"AL A." wrote in message
...
I saw a guy with several Enigma machines, complete with manuals, for sale
at
a ham radio flea market in New Hampshire last fall.
He wanted 10 or 12 K for each, if I remember correctly. He was also
selling
copies of the manuals on CD, with engilsh translation.

I asked where he got them, and he said that he travels to Germany
frequently, and that they "turn up" if you ask enough
people. He said thet there are still some floating around that where
issued
to officers and government officals that ended up
in attics and garages at the end of the war thet get discovered from time
to
time.
Neat thing to see.


I am told that Enigma machines are relatively common. After the war
the Allies kept secret the fact that the Enigma code had been cracked.
The companies that made the original Enigmas kept on making them.
They were mostly sold to third world countries and used for their secure
governmental and military communication. Some 30 years after the war,
it was revealed that the Enigmas were cracked. All those governments
stopped using them. That is the origin of most of the available
machines. They are authentic Enigma machines, there were not
used by the Germans in the war however.

Pete.