This item has sold.
Battlefield-found, ground-dug Entrittswalze (ETW) from Enigma I cipher machine.
This is a rare Enigma input wheel (ETW) unearthed from the Stalingrad battlefields decades after WWII.
This input wheel was acquired from a WWII relic hunter who used a metal detector in the areas around what was Stalingrad. He found and searched the sites of former German communication bunkers. This relic input wheel was found along with other Enigma parts and fragments. It is common to find Enigma parts instead of whole Enigma machines. This is due to the standing orders the Germans had to destroy Enigma machines rather than let them be captured by the Allied forces. The Germans believed their Enigma codes to be secure and strived to avoid having these secret machines fall into enemy hands. The Germans destroyed Enigma machines by removing the rotors and kicking, crushing, shooting, and even blowing up the machines with hand grenades. This input rotor shows signs of being either blown up or crushed under a vehicle. The base plate has broken away from the base of the Enigma and is bent as is the attached rectangular support bracket that would have held up the adjacent power board.
The condition of this rare Enigma input wheel is typical of Enigma parts found after spending many decades in the ground. There is extensive corrosion over the entire piece. It is not functional. However, the piece is very stable, and the 26 electrical contacts on the wheel are clearly visible.
Input wheels are located at the center rear of Enigma machines (see pictures below). It takes electrical current from the plugboard and passes the current into a series of three Enigma rotors. Once the electrical current has passed through each rotor, it enters the reflector, which passes the current back through the three rotors and the input wheel on its way back to the plugboard. The input rotor is one of the components of an Enigma machine that is critical to the encipherment and decipherment of Enigma codes.
Included in this offering:
1) Original ground-dug Enigma input wheel found in the Stalingrad region.
2) German signal corps insignia: This is the patch that was warn on the uniforms of radio and Enigma machine operators. This particular patch would have been worn by soldiers of the German Mountain Division (Gebirgsjager). This is a replica patch.
3) Certification of Authenticity: A letter certifying that the input wheel is original and from an Enigma machine.
Price $995 plus shipping. **SOLD**
We accept PayPal or personal check. Price does not include shipping or PayPal charges.
We often have other relic, battlefield-found Enigma parts available for sale. Contact Dan Perera for more information: dan@enigmamuseum.com.
Click photos to view larger images.
Input wheel in a German Enigma machine. IMPORTANT: This image is for descriptive purposes only. This is not the piece being offered for sale.
Input wheel in a German Enigma machine. IMPORTANT: This image is for descriptive purposes only. This is not the piece being offered for sale.
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