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From the Bottom of the Sea

By Jan Hybertz Gøricke

An Enigma from the bottom of Vemmingbund has been given to the museum.


At the moment the battered Enigma code machine has been placed gently in a showcase where a small amount of sand, pebbles, and shells are forming an authentic scene for its fate. The Enigma was obviously thrown overboard by the crew of one of the many German ships that lay in Flensburg Fiord prior to the liberation in 1945. Instructions were clear: The crew should see to it that the code machines did not fall into enemy hands.

More exactly the Enigma was fished out of the waters of Vemmingbund southwest of Sonderborg by a fisherman about ten years ago. At least that is the story told by an unknown "Jens-Peter". He gave it to Jesper Sorensen from Sonderborg a couple of years ago together with the story about how it surfaced in the literal sense of the word.

The Enigma was in Jesper Sorensen’s possession for a few years until a friend of the museum effected the handing over to Post & Tele Museum. First and foremost we owe the giver, Jesper Sorensen, great thanks, but in this case also the intermediary, Geert Willendrup. We are especially pleased that the code machine has not been cleaned, but has been preserved with "topping" from the bottom of the sea and thereby its history.

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