Pers Z S
The Pers Z S was the signals intelligence agency of the German Foreign Office before and during World War II. It consisted of two cryptologic sections. Pers Z S was the cryptanalytic section which was called Special Service of Z Branch of the Foreign Office Personnel Department. Its mission was the solution of foreign diplomatic codes and ciphers. The other section, which was the Cryptography Section was called Personal Z Cipher Service of the Federal Foreign Office . The latter section was responsible for compilation, distribution and security of Foreign Office codes and ciphers. Both were colloquially known as Pers Z S. Though similar in nature and operation to the OKW/Chi cipher bureau, it was a civilian operation as opposed to the military operation at OKW/Chi and focused primarily on diplomatic communications. According to TICOM interrogators it evinced an extraordinary degree of competence, primarily driven by a consistency of development not found in any other German signals bureau of the period. Pers Z S/Chi was the symbol and the code name of the Chiffrierdienst, i.e. the Cryptanalysis Department of Pers Z S. Although little is known about the organization, in the final analysis, Pers Z S labored at diplomatic cryptanalysis for a regime for which there were no diplomatic solutions.
Short name
The abbreviation of "Chi" for the Chiffrierabteilung is, contrary to what one might expect, not the Greek letter Chi, nor anything to do with the chi test, a common cryptographic test used as part of deciphering an enciphered message, and invented by Solomon Kullback, but only to the first three letters of the word Chiffrierabteilung.History
Little was known about Pers Z S before April 1945, when the first section was captured. TICOM, the United States effort to capture German intelligence assets after the war, found that captured documents provided little information on the execution of the unit, with the records of the Mathematical and Cryptological section having been destroyed. The field covered by Pers Z S, over 25 countries for a period of 25 years, stymied the TICOM as few interrogators were available, and they also lacked experience in cryptographic diplomatic system. This was the first TICOM investigation. Inevitably there were some areas which were not covered.In May 1945, the usual approach by the TICOM was to force captured personnel to write "homework" describing processes used in a particular intelligence unit under interrogation, but this method was not fully developed. The only document prepared as "homework" was one dated 6 August 1945 by Professor Dr Hans Rohrbach, along with several of his Pers Z S colleagues, which described the cryptanalysis of the American O-2 strip cypher, which was considered a most significant piece of work.
1919–1937
The original name for Pers Z S was unknown but was likely from Political Intelligence Department, and was placed with Bureau I, the normal administrative department in a German government organization at the time. As the cryptography unit grew, it changed its name to Personnel Bureau It was later called Chiffrierabteilung, later still the Sonderdienst des Referats Z in der Personalabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes. In 1925, it was known that both the cryptographic and cryptanalysis were unified under a single director.In 1919 Kurt Selchow had joined the organization and immediately started to professionalize the cipher bureau. He introduced a system of dividing work upon foreign codes and ciphers into sections for various countries and selected as leaders of these sections men such as Dr Pashke, Dr Kunze, Dr Schauffler who he had known during World War I.
The strength of the organization during this period was unknown. In 1945 Dr Paschke and Dr Schauffler stated that between 20 and 30 people were employed in 1918. A May 1919 list shows 63 personnel employed, and would likely cover clerks, administrators, communications and liaison individuals. By 1930 the Pers Z S unit strength was around 50 personnel.
1937–1939
On November 1, 1937, Pers Z S had around 77 employees, and by July 1, 1938, this had decreased to 72 people. It was thought that the cryptanalysis unit had around 20 people. Under interrogation, Paschke and Kunze estimated that in 1939, Pers S Z personnel included between 80 and 100 people. A document captured on December 1, 1939, showed a total strength of 92 people, but another document stated that 45 new appointments were made between September 1, 1939, and November 1939. Thus it would seem reasonable to assume that at the start of the war Pers Z S had a personnel count of 50.The available documentation from 1937 to 1939 indicate that Z Branch suffered personnel shortages and a certain inertia within management. The job descriptions attached to the recommendation for promotion documentation detailed that Dr. Kunze was a Specialist since 1923 and that Dr Paschke had held the same grade since 1927.
Positions with comparable activities and responsibilities in other ministries are given the grade of Principal Specialist or Senior Specialist. This is spite of the fact that the personnel concerned are usually younger and have less time in grade.
Chi complained in 1938 that it could not function efficiently without additional personnel. Ten of its thirteen cryptographers were over fifty years old, six of them over sixty.
Due to the overloading of the cryptographic section, outgoing messages cannot be enciphered and checked with the necessary care. This regrettable state of affair was most noticeable during May 1938 and September 1938, when the political atmosphere was at its tensest.
The cipher bureau was organized as follows:
Wartime
Little was known about Pers Z at the start of the war.By October 1, 1940, there were around 290 employees, with Kunze reporting to TICOM that he had 53 people working in his section in January 1941 at the Jaegerstrasse location, and Schauffler reporting that 88 personnel were employed in January 1941, at the Berlin-Dahlem Avenue location. As with other cipher bureaus, similar to the OKW/Chi, the high command bureau and B-Dienst, the Navy cipher bureau, Pers Z S suffered chronic shortage of personnel. On November 26, 1940, Pers Z S submitted a list of problems to high command, primarily due to staff shortages, including 17 major countries which were neglected. Doctor Kunze requested an additional 57 employees, 28 of which would be employees on British and American problems and Dr Schauffler requested an additional 17.
Pers Z S underwent no major changes until November–December 1943 when the unit was split into three groups and partially evacuated from Berlin due to continuous bombing by the Allies. Dr Schauffler and Dr Pasche's unit remained in Berlin at Im Dol 2-6,5. The Linguists unit under Dr Karstien, moved to Hischberg in the Giant Mountains. The mathematicians under Dr Kunze, together with all Hollerith machinery were evacuated to Hermsdorf in Silesia. Towards the end of war, in February and March 1945, the unit further fragmented and with the spectre of the Russian advance the personnel located in the Hirschberg group were moved to Burgscheidungen and joined there by some of the former Berlin personnel in April. The organization was knit together by a daily courier service. Later in February 1945 the mathematics based cryptanalysts subsection fragmented with some personnel moving to Mühlhausen, with the majority of the personnel moving to Zscheppelin, a small village, around 15 km west of Delitzsch. No intercept traffic was received after March 1945, however some cryptanalysis continued in Burgscheidungen on archive material, until it was overrun in April.
It is believed that all the Pers Z S archives, which consisted of around 40 chests, went south from Bavaria to Mühlhausen in mid-April 1945. Individual documents in the chests had no markings on them, but the files and folders were marked Geheime Reichssache, Secret Realm.
Key personnel
Administrative Section
Minister Kurt Selchow was Director of the Z Branch. He remained head of the cipher bureau until May 1945.Senior Specialist Dr Roy was head of Administrative Section in Z Branch. He had been with Z Branch since the early 1920s. He was taken prisoner at Mühlhausen in April 1945, but was found to be of little importance to TICOM.
Senior Specialist Ernst Hoffman had seniority going back to 1919. From 1940, he was head of the Communication Section in Z Branch, a section newly created at the time.
Senior Specialist Dr Horst Hauthal was head of the Cryptographic Section in Z Branch. His rise in Z Branch was considered meteoric by his peers. He joined the Nazi Party in 1937 and was a committed Nazi. A mathematician, economist, and cryptographer, he joined in January 1940 and was promoted to senior specialist before 1945. After the war he became a German ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa. Later, in the 1960s and early 1970s, he led negotiations for the first bilateral investment treaty with Pakistan.
Linguistics Cryptanalytic Section
Senior Specialist Dr Rudolf Schauffler, originally a mathematician, was the nominal head of the Linguistics and Cryptanalysis section from at least November 1, 1937, and was the senior cryptanalyst in the section. He joined Z branch immediately after World War I. His main field of interest was theoretical research on cryptologic methodology. His language specialties were Japanese and Chinese, which was also the cryptanalytic desk he headed. He also served as the primary advisor to the Foreign Office Cryptographic Section on SecuritySenior Specialist Dr Adolf Paschke became joint head of the Linguistics and Cryptanalytics section along with Schauffler during the latter half of World War II. He joined the Foreign Office group in 1919, became a Specialist in 1927 and became a senior specialist in 1939. In 1941, he was recommended to the rank of Principal Foreign Office Specialist. He was responsible for report publishing and the translators. He was also responsible for liaison with the German armed forces. His language specialties were Italian, Greek and Russian. Dr Adolf Paschke was a Nazi and joined in 1933.
Karl Zastrow was a Technical Assistant. A senior member of the Cryptanalytic Section, he entered service in December 1918. Known for being a gifted analyst, he was never promoted due to being absent minded. He headed the American and Scandinavian group which was directed by Dr Hans-Kurt Mueller, with Zastrow as his deputy. He was the unit's expert on American Systems.
Dr Wilhelm Brandes was a Senior Specialist. Dr Brandes headed the group directed by Dr Paschke, which worked to penetrate cyphers of Dutch, Swiss, Belgian or French origin. Having worked with Dr Paschke in World War I, he started working for Pers Z S in 1920. Known for being a capable linguist, archivist and bookbuilder, he had also certain liaison functions for his own group.
Dr Herrmann Scherschmidt was a Senior Specialist. Starting at the Foreign Office in May 1919, he specialized in Slavonic and Near Eastern languages. He headed the Pers Z S Turkish group from 1934 to 1939. Thereafter he took over the Slavonic group until September 1943. Wanting to return to the Turkish group, but unable to do so, he transferred to the translations unit until September 1944. He then returned to his old group, while Dr Benzing, the then current head of unit, shifted to Arabian and Iranian systems.
Dr Hans-Heidrun Karstien. Dr Karstien joined Pers Z S sometime before 1930. In November 1937, he was an unclassified employee in Group X, then the highest pay grade. He specialized in Japanese and Chinese systems and cyphers, which he worked on from 1930 to 1938. In November 1940, he was listed as a Specialist in Balkan languages, handling Bulgarian, Croatian, Polish, Slovakian and possibly Finnish cyphers. He was taken prisoner in April 1945.
Dr Johannes Benzing joined Pers Z S on July 20, 1937. He was the youngest senior official in the Pers Z S unit. A linguist, he was a specialist in Near Eastern languages and originally worked under Dr Scherschmidt. He headed this section from October 1939 until September 1944. He was then placed in charge of work for Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan systems.
Dr Ursula Hagen was a Technical Assistant . It was considered difficult for women in Pers Z S to achieve proper recognition or seniority, and Dr Hagen was a case in point. Born March 23, 1901, she entered the unit on October 1, 1922. By 1939 to 1945, she was head of the group, her immediate manager being Dr Paschke. She was responsible for work in England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Latin American countries. As manager of the group, she was responsible for 12 staff. Her grade and remuneration were never comparable to similar staff who had the same responsibilities and who were men. She was captured at Zschepplin in 1945 and evacuated to Marburg. Dr Hagen was considered as the best and most successful cryptanalyst in the diplomatic office by Dr Adolf Paschke.
Dr Hans-Kurt Mueller was a Technical Assistant, Born on May 1, 1906, he started working in Pers Z S on January 22, 1940. Specializing in American and Scandinavian systems, he was listed as Zastrow's deputy at that time. By April 1945 however, he is listed as head of the group, and Zastrow as his deputy.
Dr Peter Olbricht was a former anthropologist with the Ethnographic Museum, located at Prinz Albrecht and Königgrätzer in Berlin and started working for the unit in December 1939. An orientalist of some repute, he specialized in Chinese, Japanese and Manchurian codes, working under the direction of Dr Schauffler. He was in the Hirschberg group from December 1943, and was eventually captured at Burgscheidungen.
Miss Asta Friedrichs. While holding a low rank, she was however, one of the leading personalities of Pers S Z, she joined in September 1940 after studying at the Sorbonne and the America University in Sofia. Working with Dr Karstien, she deputized in the Slavonic Group when needed, while specializing in Bulgarian.
Miss Hildegarde Schrader was a Technical Assistant. Miss Schrader joined Pers Z S in September 1939, and specialized in French codes. In 1943 she was deputy to Dr Brandes in the French-Belgian-Swiss section and took over from Brandes when he fell ill in 1944, in Hirschberg. She was captured at Burgscheidungen.
Dr Otfried Deubner was employed as a Technical Assistant Grade III. Dr Otfried started work with unit on July 7, 1940. By the end of the war, he was assistant to Dr Paschke in the group which handled the Vatican, Italian, Greece and the USSR desks. He was recommended for Specialist in 1941 but decided to stay as a Technical Assistant.