who in 1942/43 passed information to the Soviets thus endangering the secret of Enigma.

In the light of the historical facts the proper outcome should be an additional statement at the end/beginning of the film, alongside the statement about Katyn, confirming Poland’s role in the solving of Enigma. My letter (14.09) to Ms V. Pearman on this point remains unanswered.

You were kind enough to suggest that you would support having the captions before the film is transferred to DVD and video.

Andrzej Morawicz

President

14/09/01

Ms Victoria Pearman

Executive Producer

c/o M&R

Ms Madeleine Bielseld

34 Bloomsbury Street

London WC1B 3QJ

Dear Ms Pearman,

The film “Enigma” due for general release imminently has raised a great deal of disquiet and consternation among the Polish community.

Although based on a work of fiction, the film nevertheless refers to historical facts viz. Enigma and Bletchley Park . Indeed, Bletchley Park figures in the credits.

We do not question the fact that in a work of fiction, the English author chose to portray a Pole as a traitor, although obviously we feel that this is a gratuitous slur on Poles who fought side by side with their British allies.

What seems unacceptable is the fact that as the story revolves around Enigma and Bletchely Park, there is only one brief mention that it was the Poles who made the Enigma machine available to British Intelligence. The overall lasting impression is of a Polish traitor at Bletchley Park, when no Pole worked there, let alone was a traitor.

The substantial “sine qua non” contribution of Polish Intelligence is conspicuous by there being no mention of it.

This state of affairs, I beg to suggest, is completely unacceptable in the context.

In order to do justice to the historical context of “Enigma” and Bletchley Park, we ask that you include a 1 minute trailer at the start and a 1 minute trailer before the final credits of the film which would read:

“Mathematicians of the Polish Intelligence Service were the first to break the Enigma code. In July 1939, the Polish Intelligence Service passed over to British Intelligence a copy of the Enigma machine and the fruits of their work done in breaking the code in the years 1932-1939. This work greatly assisted the Bletchley Park code breakers and contributed to the Allied victory in World War II.

No Pole ever worked at Bletchley Park. The characters portrayed in this film are entirely fictional and bear no relation to any person dead or living.”

I think that this would add greatly to the overall perception of the film and I hope that I can find your support in this matter

Yours sincerely,

Andrzej Morawicz

President