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After the war, the three cryptologists, Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski, went their separate ways. Marian Rejewski returned to Bydgoszcz, his home town, because he had left his family in Poland when the war broke out. Jerzy Różycki did not live to see the end of the war, unfortunately. He died on 9 January 1942 while crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Henryk Zygalski, who was born in Poznań, stayed in Great Britain. He built his life there and taught mathematical statistics at the University of Surrey. It was in Great Britain that he met the love of his life, Bertha Blofield. They travelled together a lot during their 30-year-long relationship. What brought them together was their passion for music (young Henryk learnt to play the piano when he was still in Poznań while the city was under the Prussian rule). Then, their shared hobby became travelling around Great Britain, France, Spain and Italy. They took numerous photos to document their journeys. These show Zygalski as a cheerful man with a sense of humour who does not take himself too seriously. His notes made on the back of these photos prove that.

11 July 1956 Tossa de Mar – out of the box

There are two photos from the ruins of the Castle of Tossa de Mar. They constitute an illustrated story, which shows the originality of the Poznań cryptologist (it was already visible during his work at the Cipher Bureau, the result of which were the so-called Zygalski sheets). The first photo was captioned by Zygalski: ‘Everyone takes this photo from a window in the ruins of the old castle. But not everyone picks their eye while doing it! So…’ Once more, Zyga escapes the confines of expectations. However, not for long, as can be seen in the caption written on the next photograph: ‘so… Sylwek took one more photo. The wind blew. It was terribly hot!’ The photo shows Zygalski leaning against the ruins, posing like a typical tourist.

July 1957 – (R)evolution

Genre scene, in which, according to the caption, ‘[a] cave man [H. Zygalski, author’s note] explains to a civilised man [this part is played by Bertha Blofield, author’s note] that two times two equals three and a half.’

As we can see, Zygalski did not take himself too seriously, which may seem quite extraordinary, given the stereotypical view of a scientist, especially one of such calibre.

It is not the only role he played during the session on a beach in July 1957. Zygalski’s note on the next photograph reads: ‘he looks a little bit like Einstein.’ Thus, in a relatively short time there was a rapid evolution from a cave man to a brilliant scientist, witnessed by Bertha, Henryk’s companion during his numerous journeys.

Zygalski’s partner often accompanies him in photos. We can see two mature people in love, for whom the opportunity to spend time together is a source of everyday happiness. After the turbulent years of the war, not everyone was able to build their lives anew. It seems that Henryk Zygalski could call himself satisfied.

Browsing through Henryk Zygalski’s photographs from his numerous travels, we get to know him not only as a serious, distinguished mathematician, but also as an ordinary, outgoing and cheerful man who had a tendency to complain but, interestingly enough, seemed to be perfectly aware of it. A healthy dose of self-mockery is one of the features which constituted his charm.

Mikołaj Frankowski, Enigma Cipher Centre