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- [Narrator] A bloody war
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rages on America's streets
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fought with secret code.
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- Capone and his outfit are
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sending tens of thousands
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of messages each year.
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- [Narrator] Cracking
the mob's codes is
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the job of just one woman.
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- If we hadn't found
these code messages,
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we might never have
solved the case.
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- [Narrator] Her work will
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help bring down Al Capone.
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- She is the linchpin
in this fight
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against mob violence in America.
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- [Narrator] Save
countless lives.
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- I am sitting here
speaking to you
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because she may have
saved that ship.
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- [Narrator] And even stop
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a Nazi invasion of America.
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- [Voice-Over] Information
received that Germany plans
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direct attack on Panama Canal
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with German planes.
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- [Amy] Her job now is listening
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out for spies.
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- [Narrator] These are the codes
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that changed our world.
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Bizarre markings,
random letters,
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and numbers, words
that make no sense,
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but cracking them
unlocks military secrets,
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decodes ancient civilizations,
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and reveals enemies
in our midst.
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Now we uncover how
they were decoded,
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the genius minds
that broke them,
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and the secrets they revealed.
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On January 17th, 1920,
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after decades of campaigning
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from religious and
political groups.
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- Alcohol is
hindering the coming
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of world peace because it is
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befuddling the
thinking of humanity.
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- [Narrator] America goes dry.
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The National
Prohibition Act heralds
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a new era of
sobriety in the U.S.
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- Alcohol production
across America shuts down.
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Breweries, saloons,
restaurants, anywhere,
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and anywhere that you can
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normally get a drink,
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you just can't do it anymore.
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- [Narrator] Distributing or
selling alcohol is illegal,
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but drinking it isn't.
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- Anytime you make
something illegal
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that's in high demand,
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criminals are gonna step in
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and take control of that.
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That is going to put a lot
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of money in the pockets
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of some very, very
dangerous people.
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- [Narrator] To quench
America's thirst,
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street gangs begin to
organize themselves
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into structured criminal mobs.
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- Many of these
gangs became very,
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very powerful precisely
because people
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still wanted to drink.
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- [Narrator] They're led by
elaborately named mobsters,
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Lucky Luciano, Bugs Moran,
and Machine Gun Kelly.
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But the most notorious mobster
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of all is Al, "Scarface" Capone.
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- Al Capone is going to
build a criminal empire
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that spans the country,
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tens of thousands
of speakeasies.
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The profits of this enterprise
are just incredible.
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He's making about
$100 million a year.
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In modern terms, that would
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be $1 billion a year.
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- [Narrator] Like
all criminal empires,
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Capone's is built on the
bodies of his enemies.
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- You don't become the mobster
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of all mobsters by
being a nice guy.
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He's gonna have gangs of gunmen
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taking out his rivals,
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bonding establishments
that refused
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to pay their protection money
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or buy his product.
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They'll show up and just unleash
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a hail of machine gunfire
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into the guy's car in the middle
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of a street in the
middle of the day.
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- [Narrator] By 1926, more
than 12,000 murders are
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taking place every
year across America.
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And the homicide
rate in large cities,
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soars by 78% during Prohibition.
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America is at war.
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And this war is being waged
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with one weapon
above all others,
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secret code.
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- Capone and his outfit are
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sending tens of thousands
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of messages each year.
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It's a level of
sophisticated encryption
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that has never been seen before
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outside of military conflict.
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- [Narrator] These
coded messages
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allow the mobsters
selling liquor
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to communicate with the
smugglers supplying it.
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- And these codes
and ciphers are
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changing constantly to keep
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the police on their toes.
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- [Narrator] To win the
war against the mob,
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law enforcement must
crack the codes.
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- If you can break the code,
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if you can figure out
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how your opponent
is communicating,
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you have a vital
piece of information
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that allow you to
get the upper hand.
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- [Narrator] But
from the get-go,
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it's the mobsters who
have the upper hand
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because not only is this war
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being fought with secret codes,
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the frontline is far
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from the reach of the police...
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at sea.
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The illegal liquor fueling
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the bloodshed is being brought
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into the U.S. by
boat from Canada
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and Mexico via the West Coast
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and the French and
British territories
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and Cuba off the East Coast.
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- What you have is a system
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where freighters will pick up
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large amounts of
alcohol in foreign port,
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and then they'll anchor
in international waters
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where the Coast Guard
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cannot legally seize them.
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We have motherships the size
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of baseball fields that can
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hold 100,000 crates of liquor
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worth in today's
terms, $8 million.
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- [Narrator] High
speed contact boats
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manned by so-called rum-runners
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meet the motherships and run
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the liquor back to shore.
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- Some of them are
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even armored to protect them.
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This has become just
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an incredible undertaking.
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- [Narrator] America's main line
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of defense against
the illegal smuggling
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is the U.S. Coast Guard.
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But it's no match
for the mobsters.
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- The U.S. Coast
Guard had a problem,
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ill-equipped, underfunded,
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and not paid very well.
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- Rum-runners were speedy,
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were well-armed,
were well-staffed,
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and could outrun, outgun,
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outman the Coast Guard.
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- It doesn't have enough ships.
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It doesn't have enough men.
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It just doesn't have anywhere
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near the power to
make a real dent
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in this massive well-funded,
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well organized
criminal enterprise.
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- [Narrator] But
it's not just speed
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and manpower that helps
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this vast illegal enterprise
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stay one step ahead of the law.
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It's coded messages sent
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via radio using Morse code.
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- There's a huge
amount of alcohol
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coming with boats and ships.
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And the only way
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for them to rendezvous is
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to communicate with each other.
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They communicate by radio.
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You have to make sure
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that those messages
are so scrambled
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that even once you
got the Morse code
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and you've written
down the letters,
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you don't know what
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this thing is
supposed to be saying.
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And so the gangsters are paying
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for great cryptography
for ciphers
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and codes that no one can break.
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You have to break
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the codes to stop them.
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- [Narrator] This level of
sophisticated encryption is
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far beyond the capabilities
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of the underfunded
U.S. Coast Guard.
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- The Coast Guard
intelligence section
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was literally one guy
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and he was not a codebreaker.
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- The Coast Guard
doesn't stand a chance.
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It needs another weapon.
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- [Narrator] Enter the
woman who will take
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on the might of the mob,
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armed with nothing more
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than pencil and paper,
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mother of two,
Elizebeth Friedman.
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- To all appearances,
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as far as anyone can tell,
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she's just nice, Mrs. Friedman
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who's working from home
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who has her small children
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and yet she will be the linchpin
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in this fight against
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mob violence in America.
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- [Narrator] After
graduating with a degree
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in English literature in 1915,
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a chance meeting with
eccentric millionaire,
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George Fabyan, propels Elizebeth
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into a career as a codebreaker.
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- George Fabyan is a man
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who's made a lot of money.
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His family has
had a lot of money
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and he decides he's going
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to run his own think tank.
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- [Narrator] Fabyan
had established
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a private research center
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outside Chicago called Riverbank
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to investigate his eclectic
range of interests.
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- He has a lot of bright,
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young people doing research
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in topics that
he's interested in.
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And one of the
topics is this idea
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that there are
codes in Shakespeare
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that Shakespeare really didn't
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write his own plays.
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- [Narrator] Instead
Fabyan believes
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they were written
by Tudor philosopher
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and scientist,
Sir Francis Bacon.
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- Bacon put these
codes into the writing
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that would tell people
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00:10:01,206 --> 00:10:03,206
who were smart
enough to find them
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00:10:03,206 --> 00:10:04,448
that he was the one
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00:10:04,448 --> 00:10:06,103
who had written the
Shakespeare plays.
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- [Narrator] And
so the 23-year old,
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English literature
graduate finds herself
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plowing through letter
by painstaking letter,
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the entire works of Shakespeare
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despite knowing nothing
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about codes or codebreaking.
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- When I graduated from college,
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I was totally unaware
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that there was such a thing
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as codes and ciphers,
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00:10:29,344 --> 00:10:30,896
not even to call it
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00:10:30,896 --> 00:10:32,448
by its scientific name,
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cryptography and cryptanalysis.
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- [Narrator] Despite her
lack of formal training,
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Elizebeth soon shows
a natural ability
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for analyzing
patterns and language.
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But she rapidly realizes
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the hidden codes in
Shakespeare's texts are
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just a figment of
Fabyan's imagination.
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- She was afraid
to tell her boss
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'cause she figured
he'd probably fire her.
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Instead she tells
another employee
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and that's William Friedman
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00:11:06,275 --> 00:11:07,517
who's a young scientist
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00:11:07,517 --> 00:11:10,482
who's there and he's
intrigued by this.
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00:11:10,482 --> 00:11:12,379
He's also very
intrigued by Elizebeth.
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00:11:14,965 --> 00:11:17,758
- [Narrator] On May 21st, 1917,
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Elizebeth marries
William Friedman
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but the celebrations are brief.
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A month earlier, America
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00:11:28,965 --> 00:11:30,241
had entered World War I.
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Now the young couple
is called upon
268
00:11:34,103 --> 00:11:36,758
to crack Germany's
coded communications.
269
00:11:38,103 --> 00:11:39,482
- Elizebeth and William Friedman
270
00:11:39,482 --> 00:11:41,448
find themselves
cracking messages
271
00:11:41,448 --> 00:11:43,862
for the War
Department, the Navy.
272
00:11:43,862 --> 00:11:45,793
They're responsible for
273
00:11:45,793 --> 00:11:47,034
a huge number of messages
274
00:11:47,034 --> 00:11:48,758
that are coming
in by the sackful.
275
00:11:50,068 --> 00:11:52,551
- Messages were sent as rapidly
276
00:11:52,551 --> 00:11:53,724
by as rapid a means
277
00:11:53,724 --> 00:11:56,724
as possible to Riverbank.
278
00:11:56,724 --> 00:11:58,482
And were usually
deciphered within
279
00:11:58,482 --> 00:11:59,620
and on their way back
280
00:11:59,620 --> 00:12:01,206
to Washington within two hours.
281
00:12:03,241 --> 00:12:05,896
- [Narrator] When
the war ends in 1918,
282
00:12:05,896 --> 00:12:07,620
Elizebeth looks set for a life
283
00:12:07,620 --> 00:12:09,482
as a homemaker and mother.
284
00:12:13,137 --> 00:12:15,241
But there's another war brewing,
285
00:12:17,655 --> 00:12:19,620
the war against the rum-runners,
286
00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:21,689
bootleggers, and mobsters.
287
00:12:22,586 --> 00:12:24,413
And by 1925,
288
00:12:24,413 --> 00:12:26,793
five years after
the Prohibition Act,
289
00:12:26,793 --> 00:12:29,793
it's a war the U.S.
Coast Guard is losing.
290
00:12:31,482 --> 00:12:35,000
- The Coast Guard had thousands
of messages backlogged
291
00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:35,827
and they didn't know
292
00:12:35,827 --> 00:12:37,068
what to do with them
293
00:12:37,068 --> 00:12:38,068
because they couldn't
pull the information
294
00:12:38,068 --> 00:12:39,517
out of them that they needed.
295
00:12:40,862 --> 00:12:42,724
- William Friedman
is still working
296
00:12:42,724 --> 00:12:45,586
as a codebreaker
for the U.S. Army.
297
00:12:45,586 --> 00:12:47,000
So the Coast Guard turns
298
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,551
to his wife, Elizebeth.
299
00:12:49,551 --> 00:12:50,517
- When the Coast Guard
300
00:12:50,517 --> 00:12:52,517
comes looking for Elizebeth,
301
00:12:52,517 --> 00:12:54,689
she is thinking about
302
00:12:54,689 --> 00:12:57,482
a very modern concept,
work-life balance.
303
00:12:59,482 --> 00:13:00,758
She's thinking that she's
304
00:13:00,758 --> 00:13:02,344
also a young mother.
305
00:13:02,344 --> 00:13:03,689
She says, can she work
306
00:13:03,689 --> 00:13:05,413
on these messages from home?
307
00:13:06,620 --> 00:13:08,172
- This of course was absolutely
308
00:13:08,172 --> 00:13:10,482
unheard of in the mid 1920s.
309
00:13:10,482 --> 00:13:12,586
No one worked from home,
310
00:13:12,586 --> 00:13:13,793
certainly not a woman
311
00:13:13,793 --> 00:13:16,206
saying I will do this but,
312
00:13:16,206 --> 00:13:17,655
only on the proviso
313
00:13:17,655 --> 00:13:18,724
I can work from home.
314
00:13:19,758 --> 00:13:22,448
- And they decide, yes, she can.
315
00:13:22,448 --> 00:13:24,172
They really need a codebreaker.
316
00:13:24,172 --> 00:13:25,896
She can set the conditions.
317
00:13:28,413 --> 00:13:30,448
- [Narrator] Elizebeth's
brief is simple,
318
00:13:31,655 --> 00:13:34,241
decipher the mobsters'
coded radio messages.
319
00:13:35,448 --> 00:13:37,000
This should enable
the Coast Guard
320
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,862
to intercept the
rum-runners' boats,
321
00:13:39,862 --> 00:13:41,206
stop the illegal liquor
322
00:13:41,206 --> 00:13:43,241
from being brought ashore,
323
00:13:43,241 --> 00:13:44,965
and provide a paper trail
324
00:13:44,965 --> 00:13:46,931
back to the mob bosses
325
00:13:46,931 --> 00:13:49,068
that will help bring
them to justice.
326
00:13:50,482 --> 00:13:51,758
But there's a problem.
327
00:13:52,896 --> 00:13:54,310
A letter or phone call can
328
00:13:54,310 --> 00:13:56,379
be traced from
sender to recipient
329
00:13:57,310 --> 00:13:58,724
but because these messages are
330
00:13:58,724 --> 00:14:00,551
broadcast over the airwaves,
331
00:14:00,551 --> 00:14:02,655
it's almost
impossible to pinpoint
332
00:14:02,655 --> 00:14:05,068
who's writing and
who's receiving them.
333
00:14:06,241 --> 00:14:08,517
But that's exactly
what Elizebeth needs
334
00:14:08,517 --> 00:14:12,000
to do in order to
beat the mobsters.
335
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,655
- What makes things
especially difficult is
336
00:14:14,655 --> 00:14:15,793
you don't know who
337
00:14:15,793 --> 00:14:17,448
this message is intended for.
338
00:14:18,827 --> 00:14:20,344
It could be anyone just plucking
339
00:14:20,344 --> 00:14:22,620
those transmissions
out of the air.
340
00:14:26,344 --> 00:14:28,758
- [Narrator] This makes
radio the perfect medium
341
00:14:28,758 --> 00:14:30,655
for sending secret information.
342
00:14:35,551 --> 00:14:36,862
This is a recording
343
00:14:36,862 --> 00:14:38,172
of what's become known
344
00:14:38,172 --> 00:14:39,655
as a numbers station.
345
00:14:42,241 --> 00:14:44,379
Since the end of World War I,
346
00:14:44,379 --> 00:14:45,724
people have been tuning
347
00:14:45,724 --> 00:14:48,379
into dozens of
mysterious radio stations
348
00:14:48,379 --> 00:14:49,931
broadcasting on shortwave
349
00:14:49,931 --> 00:14:51,655
frequencies around the world.
350
00:14:53,241 --> 00:14:56,137
- Number stations are
a very odd phenomena.
351
00:14:56,137 --> 00:14:58,827
Most typically they involve
352
00:14:59,827 --> 00:15:02,137
a little bit of music or tone,
353
00:15:04,137 --> 00:15:06,206
followed by a voice,
354
00:15:06,206 --> 00:15:08,655
often a sort of
unnerving woman's voice
355
00:15:08,655 --> 00:15:10,758
just reading off a
string of numbers.
356
00:15:14,344 --> 00:15:17,000
- [Narrator] The meaning
of these bizarre broadcasts
357
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,724
is a mystery as are
the organizations
358
00:15:19,724 --> 00:15:22,241
or individuals behind them.
359
00:15:22,241 --> 00:15:23,655
Many people believe they're
360
00:15:23,655 --> 00:15:25,551
related to espionage,
361
00:15:25,551 --> 00:15:27,724
allowing government
intelligence agencies
362
00:15:27,724 --> 00:15:29,655
to send messages to their agents
363
00:15:29,655 --> 00:15:32,586
in the field without
revealing their location.
364
00:15:40,206 --> 00:15:43,724
Back in 1925,
broadcasting to anyone
365
00:15:43,724 --> 00:15:45,862
and everyone in secret code,
366
00:15:45,862 --> 00:15:47,551
the mobsters operate safe
367
00:15:47,551 --> 00:15:49,413
in the knowledge
their communications
368
00:15:49,413 --> 00:15:50,965
can't be used to trace
369
00:15:50,965 --> 00:15:52,896
them or their suppliers.
370
00:15:53,758 --> 00:15:55,000
This makes the task
371
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,758
facing Elizebeth even tougher.
372
00:15:57,758 --> 00:15:59,206
- So there's not just
the codebreaking.
373
00:15:59,206 --> 00:16:00,482
There's also the analysis
374
00:16:00,482 --> 00:16:02,034
that goes with it.
375
00:16:02,034 --> 00:16:03,413
Is this from the Atlantic?
376
00:16:03,413 --> 00:16:04,931
Is this from the Pacific?
377
00:16:04,931 --> 00:16:05,896
Is it the same ship?
378
00:16:05,896 --> 00:16:07,206
Is it different ships?
379
00:16:07,206 --> 00:16:09,517
Where are these radio stations?
380
00:16:09,517 --> 00:16:10,448
And so there's
381
00:16:10,448 --> 00:16:12,482
the whole problem of locating
382
00:16:12,482 --> 00:16:14,931
where these messages
are coming from.
383
00:16:17,931 --> 00:16:20,793
- [Narrator] Against these
seemingly impossible odds,
384
00:16:20,793 --> 00:16:22,586
Elizebeth sets to work,
385
00:16:22,586 --> 00:16:24,172
drawing on the skills learned
386
00:16:24,172 --> 00:16:25,586
during World War I
387
00:16:25,586 --> 00:16:27,103
to plow through the mountain
388
00:16:27,103 --> 00:16:28,689
of intercepted messages.
389
00:16:30,551 --> 00:16:32,551
- When Elizebeth gets
into this project,
390
00:16:32,551 --> 00:16:34,344
she realizes the enormity
391
00:16:34,344 --> 00:16:37,758
of what she has facing her here.
392
00:16:37,758 --> 00:16:38,655
And keep in mind,
393
00:16:38,655 --> 00:16:39,896
there are no computers.
394
00:16:39,896 --> 00:16:41,413
She's working with
pencil and paper
395
00:16:41,413 --> 00:16:44,000
and her own experience
breaking code.
396
00:16:46,344 --> 00:16:47,517
- What she's looking at
397
00:16:47,517 --> 00:16:49,586
usually is a jumble of letters.
398
00:16:49,586 --> 00:16:50,965
And then you've
got to figure out
399
00:16:50,965 --> 00:16:53,758
what do those letters mean?
400
00:16:53,758 --> 00:16:55,586
- [Narrator] The messages
have been encrypted
401
00:16:55,586 --> 00:16:58,965
using multiple different
codes and ciphers.
402
00:16:58,965 --> 00:17:00,379
- One of the things
403
00:17:00,379 --> 00:17:01,931
they might be using
would be something called
404
00:17:01,931 --> 00:17:04,517
a mono-alphabetic
substitution cipher.
405
00:17:05,964 --> 00:17:08,964
- [Narrator] In this basic
and widely known cipher,
406
00:17:08,964 --> 00:17:10,896
A might become B,
407
00:17:10,896 --> 00:17:13,068
B, C, and so on.
408
00:17:14,205 --> 00:17:16,517
The writer swaps each
plain text letter
409
00:17:16,517 --> 00:17:17,862
for the letter one place
410
00:17:17,862 --> 00:17:19,792
ahead in the alphabet.
411
00:17:19,792 --> 00:17:22,827
- But what if A equals X
412
00:17:22,827 --> 00:17:26,758
and B equals D and C equals R.
413
00:17:26,758 --> 00:17:28,000
There are many other things
414
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:29,586
they can do with ciphers.
415
00:17:29,586 --> 00:17:30,413
There are other things
416
00:17:30,413 --> 00:17:32,034
they can do with codes
417
00:17:32,034 --> 00:17:33,000
and then they can
418
00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:34,896
also combine these in layers.
419
00:17:34,896 --> 00:17:35,862
And that makes it
420
00:17:35,862 --> 00:17:37,034
much more difficult to crack.
421
00:17:38,517 --> 00:17:41,310
- [Narrator] For example,
faced with the letters,
422
00:17:41,310 --> 00:17:46,000
M, Y, H, G, C, Elizebeth
would look for a pattern.
423
00:17:47,379 --> 00:17:49,827
Shifting the letters
back four places
424
00:17:49,827 --> 00:17:51,379
might produce a block of letters
425
00:17:51,379 --> 00:17:53,103
that corresponds to a number
426
00:17:53,103 --> 00:17:55,206
in a commercial
Telegraph codebook.
427
00:17:56,275 --> 00:17:59,793
- Legitimate companies
used codebooks
428
00:17:59,793 --> 00:18:03,413
because telegrams and
cables are really expensive.
429
00:18:03,413 --> 00:18:06,000
The more you can boil
your message down,
430
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:07,344
the cheaper it will be.
431
00:18:08,517 --> 00:18:10,931
- [Narrator] The number
itself means nothing.
432
00:18:10,931 --> 00:18:13,275
So Elizebeth would
have to dig deeper,
433
00:18:13,275 --> 00:18:15,137
adding and subtracting numbers
434
00:18:16,379 --> 00:18:18,000
until she finds a match
435
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:19,517
in a different codebook
436
00:18:19,517 --> 00:18:21,586
which finally gives
her the solution.
437
00:18:22,448 --> 00:18:24,448
- She had such a talent
438
00:18:24,448 --> 00:18:26,379
for finding patterns in all of
439
00:18:26,379 --> 00:18:29,000
these numbers and
letters jumbled together,
440
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:30,103
that it enabled her
441
00:18:30,103 --> 00:18:30,965
to get her foot
442
00:18:30,965 --> 00:18:32,172
in the door with codes
443
00:18:32,172 --> 00:18:34,689
much more quickly
than others were
444
00:18:34,689 --> 00:18:36,344
getting a foot in the door.
445
00:18:36,344 --> 00:18:38,275
And so we have her knowledge,
446
00:18:38,275 --> 00:18:39,413
we have her experience,
447
00:18:39,413 --> 00:18:41,413
and we have her talent.
448
00:18:41,413 --> 00:18:43,103
- [Narrator] But
once Elizebeth has
449
00:18:43,103 --> 00:18:45,137
cracked the code in one message,
450
00:18:45,137 --> 00:18:48,137
she has to do it all
again for the next.
451
00:18:48,137 --> 00:18:50,482
- The whole system
might be different.
452
00:18:50,482 --> 00:18:52,344
So what a Y is in one message,
453
00:18:52,344 --> 00:18:53,655
doesn't tell you what a Y is
454
00:18:53,655 --> 00:18:54,551
in the next one.
455
00:18:58,620 --> 00:19:01,344
- [Narrator] Despite this
seemingly impossible task,
456
00:19:01,344 --> 00:19:02,965
in her first two months,
457
00:19:02,965 --> 00:19:04,827
Elizebeth solves two years
458
00:19:04,827 --> 00:19:06,724
worth of backlogged messages.
459
00:19:07,689 --> 00:19:08,896
This allows her to begin
460
00:19:08,896 --> 00:19:11,034
connecting the
bosses, the boats,
461
00:19:11,034 --> 00:19:12,862
their routines, and routes.
462
00:19:14,413 --> 00:19:18,862
- She is finding the
names of the motherships,
463
00:19:18,862 --> 00:19:21,448
the names of the
small speedy boats,
464
00:19:21,448 --> 00:19:24,241
and it enables the
United States government
465
00:19:24,241 --> 00:19:27,379
to access the records
for those ships
466
00:19:27,379 --> 00:19:32,000
and open up this
whole huge enterprise.
467
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:33,758
- We could actually graph
468
00:19:33,758 --> 00:19:36,206
where the ships were
469
00:19:36,206 --> 00:19:38,862
by the code they were using
470
00:19:40,275 --> 00:19:41,310
so that we could
471
00:19:41,310 --> 00:19:43,827
almost draw a map of
472
00:19:43,827 --> 00:19:45,827
where these ships
were at a given time.
473
00:19:49,586 --> 00:19:53,344
- [Narrator] In response, the
mobsters raise their game.
474
00:19:53,344 --> 00:19:55,517
- Month on month,
Elizebeth is watching
475
00:19:55,517 --> 00:19:56,517
these codes and ciphers
476
00:19:56,517 --> 00:19:57,448
from the rum-runners
477
00:19:57,448 --> 00:19:59,034
getting harder and harder.
478
00:20:00,172 --> 00:20:01,551
- [Narrator] Within
just a few years
479
00:20:01,551 --> 00:20:02,965
of the Prohibition Act,
480
00:20:02,965 --> 00:20:04,551
the codes are as complex
481
00:20:04,551 --> 00:20:06,000
as those Elizebeth faced
482
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:07,068
during World War I,
483
00:20:08,724 --> 00:20:10,310
codes composed by the
484
00:20:10,310 --> 00:20:12,275
mighty German military machine.
485
00:20:14,344 --> 00:20:16,206
- That kind of level
of codebreaking is
486
00:20:16,206 --> 00:20:18,275
what rum-runners
are capable of now.
487
00:20:18,275 --> 00:20:20,172
And she's just one woman
488
00:20:20,172 --> 00:20:22,551
who is trying to
oppose all of this.
489
00:20:24,620 --> 00:20:26,413
- [Narrator] Against
all the odds,
490
00:20:26,413 --> 00:20:29,551
between 1928 and 1930,
491
00:20:29,551 --> 00:20:32,275
Elizebeth Friedman
cracks over 10,000
492
00:20:32,275 --> 00:20:34,586
of the rum-runners'
coded messages.
493
00:20:35,827 --> 00:20:37,551
She smashes smuggling rings
494
00:20:37,551 --> 00:20:39,310
in the Gulf of Mexico,
495
00:20:39,310 --> 00:20:42,655
the Pacific Coast, and
the Eastern seaboard,
496
00:20:42,655 --> 00:20:44,517
all while working alone
497
00:20:44,517 --> 00:20:46,379
and raising two young children.
498
00:20:47,551 --> 00:20:50,000
- As the codes get more
and more difficult,
499
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:51,965
Elizebeth is forced
to get better
500
00:20:51,965 --> 00:20:53,379
and better and she does.
501
00:20:57,620 --> 00:21:00,379
- [Narrator] Then in
the spring of 1929,
502
00:21:00,379 --> 00:21:01,689
something happens that will
503
00:21:01,689 --> 00:21:04,172
test Elizebeth's
skills to the limit.
504
00:21:05,034 --> 00:21:06,241
She's called in to help
505
00:21:06,241 --> 00:21:08,758
when a confrontation
at sea escalates
506
00:21:08,758 --> 00:21:12,172
into an international
diplomatic crisis,
507
00:21:12,172 --> 00:21:13,758
one that threatens to undermine
508
00:21:13,758 --> 00:21:15,620
America's global reputation
509
00:21:15,620 --> 00:21:17,758
and cost the country millions.
510
00:21:20,896 --> 00:21:22,241
- The "I'm Alone" is registered
511
00:21:22,241 --> 00:21:23,413
as a Canadian vessel
512
00:21:23,413 --> 00:21:25,965
and that's important because
513
00:21:25,965 --> 00:21:28,206
in Canada, there
is no prohibition.
514
00:21:29,517 --> 00:21:31,586
- [Narrator] In
reality, the "I'm Alone"
515
00:21:31,586 --> 00:21:34,689
belongs to
rum-runner, Dan Hogan.
516
00:21:34,689 --> 00:21:37,068
Hogan is not from Canada.
517
00:21:37,068 --> 00:21:39,310
He operates out of Louisiana
518
00:21:39,310 --> 00:21:40,655
where he is known to locals
519
00:21:40,655 --> 00:21:42,793
as the "Capone of the Bayous."
520
00:21:43,896 --> 00:21:45,827
He's head of a
rum-running syndicate
521
00:21:45,827 --> 00:21:48,724
that's smuggling at
least $15 million
522
00:21:48,724 --> 00:21:51,620
worth of illegal
liquor every year.
523
00:21:51,620 --> 00:21:53,517
- The "I'm Alone" would load up
524
00:21:53,517 --> 00:21:56,103
on liquor in Belize,
525
00:21:56,103 --> 00:21:57,482
and then it would transport it
526
00:21:57,482 --> 00:22:00,758
to just outside U.S.
territorial waters
527
00:22:00,758 --> 00:22:01,689
and wait there
528
00:22:01,689 --> 00:22:03,689
while the smaller ships came
529
00:22:03,689 --> 00:22:05,034
and picked up the cargo.
530
00:22:06,206 --> 00:22:07,275
- [Narrator] The "I'm Alone" has
531
00:22:07,275 --> 00:22:09,827
been using the same MO for years
532
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,310
but in March 1929,
533
00:22:13,310 --> 00:22:15,620
the U.S. Coast Guard
spots the vessel
534
00:22:15,620 --> 00:22:17,517
within the 12 mile limit
535
00:22:17,517 --> 00:22:19,862
of the Louisiana coast.
536
00:22:19,862 --> 00:22:22,758
- Two Coast Guard
vessels give chase.
537
00:22:22,758 --> 00:22:25,310
And this pursuit
goes on for two days
538
00:22:25,310 --> 00:22:27,137
before the Coast Guard ships
539
00:22:27,137 --> 00:22:29,758
get close enough
to the schooner.
540
00:22:30,931 --> 00:22:32,965
- The captain of
the "I'm Alone" says
541
00:22:32,965 --> 00:22:34,172
that if you try to board
542
00:22:34,172 --> 00:22:35,931
and inspect my cargo,
543
00:22:35,931 --> 00:22:37,896
we'll try and kill you.
544
00:22:37,896 --> 00:22:40,413
The Coast Guard opens fire
545
00:22:42,793 --> 00:22:45,379
and they sink the "I'm Alone."
546
00:22:47,206 --> 00:22:48,689
- [Narrator] But instead of
547
00:22:48,689 --> 00:22:50,379
being a much-needed win for
548
00:22:50,379 --> 00:22:52,586
the beleaguered
U.S. Coast Guard,
549
00:22:52,586 --> 00:22:54,413
it's a disaster.
550
00:22:54,413 --> 00:22:55,620
- Gunning down a vessel
551
00:22:55,620 --> 00:22:57,827
in international waters is
552
00:22:57,827 --> 00:22:59,896
an act of great violence
553
00:22:59,896 --> 00:23:01,620
that's gonna have
legal consequences.
554
00:23:04,517 --> 00:23:06,724
- [Narrator] The sinking
of the "I'm Alone" is
555
00:23:06,724 --> 00:23:08,034
seen as a violation
556
00:23:08,034 --> 00:23:10,482
of international maritime law,
557
00:23:10,482 --> 00:23:13,758
an illegal act of
aggression against Canada.
558
00:23:13,758 --> 00:23:15,068
And as Canada is part
559
00:23:15,068 --> 00:23:17,758
of the British Commonwealth
against Britain.
560
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,206
- To the rest of the world,
561
00:23:20,206 --> 00:23:22,034
it looks like the Coast Guard
562
00:23:22,034 --> 00:23:23,965
may have committed
an act of war.
563
00:23:26,655 --> 00:23:29,482
- [Narrator] To avert a
damaging international crisis,
564
00:23:29,482 --> 00:23:31,448
the U.S. authorities
need Elizebeth
565
00:23:31,448 --> 00:23:34,241
to prove the ship
was smuggling alcohol
566
00:23:34,241 --> 00:23:36,551
and that its owners
are Americans.
567
00:23:37,689 --> 00:23:40,517
- Any physical evidence
that "I'm Alone" is
568
00:23:40,517 --> 00:23:43,103
a notorious rum-runner is
569
00:23:43,103 --> 00:23:45,413
at the bottom of the Atlantic
570
00:23:45,413 --> 00:23:47,620
but there is one hope.
571
00:23:49,034 --> 00:23:50,758
- [Narrator]
Elizebeth focuses on
572
00:23:50,758 --> 00:23:52,827
a cache of intercepted telegrams
573
00:23:52,827 --> 00:23:54,206
that she suspects are
574
00:23:54,206 --> 00:23:55,965
linked to the "I'm Alone."
575
00:23:57,206 --> 00:24:00,862
The messages are a
random jumble of letters
576
00:24:00,862 --> 00:24:02,310
but Elizebeth thinks she's seen
577
00:24:02,310 --> 00:24:04,758
these combinations before in one
578
00:24:04,758 --> 00:24:07,655
of the many commercially
available codebooks.
579
00:24:09,310 --> 00:24:11,758
- [Amy] The "I'm
Alone" is depending
580
00:24:11,758 --> 00:24:13,896
partly on a business codebook
581
00:24:13,896 --> 00:24:15,517
that was very well known.
582
00:24:16,862 --> 00:24:19,137
- [Narrator] Using
this, Elizebeth is able
583
00:24:19,137 --> 00:24:22,448
to decrypt much of
the messages' content.
584
00:24:22,448 --> 00:24:24,758
The string of random letters
585
00:24:24,758 --> 00:24:26,586
becomes a series of numbers
586
00:24:26,586 --> 00:24:28,551
and five letter words.
587
00:24:28,551 --> 00:24:30,137
- She can see certain things are
588
00:24:30,137 --> 00:24:31,241
being bought and sold,
589
00:24:31,241 --> 00:24:32,793
certain things that look a lot
590
00:24:32,793 --> 00:24:34,758
like they're alcohol.
591
00:24:34,758 --> 00:24:36,241
But there are certain words
592
00:24:36,241 --> 00:24:38,103
in these cables that she's
593
00:24:38,103 --> 00:24:39,379
not able to read.
594
00:24:39,379 --> 00:24:42,241
They aren't in any
business codebook.
595
00:24:42,241 --> 00:24:43,758
- So she begins to think
596
00:24:43,758 --> 00:24:47,137
that they are a
privately derived code
597
00:24:47,137 --> 00:24:49,517
talking about specific objects.
598
00:24:49,517 --> 00:24:50,758
She's very frustrated
599
00:24:50,758 --> 00:24:52,793
because they seem unbreakable.
600
00:24:52,793 --> 00:24:54,896
Until she knows what
the objects are,
601
00:24:54,896 --> 00:24:57,275
there's no case
to prosecute here.
602
00:24:58,827 --> 00:25:00,206
- [Narrator] But then Elizebeth
603
00:25:00,206 --> 00:25:01,758
has a light bulb moment.
604
00:25:03,068 --> 00:25:05,517
Working with a New
Orleans Customs agent,
605
00:25:05,517 --> 00:25:07,586
she compares the coded messages
606
00:25:07,586 --> 00:25:09,517
with official cargo manifests
607
00:25:09,517 --> 00:25:11,068
from the port in Belize
608
00:25:11,068 --> 00:25:13,586
where the "I'm Alone"
collected its cargo.
609
00:25:14,620 --> 00:25:15,758
- She's able to look
610
00:25:15,758 --> 00:25:17,068
and see for instance,
611
00:25:17,068 --> 00:25:19,068
that a cable will say
612
00:25:19,068 --> 00:25:22,758
they're requesting
1,700 of this code word.
613
00:25:22,758 --> 00:25:25,241
And she'll see
that on that date,
614
00:25:25,241 --> 00:25:27,068
the "I'm Alone" loaded
615
00:25:27,068 --> 00:25:31,413
1,700 bottles of a
certain kind of whiskey.
616
00:25:31,413 --> 00:25:34,103
And each time the amounts
617
00:25:34,103 --> 00:25:36,310
that are in the
cables are matching
618
00:25:36,310 --> 00:25:38,551
with what the "I'm
Alone" is taking on.
619
00:25:40,068 --> 00:25:42,862
- [Narrator] This proves
the five letter words are
620
00:25:42,862 --> 00:25:45,137
all types of alcohol.
621
00:25:45,137 --> 00:25:46,448
- Now that Elizebeth Friedman
622
00:25:46,448 --> 00:25:47,620
has cracked the code,
623
00:25:47,620 --> 00:25:50,000
she can translate the messages.
624
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:51,172
And those prove beyond
625
00:25:51,172 --> 00:25:52,482
the shadow of a doubt
626
00:25:52,482 --> 00:25:53,793
that the "I'm Alone" was
627
00:25:53,793 --> 00:25:56,482
carrying liquor and lots of it,
628
00:25:56,482 --> 00:25:58,413
3,000 cases worth roughly
629
00:25:58,413 --> 00:26:00,344
$1 million in today's terms.
630
00:26:01,482 --> 00:26:03,206
- [Narrator] But
the U.S. government
631
00:26:03,206 --> 00:26:05,103
needs something
bigger to justify
632
00:26:05,103 --> 00:26:06,793
the Coast Guard's aggressive
633
00:26:06,793 --> 00:26:09,137
and potentially illegal actions.
634
00:26:11,068 --> 00:26:12,896
Who owns the boat?
635
00:26:12,896 --> 00:26:15,724
And are they
Canadian or American?
636
00:26:15,724 --> 00:26:17,000
- The messages that were sent
637
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,344
from Belize were
sent by telegram.
638
00:26:19,344 --> 00:26:21,827
And this becomes a
very useful thing
639
00:26:21,827 --> 00:26:24,482
because U.S. law enables
640
00:26:24,482 --> 00:26:26,896
the Coast Guard to
subpoena the records
641
00:26:26,896 --> 00:26:28,758
from the Telegraph company
642
00:26:28,758 --> 00:26:30,000
and be able to see
643
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,482
who the sender and
the recipient are.
644
00:26:33,517 --> 00:26:35,206
- [Narrator] This
reveals the cables were
645
00:26:35,206 --> 00:26:37,448
sent to a Joseph H. Farran
646
00:26:37,448 --> 00:26:38,931
at the Western Union office
647
00:26:38,931 --> 00:26:41,724
of Manhattan's
exclusive, Hotel McAlpin.
648
00:26:43,137 --> 00:26:45,896
U.S. Treasury agents
visit the hotel
649
00:26:45,896 --> 00:26:48,586
and discover Joseph
H. Farran is in fact,
650
00:26:48,586 --> 00:26:50,620
none other than the "Capone
651
00:26:50,620 --> 00:26:53,000
of the Bayous," Dan Hogan.
652
00:26:54,379 --> 00:26:57,000
- What's important for
the United States' case is
653
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,241
that Dan Hogan is not
Canadian, he's American.
654
00:27:00,241 --> 00:27:02,482
And by all the evidence
655
00:27:02,482 --> 00:27:03,724
that has turned up is
656
00:27:03,724 --> 00:27:06,103
the owner of the "I'm Alone."
657
00:27:10,172 --> 00:27:12,275
- [Narrator] Thanks
to Elizebeth Friedman,
658
00:27:12,275 --> 00:27:15,689
the Canadian government's
claim is denied.
659
00:27:15,689 --> 00:27:18,068
An international
crisis is averted.
660
00:27:20,103 --> 00:27:22,551
And Hogan ends up
spending six years
661
00:27:22,551 --> 00:27:24,000
in prison for rum-running.
662
00:27:25,793 --> 00:27:28,413
- The messages were
really the basis.
663
00:27:28,413 --> 00:27:30,206
They were the solid rock
664
00:27:30,206 --> 00:27:32,413
of the "I'm Alone" case.
665
00:27:32,413 --> 00:27:34,172
And if we hadn't
666
00:27:34,172 --> 00:27:35,448
found these code messages,
667
00:27:35,448 --> 00:27:36,379
we might never have
668
00:27:36,379 --> 00:27:37,827
solved the "I'm Alone" case.
669
00:27:40,379 --> 00:27:42,482
- [Narrator] It's a
triumph for Elizebeth.
670
00:27:46,413 --> 00:27:48,724
But she isn't done
with the mobsters.
671
00:27:50,275 --> 00:27:51,655
There are even bigger,
672
00:27:51,655 --> 00:27:54,241
deadlier fish to be caught
673
00:27:54,241 --> 00:27:56,931
including perhaps the
biggest catch of all,
674
00:27:56,931 --> 00:27:58,517
public enemy number one,
675
00:28:00,137 --> 00:28:01,137
Al Capone.
676
00:28:02,793 --> 00:28:04,758
- He's a crime boss of the sort
677
00:28:04,758 --> 00:28:07,689
that America hasn't
really seen before.
678
00:28:08,827 --> 00:28:09,827
Al Capone has become
679
00:28:09,827 --> 00:28:12,206
so rich and so powerful.
680
00:28:12,206 --> 00:28:13,137
And he's got so
681
00:28:13,137 --> 00:28:15,068
many politicians in his pocket,
682
00:28:15,068 --> 00:28:17,586
he can flaunt it.
683
00:28:17,586 --> 00:28:19,068
- He took the idea
684
00:28:19,068 --> 00:28:21,482
of being a celebrity criminal
685
00:28:21,482 --> 00:28:23,310
and portrayed himself as
686
00:28:23,310 --> 00:28:24,862
a modern day Robin Hood,
687
00:28:24,862 --> 00:28:26,413
someone that steals
from the rich
688
00:28:26,413 --> 00:28:27,586
and gives to the poor.
689
00:28:27,586 --> 00:28:29,103
In fact, he was stealing
690
00:28:29,103 --> 00:28:32,000
from the poor and
giving to himself.
691
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,034
- He can go out and
wear the fancy coat
692
00:28:35,034 --> 00:28:37,000
arrive in the fancy car,
693
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:38,620
go to the fancy restaurants,
694
00:28:38,620 --> 00:28:40,551
smoke his big cigars,
695
00:28:40,551 --> 00:28:42,965
and no one can do
anything about it.
696
00:28:44,620 --> 00:28:46,620
- [Narrator] Capone
gets his illicit liquor
697
00:28:46,620 --> 00:28:49,275
from contacts working
for a company called
698
00:28:49,275 --> 00:28:53,413
Consolidated Exporters
Corporation of Vancouver
699
00:28:53,413 --> 00:28:55,034
or CONEXCO.
700
00:28:56,379 --> 00:28:57,310
- They've basically got
701
00:28:57,310 --> 00:28:59,862
a monopoly on liquor smuggling
702
00:28:59,862 --> 00:29:00,827
on the West Coast
703
00:29:00,827 --> 00:29:02,241
and the Gulf of Mexico.
704
00:29:03,827 --> 00:29:05,620
- [Narrator] CONEXCO
is the largest
705
00:29:05,620 --> 00:29:06,551
and most powerful
706
00:29:06,551 --> 00:29:09,034
smuggling network in the world.
707
00:29:09,034 --> 00:29:10,551
And not surprisingly,
708
00:29:10,551 --> 00:29:12,896
one of its best
customers is America's
709
00:29:12,896 --> 00:29:15,448
biggest single seller
of illegal liquor.
710
00:29:16,793 --> 00:29:18,000
- Capone is making an
711
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,000
estimated $50 to
100 million a year.
712
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,620
He's got a monopoly
on supplying liquor
713
00:29:23,620 --> 00:29:28,620
to an estimated 10,000
speakeasies in Chicago.
714
00:29:29,344 --> 00:29:30,482
For him Prohibition,
715
00:29:30,482 --> 00:29:32,103
it's basically a
license to print money.
716
00:29:35,620 --> 00:29:38,517
But the heart of this
business enterprise is
717
00:29:38,517 --> 00:29:41,000
not just bullets and bombs.
718
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:42,827
It's also codes.
719
00:29:45,551 --> 00:29:47,793
- [Narrator] Now the authorities
720
00:29:47,793 --> 00:29:49,620
with the help of
Elizebeth Friedman
721
00:29:49,620 --> 00:29:52,517
plan to turn the mobs'
codes against them.
722
00:29:54,758 --> 00:29:57,689
In April 1931, federal agents
723
00:29:57,689 --> 00:30:00,379
raid CONEXCO's New
Orleans headquarters
724
00:30:00,379 --> 00:30:02,206
and make multiple arrests.
725
00:30:03,517 --> 00:30:06,482
Among these are several
of Capone's lieutenants
726
00:30:06,482 --> 00:30:08,000
from his Chicago outfit,
727
00:30:09,310 --> 00:30:11,000
and they seize hundreds
728
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:12,379
of encrypted messages
729
00:30:13,517 --> 00:30:15,310
that Elizebeth must decode
730
00:30:15,310 --> 00:30:17,241
to prove the mobster's guilt.
731
00:30:18,827 --> 00:30:22,103
But the codes are
exceptionally complex
732
00:30:22,103 --> 00:30:25,034
even for a cryptanalyst
of Elizebeth's caliber.
733
00:30:27,724 --> 00:30:30,000
- They would use different
codes simultaneously
734
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,068
to confuse the issue.
735
00:30:32,068 --> 00:30:33,068
They never used a code
736
00:30:33,068 --> 00:30:34,586
more than six months.
737
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:37,551
- [Narrator] And each
message is made up
738
00:30:37,551 --> 00:30:40,448
of multiple layers
of ciphers and codes.
739
00:30:41,689 --> 00:30:43,655
- First, you would
take your message
740
00:30:43,655 --> 00:30:44,965
and then you would
741
00:30:44,965 --> 00:30:46,620
look up in the codebook
742
00:30:46,620 --> 00:30:48,241
each word or phrase,
743
00:30:48,241 --> 00:30:50,103
and you would
change your message
744
00:30:50,103 --> 00:30:51,206
to reflect to all
745
00:30:51,206 --> 00:30:52,793
of the different code words.
746
00:30:54,275 --> 00:30:55,379
- [Narrator] A second codebook
747
00:30:55,379 --> 00:30:56,620
might then be used
748
00:30:56,620 --> 00:30:59,758
to convert the numbers
back into letters.
749
00:30:59,758 --> 00:31:01,620
- Once you had your code word,
750
00:31:01,620 --> 00:31:04,000
you would put them
into a cipher.
751
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:05,206
So letter by letter,
752
00:31:05,206 --> 00:31:07,517
you would switch
and swap them out.
753
00:31:09,103 --> 00:31:10,655
- [Narrator] After
adding two layers
754
00:31:10,655 --> 00:31:12,965
of code and one cipher,
755
00:31:12,965 --> 00:31:15,172
the message is
converted to Morse code
756
00:31:15,172 --> 00:31:17,103
and transmitted via radio.
757
00:31:18,275 --> 00:31:19,931
Luckily for Friedman,
758
00:31:19,931 --> 00:31:21,896
some of these
messages include words
759
00:31:21,896 --> 00:31:23,275
that aren't in the codebooks
760
00:31:24,379 --> 00:31:25,689
and have only been encrypted
761
00:31:25,689 --> 00:31:27,275
using the penultimate stage
762
00:31:27,275 --> 00:31:31,206
of the process, the
substitution cipher.
763
00:31:31,206 --> 00:31:32,689
- Leaving out that middle part
764
00:31:32,689 --> 00:31:35,310
creates a place where
Elizebeth can get
765
00:31:35,310 --> 00:31:36,344
her foot in the door.
766
00:31:37,379 --> 00:31:38,862
She's able to figure out
767
00:31:38,862 --> 00:31:40,793
what cipher they're using
768
00:31:40,793 --> 00:31:43,758
at the end and be able to work
769
00:31:43,758 --> 00:31:45,965
her way backward
through the message.
770
00:31:52,172 --> 00:31:55,034
- [Narrator] Two years
after the raid on CONEXCO,
771
00:31:55,034 --> 00:31:56,965
Elizebeth is called
to give evidence
772
00:31:56,965 --> 00:31:59,241
at the trial of
the mob kingpins.
773
00:32:00,482 --> 00:32:02,965
Now her life is in danger.
774
00:32:05,275 --> 00:32:07,896
- The organized
crime bosses did not
775
00:32:07,896 --> 00:32:09,068
have any problem at all
776
00:32:09,068 --> 00:32:11,344
with having people disappear.
777
00:32:11,344 --> 00:32:12,862
And if taking out Elizebeth
778
00:32:12,862 --> 00:32:13,965
would stop the case,
779
00:32:13,965 --> 00:32:15,172
they weren't beyond that.
780
00:32:15,172 --> 00:32:16,551
So she's put herself
781
00:32:16,551 --> 00:32:17,965
into a dangerous situation
782
00:32:17,965 --> 00:32:20,482
by decoding these messages.
783
00:32:23,655 --> 00:32:24,758
- [Narrator] The CONEXCO trial
784
00:32:24,758 --> 00:32:26,965
takes place in New Orleans
785
00:32:26,965 --> 00:32:29,034
and it's the single
biggest trial
786
00:32:29,034 --> 00:32:30,448
in the Prohibition Era,
787
00:32:31,379 --> 00:32:33,137
the state versus the largest
788
00:32:33,137 --> 00:32:34,137
and most powerful
789
00:32:34,137 --> 00:32:36,172
smuggling network in the world.
790
00:32:37,310 --> 00:32:38,965
- This is in many ways
791
00:32:38,965 --> 00:32:41,482
a trial of the century.
792
00:32:41,482 --> 00:32:43,103
It has cost $500,000,
793
00:32:43,103 --> 00:32:47,586
a huge sum in the teeth
of the Depression.
794
00:32:50,137 --> 00:32:52,862
It's covered by
reporters from all over.
795
00:32:52,862 --> 00:32:55,172
Everybody's watching
that witness stand
796
00:32:55,172 --> 00:32:57,551
when Elizebeth comes
797
00:32:57,551 --> 00:33:01,448
to tell them what she's seeing.
798
00:33:01,448 --> 00:33:02,931
- [Narrator] On one side,
799
00:33:02,931 --> 00:33:06,379
23 of the most dangerous
men in the country
800
00:33:06,379 --> 00:33:08,241
represented by some of America's
801
00:33:08,241 --> 00:33:10,448
most highly paid lawyers
802
00:33:10,448 --> 00:33:13,827
including Al Capone's
own personal lawyer.
803
00:33:13,827 --> 00:33:15,000
- Up in the dock,
804
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,206
you have very
dangerous criminals
805
00:33:17,206 --> 00:33:19,137
and they have no trouble
806
00:33:19,137 --> 00:33:21,896
dealing with anybody
who's opposing them.
807
00:33:21,896 --> 00:33:23,655
And here's Elizebeth coming up
808
00:33:23,655 --> 00:33:25,689
into the witness
stand to testify
809
00:33:25,689 --> 00:33:29,344
against them without
any hesitation.
810
00:33:29,344 --> 00:33:31,448
She doesn't even see it really
811
00:33:31,448 --> 00:33:32,689
as a matter of courage,
812
00:33:32,689 --> 00:33:34,517
just as something that
813
00:33:34,517 --> 00:33:35,827
this is what you have to do.
814
00:33:35,827 --> 00:33:37,172
It's part of the job.
815
00:33:40,206 --> 00:33:42,034
- [Narrator] The
suburban housewife
816
00:33:42,034 --> 00:33:44,206
and master cryptologist is
817
00:33:44,206 --> 00:33:47,241
the prosecution's star witness.
818
00:33:47,241 --> 00:33:49,724
- Although she was
rather a small person,
819
00:33:49,724 --> 00:33:51,551
only about 5' 2'',
820
00:33:51,551 --> 00:33:55,172
she was a powerful witness.
821
00:33:55,172 --> 00:33:57,206
- [Narrator] Elizebeth's job is
822
00:33:57,206 --> 00:33:58,862
to connect the criminal bosses
823
00:33:58,862 --> 00:34:01,758
with the operation of
the smuggling vessels.
824
00:34:01,758 --> 00:34:03,000
- The important
thing is you've got
825
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,000
to prove that they're
working together
826
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,137
that there's a conspiracy here.
827
00:34:07,137 --> 00:34:08,724
The way that they
work together was
828
00:34:08,724 --> 00:34:12,000
through their encrypted
radio messages.
829
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:13,688
So they need Elizebeth
830
00:34:13,688 --> 00:34:15,827
to show how she decrypted this
831
00:34:15,827 --> 00:34:17,516
and how they show
the connections.
832
00:34:19,068 --> 00:34:21,965
- [Narrator] As Elizebeth
begins her opening testimony,
833
00:34:21,965 --> 00:34:24,310
the defense
continually interrupts,
834
00:34:24,310 --> 00:34:26,655
questioning her credibility.
835
00:34:26,655 --> 00:34:28,310
- They objected to Elizebeth
836
00:34:28,310 --> 00:34:30,655
being brought
forward as an expert.
837
00:34:30,655 --> 00:34:33,000
They objected to the idea
838
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,103
that there is a science
to codebreaking.
839
00:34:36,103 --> 00:34:39,551
And they call
Elizebeth incompetent,
840
00:34:39,551 --> 00:34:41,413
irrelevant, and immaterial.
841
00:34:43,620 --> 00:34:44,862
- [Narrator] The defense argues
842
00:34:44,862 --> 00:34:47,757
Elizebeth's solutions to
the coded messages are
843
00:34:47,757 --> 00:34:50,413
simply personal interpretation
844
00:34:50,413 --> 00:34:52,413
rather than fact.
845
00:34:52,413 --> 00:34:54,275
- She got pushed so
hard on this point
846
00:34:54,275 --> 00:34:55,413
that she finally turned
847
00:34:55,413 --> 00:34:57,000
and said, your Honor,
848
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:58,137
is there a blackboard
849
00:34:58,137 --> 00:34:59,724
available to the court?
850
00:35:05,827 --> 00:35:08,551
- [Narrator] Standing
beside the chalkboard,
851
00:35:08,551 --> 00:35:10,551
Elizebeth unleashes a meticulous
852
00:35:10,551 --> 00:35:12,206
and devastating rebuttal.
853
00:35:13,103 --> 00:35:14,724
She writes a seemingly
854
00:35:14,724 --> 00:35:16,586
random collection of letters.
855
00:35:17,689 --> 00:35:19,862
Then she substitutes
those letters
856
00:35:19,862 --> 00:35:21,344
for letters two places
857
00:35:21,344 --> 00:35:23,482
earlier in the alphabet.
858
00:35:23,482 --> 00:35:25,793
For example, Q becomes O,
859
00:35:25,793 --> 00:35:27,344
N becomes L,
860
00:35:27,344 --> 00:35:29,310
until the random letters
861
00:35:29,310 --> 00:35:30,344
become the name of
862
00:35:30,344 --> 00:35:32,241
a popular brand of liquor.
863
00:35:34,103 --> 00:35:35,827
- The court can see that,
864
00:35:35,827 --> 00:35:37,103
yes, there's a pattern here.
865
00:35:37,103 --> 00:35:38,758
This really is a science.
866
00:35:38,758 --> 00:35:40,137
She's not making it up.
867
00:35:40,137 --> 00:35:42,172
She knows exactly
what she's doing.
868
00:35:43,758 --> 00:35:45,000
- [Narrator] Friedman goes on
869
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,206
to coolly unpick the
gangs' coded messages
870
00:35:48,206 --> 00:35:49,931
revealing the
connections between
871
00:35:49,931 --> 00:35:52,689
the boats, booze, and bosses.
872
00:35:53,896 --> 00:35:56,034
- The messages that
Elizebeth is able
873
00:35:56,034 --> 00:35:59,000
to decrypt for
CONEXCO are showing
874
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:00,655
what all the parts
of the system are
875
00:36:00,655 --> 00:36:01,724
and how they're connected
876
00:36:01,724 --> 00:36:04,275
to the land-based operation.
877
00:36:04,275 --> 00:36:06,137
They really are a record,
878
00:36:06,137 --> 00:36:09,034
kind of day by day
message by message
879
00:36:09,034 --> 00:36:12,896
of how this entire
network is functioning.
880
00:36:14,827 --> 00:36:17,068
- [Narrator] After
just four days,
881
00:36:17,068 --> 00:36:20,724
Elizebeth's testimony
convinces the jury.
882
00:36:20,724 --> 00:36:23,034
The mobsters are convicted
883
00:36:23,034 --> 00:36:24,517
and sent to jail.
884
00:36:26,379 --> 00:36:30,379
Al Capone is arrested
and tried separately.
885
00:36:30,379 --> 00:36:31,965
Despite being charged with
886
00:36:31,965 --> 00:36:34,586
an incredible 5,000 violations
887
00:36:34,586 --> 00:36:36,000
of Prohibition Law,
888
00:36:37,413 --> 00:36:39,344
he's ultimately convicted
889
00:36:39,344 --> 00:36:42,413
on 22 counts of tax evasion.
890
00:36:44,103 --> 00:36:45,551
- Much of what we think about
891
00:36:45,551 --> 00:36:47,000
in terms of the breaking
892
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:49,241
of Al Capone's organization lies
893
00:36:49,241 --> 00:36:50,517
in the mythology that
894
00:36:50,517 --> 00:36:52,689
these heroic federal agents
895
00:36:52,689 --> 00:36:55,448
with gun in hand,
single-handedly
896
00:36:55,448 --> 00:36:58,793
took on Al Capone's
organization.
897
00:36:58,793 --> 00:37:00,827
That's not quite what happened.
898
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,482
Most of the work and
the activities done
899
00:37:04,482 --> 00:37:07,517
in breaking down Al
Capone's organization
900
00:37:07,517 --> 00:37:09,689
was work done in secret
901
00:37:09,689 --> 00:37:11,827
and not by individuals
carrying guns.
902
00:37:13,137 --> 00:37:14,896
- [Narrator] One of
those individuals
903
00:37:14,896 --> 00:37:16,620
was Elizebeth Friedman,
904
00:37:16,620 --> 00:37:19,275
armed with only
pencil and paper.
905
00:37:20,206 --> 00:37:21,896
- Did she end organized crime?
906
00:37:21,896 --> 00:37:23,103
No.
907
00:37:23,103 --> 00:37:24,620
Did she make their
lives a living hell?
908
00:37:24,620 --> 00:37:25,793
Yes.
909
00:37:26,965 --> 00:37:28,724
The Coast Guard
was so very lucky
910
00:37:28,724 --> 00:37:30,172
to have her abilities
911
00:37:30,172 --> 00:37:32,896
and her drive to let
organized crime know
912
00:37:32,896 --> 00:37:34,482
that they couldn't run rampant
913
00:37:34,482 --> 00:37:36,172
over the United
States government.
914
00:37:37,862 --> 00:37:39,827
- [Narrator] She fought the mob
915
00:37:39,827 --> 00:37:41,620
and made their lives hell.
916
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:45,758
But now eight years
917
00:37:45,758 --> 00:37:47,448
after Elizebeth took the stand,
918
00:37:48,448 --> 00:37:50,103
America needs her brilliant
919
00:37:50,103 --> 00:37:51,862
mind more than ever
920
00:37:55,413 --> 00:37:56,620
in the battle against
921
00:37:56,620 --> 00:37:58,724
an even deadlier adversary,
922
00:38:01,655 --> 00:38:02,793
the Nazis.
923
00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,103
- The world is on
the verge of a war.
924
00:38:06,103 --> 00:38:08,827
Everybody can see
this and sense it.
925
00:38:08,827 --> 00:38:10,724
And her job now is
926
00:38:10,724 --> 00:38:12,758
listening out for spies.
927
00:38:14,413 --> 00:38:17,379
- [Narrator] Between
1940 and 1945,
928
00:38:17,379 --> 00:38:19,448
Elizebeth assisted by a team
929
00:38:19,448 --> 00:38:21,965
of just three other codebreakers
930
00:38:21,965 --> 00:38:25,275
cracks 4,000 coded messages
931
00:38:25,275 --> 00:38:27,137
sent by Nazi spies
932
00:38:30,034 --> 00:38:32,448
including a network
operating straight
933
00:38:32,448 --> 00:38:34,068
out of New York City.
934
00:38:34,068 --> 00:38:36,000
- [FBI Agent] A
spy trap was set.
935
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:37,413
Walking into this trap
936
00:38:37,413 --> 00:38:39,413
is Colonel Fritz Duquesne,
937
00:38:39,413 --> 00:38:41,000
a leader of the spy-ring
938
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:43,000
and a professional German spy.
939
00:38:44,137 --> 00:38:46,172
- [Narrator] What the
spies don't know is
940
00:38:46,172 --> 00:38:48,896
that the FBI is watching.
941
00:38:48,896 --> 00:38:50,034
- [FBI Agent] A concealed camera
942
00:38:50,034 --> 00:38:51,172
in the next office
943
00:38:51,172 --> 00:38:53,655
took these
incriminating pictures.
944
00:38:53,655 --> 00:38:55,793
- [Narrator] And
Elizebeth is listening.
945
00:38:56,931 --> 00:38:59,172
- [FBI Agent] These
spies at a radio station
946
00:38:59,172 --> 00:39:00,896
on Long Island which unknown
947
00:39:00,896 --> 00:39:04,448
to them was operated
by an FBI agent.
948
00:39:04,448 --> 00:39:06,448
- [Narrator] She
decrypts hundreds
949
00:39:06,448 --> 00:39:08,482
of the spies' messages.
950
00:39:08,482 --> 00:39:10,689
This plus the surveillance is
951
00:39:10,689 --> 00:39:13,137
all the evidence the FBI needs.
952
00:39:16,931 --> 00:39:19,931
In 1942, the Nazi spies are
953
00:39:19,931 --> 00:39:21,827
sentenced to a combined total
954
00:39:21,827 --> 00:39:24,068
of 300 years in prison.
955
00:39:25,137 --> 00:39:27,586
It is the largest espionage case
956
00:39:27,586 --> 00:39:30,517
in the history of
the United States.
957
00:39:30,517 --> 00:39:32,931
But it's just the
tip of the iceberg.
958
00:39:36,206 --> 00:39:39,000
As World War II rages in Europe,
959
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,620
Nazi spies in both
North and South America,
960
00:39:42,620 --> 00:39:44,344
keep sending coded messages
961
00:39:44,344 --> 00:39:45,965
to their masters in Berlin
962
00:39:47,068 --> 00:39:50,068
and the stakes keep
getting higher.
963
00:39:50,068 --> 00:39:52,655
- Some of the most
important information
964
00:39:52,655 --> 00:39:53,724
that they're supplying
965
00:39:53,724 --> 00:39:55,655
is about Allied shipping
966
00:39:55,655 --> 00:39:57,896
that's going from South America
967
00:39:57,896 --> 00:39:59,655
up into the North Atlantic
968
00:39:59,655 --> 00:40:03,068
and across to supply Britain.
969
00:40:03,068 --> 00:40:05,896
- [Narrator] Guided by the
spies' encrypted messages,
970
00:40:05,896 --> 00:40:08,275
Nazi submarines hunt
the supply ships
971
00:40:08,275 --> 00:40:10,448
that keep Britain armed and fed.
972
00:40:11,655 --> 00:40:13,448
If this lifeline is cut,
973
00:40:13,448 --> 00:40:14,689
the Nazis will take
974
00:40:14,689 --> 00:40:16,620
a critical step
closer to victory.
975
00:40:20,275 --> 00:40:21,551
Elizebeth and her team
976
00:40:21,551 --> 00:40:23,482
crack thousands
of these messages
977
00:40:23,482 --> 00:40:24,965
working around the clock
978
00:40:26,103 --> 00:40:28,344
so Allied ships
can be forewarned
979
00:40:28,344 --> 00:40:30,793
about impending U-boat patrols.
980
00:40:33,344 --> 00:40:36,655
One of those ships
is the "Queen Mary."
981
00:40:36,655 --> 00:40:39,241
- In the fall of 1942,
982
00:40:39,241 --> 00:40:41,896
the "Queen Mary" is a
troopship carrying troops
983
00:40:41,896 --> 00:40:44,517
from New York City to Scotland
984
00:40:44,517 --> 00:40:46,689
to be trained in Great Britain.
985
00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:50,068
- [Narrator] For
months, Nazi spies have
986
00:40:50,068 --> 00:40:51,413
been sending details of
987
00:40:51,413 --> 00:40:54,034
the ship's Atlantic crossings
988
00:40:54,034 --> 00:40:56,827
but Elizebeth
decodes the messages
989
00:40:56,827 --> 00:40:58,068
allowing the "Queen Mary"
990
00:40:58,068 --> 00:41:00,793
to change course and
dodge the U-boats.
991
00:41:01,655 --> 00:41:03,724
- She really honestly changed
992
00:41:03,724 --> 00:41:05,517
the face of the war.
993
00:41:05,517 --> 00:41:07,241
From a personal note,
994
00:41:07,241 --> 00:41:08,655
I am sitting here
speaking to you
995
00:41:08,655 --> 00:41:11,620
because she may have
saved that ship.
996
00:41:11,620 --> 00:41:12,689
One of the units that's
997
00:41:12,689 --> 00:41:13,620
on the "Queen Mary" is
998
00:41:13,620 --> 00:41:15,586
the 29th Infantry Division.
999
00:41:15,586 --> 00:41:17,827
The 29th Infantry
Division is the unit
1000
00:41:17,827 --> 00:41:20,586
that hits Omaha Beach on D-Day
1001
00:41:20,586 --> 00:41:21,551
and is involved
1002
00:41:21,551 --> 00:41:22,931
in the Battle of the Bulge.
1003
00:41:24,586 --> 00:41:26,517
My father was part of the 29th
1004
00:41:26,517 --> 00:41:29,000
and he sailed in
September of '42
1005
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,172
on the "Queen Mary"
from New York Harbor.
1006
00:41:31,172 --> 00:41:34,517
So Elizebeth could
have saved the war
1007
00:41:34,517 --> 00:41:35,551
by saving this ship.
1008
00:41:35,551 --> 00:41:38,206
She certainly provided the life
1009
00:41:38,206 --> 00:41:40,103
of myself and my siblings.
1010
00:41:43,275 --> 00:41:45,068
- [Narrator] But at the
Coast Guard headquarters
1011
00:41:45,068 --> 00:41:47,034
in Washington, D.C.,
1012
00:41:47,034 --> 00:41:49,586
despite catching
dozens of spies,
1013
00:41:49,586 --> 00:41:51,482
saving thousands of lives,
1014
00:41:51,482 --> 00:41:52,448
and helping to win
1015
00:41:52,448 --> 00:41:54,448
the Battle of the Atlantic,
1016
00:41:54,448 --> 00:41:56,724
Elizebeth is demoted.
1017
00:41:56,724 --> 00:41:59,275
- The Navy took
over the Coast Guard
1018
00:42:00,448 --> 00:42:01,379
and the Navy had a policy
1019
00:42:01,379 --> 00:42:02,620
that neither a civilian
1020
00:42:02,620 --> 00:42:05,275
nor a woman could
lead an office.
1021
00:42:05,275 --> 00:42:07,137
So she was basically demoted
1022
00:42:07,137 --> 00:42:09,620
and someone without
the knowledge
1023
00:42:09,620 --> 00:42:11,310
of codebreaking that she had
1024
00:42:11,310 --> 00:42:12,551
was put in charge.
1025
00:42:14,172 --> 00:42:17,034
- [Narrator] Elizebeth
is undeterred
1026
00:42:17,034 --> 00:42:18,896
because she's
fighting the biggest,
1027
00:42:18,896 --> 00:42:22,413
most important
battle of her life,
1028
00:42:22,413 --> 00:42:26,034
a battle for the survival
of America itself.
1029
00:42:26,034 --> 00:42:28,137
- [News Reporter] A
network of German airlines
1030
00:42:28,137 --> 00:42:31,172
had spread as far
north as Colombia,
1031
00:42:31,172 --> 00:42:33,000
a neighboring and
friendly continent
1032
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:34,655
could become an armed menace.
1033
00:42:35,724 --> 00:42:37,034
- It was a real worry
1034
00:42:37,034 --> 00:42:38,896
that South American countries
1035
00:42:38,896 --> 00:42:42,000
might end up becoming
allied to Germany.
1036
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:44,000
Germany could then put troops
1037
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:45,689
and planes in South America
1038
00:42:45,689 --> 00:42:46,931
which would put them
1039
00:42:46,931 --> 00:42:49,000
in reach of first
the Panama canal
1040
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:51,275
and then to the
United States itself.
1041
00:42:53,034 --> 00:42:54,655
- [Narrator] Nazi spies based
1042
00:42:54,655 --> 00:42:56,965
in South America
are sending hundreds
1043
00:42:56,965 --> 00:42:59,827
of coded messages to
Berlin every month.
1044
00:43:00,931 --> 00:43:02,517
But one name appears
1045
00:43:02,517 --> 00:43:04,344
over and over again,
1046
00:43:05,172 --> 00:43:06,448
"Sargo."
1047
00:43:06,448 --> 00:43:08,586
- Elizebeth doesn't
know who this man is
1048
00:43:08,586 --> 00:43:11,000
but she can tell he's important.
1049
00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:12,689
And she's right.
1050
00:43:12,689 --> 00:43:14,482
- [Narrator] "Sargo"
is the codename
1051
00:43:14,482 --> 00:43:15,862
of Johannes Becker,
1052
00:43:15,862 --> 00:43:18,551
the Nazi's main agent
in South America.
1053
00:43:19,758 --> 00:43:21,551
- [Amy] Becker is an SS man.
1054
00:43:21,551 --> 00:43:23,103
He's one of Himmler's
1055
00:43:23,103 --> 00:43:26,000
hand-picked shock troops.
1056
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,000
- [Narrator] From his
base in Argentina,
1057
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,965
Becker travels widely
across South America,
1058
00:43:30,965 --> 00:43:32,068
directing a network
1059
00:43:32,931 --> 00:43:34,586
of at least 250 agents
1060
00:43:35,689 --> 00:43:38,000
and working to
incite a revolution.
1061
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:40,413
- The spies want to turn
1062
00:43:40,413 --> 00:43:43,034
each nation in South America
1063
00:43:43,034 --> 00:43:46,000
so that it's allied
to the Nazis.
1064
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:48,275
They are also interested
1065
00:43:48,275 --> 00:43:50,862
in staging warfare against
1066
00:43:50,862 --> 00:43:52,689
the United States directly.
1067
00:43:54,068 --> 00:43:56,517
- [Narrator] Elizebeth knows
exactly what's happening
1068
00:43:56,517 --> 00:44:00,172
because she's cracked the
code "Sargo" is using.
1069
00:44:00,172 --> 00:44:02,034
With every message she decodes,
1070
00:44:02,034 --> 00:44:04,000
she can see the danger unfolding
1071
00:44:04,931 --> 00:44:06,793
but she's powerless to stop it.
1072
00:44:11,517 --> 00:44:13,793
- The problem that Elizebeth has
1073
00:44:13,793 --> 00:44:15,931
that many codebreakers face
1074
00:44:15,931 --> 00:44:18,620
is that they know
what's going on
1075
00:44:18,620 --> 00:44:22,068
but in order to act on it,
1076
00:44:22,068 --> 00:44:24,689
they might end up
inadvertently revealing
1077
00:44:24,689 --> 00:44:26,482
that they can read the messages.
1078
00:44:27,620 --> 00:44:29,620
If the Germans
change their codes
1079
00:44:29,620 --> 00:44:32,000
and the Allies are locked out,
1080
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:34,000
then the Allies could
well lose the war.
1081
00:44:35,275 --> 00:44:36,862
- [Narrator] All
Elizebeth can do is
1082
00:44:36,862 --> 00:44:39,310
decode the messages and wait
1083
00:44:40,413 --> 00:44:43,413
until the autumn of 1943
1084
00:44:43,413 --> 00:44:46,206
when "Sargo" finally slips up.
1085
00:44:46,206 --> 00:44:49,172
- Elizebeth finds
out that "Sargo" is
1086
00:44:49,172 --> 00:44:50,827
helping to arrange for one
1087
00:44:50,827 --> 00:44:52,310
of his key people
1088
00:44:52,310 --> 00:44:56,344
to travel over to
Germany as an envoy
1089
00:44:56,344 --> 00:44:57,965
from the Argentinian government.
1090
00:44:59,689 --> 00:45:02,137
- [Narrator] This envoy
will meet Himmler,
1091
00:45:02,137 --> 00:45:05,068
one of the Nazi regime's
most powerful men
1092
00:45:05,068 --> 00:45:06,344
to ask for weapons
1093
00:45:06,344 --> 00:45:08,310
and negotiate a secret alliance
1094
00:45:08,310 --> 00:45:11,034
between Argentina
and Nazi Germany.
1095
00:45:13,310 --> 00:45:15,793
- What nobody knows is
1096
00:45:15,793 --> 00:45:17,034
how he's traveling,
1097
00:45:17,034 --> 00:45:19,275
exactly when he's
going to get there.
1098
00:45:19,275 --> 00:45:21,482
If they can find
out what ship it is,
1099
00:45:21,482 --> 00:45:23,482
they can nab him.
1100
00:45:23,482 --> 00:45:24,551
- [Narrator] Once again,
1101
00:45:24,551 --> 00:45:26,000
it's Elizebeth and her team
1102
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:27,551
who provide the breakthrough.
1103
00:45:28,689 --> 00:45:30,172
They decode the messages
1104
00:45:30,172 --> 00:45:32,034
to identify the ship
1105
00:45:32,034 --> 00:45:34,482
allowing "Sargo's"
agent to be arrested
1106
00:45:34,482 --> 00:45:36,482
when the ship stops to refuel
1107
00:45:36,482 --> 00:45:38,241
in British ruled Trinidad.
1108
00:45:39,413 --> 00:45:41,448
Now the Allies can
blame the agent
1109
00:45:41,448 --> 00:45:44,551
for divulging information
under interrogation
1110
00:45:44,551 --> 00:45:48,482
without revealing "Sargo's"
codes have been cracked.
1111
00:45:48,482 --> 00:45:49,413
- They are then able
1112
00:45:49,413 --> 00:45:51,586
to go to Argentina and say,
1113
00:45:51,586 --> 00:45:53,275
get rid of your Nazi spies.
1114
00:45:53,275 --> 00:45:54,206
We have proof.
1115
00:45:54,206 --> 00:45:56,310
One of the spies has talked.
1116
00:45:56,310 --> 00:45:58,448
And if you don't get rid
1117
00:45:58,448 --> 00:46:00,586
of any official relationship
1118
00:46:00,586 --> 00:46:02,758
that you have with Nazi Germany,
1119
00:46:02,758 --> 00:46:04,000
then the United States will
1120
00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:06,000
make sure you suffer
the consequences.
1121
00:46:08,758 --> 00:46:12,413
- [Narrator] Publicly
shamed in January 1944,
1122
00:46:12,413 --> 00:46:15,206
Argentina officially
severs all relations
1123
00:46:15,206 --> 00:46:17,827
with Germany and Japan.
1124
00:46:17,827 --> 00:46:19,034
And the Nazis lose
1125
00:46:19,034 --> 00:46:20,758
their last chance of finding
1126
00:46:20,758 --> 00:46:23,689
a foothold in South America.
1127
00:46:23,689 --> 00:46:25,655
- From that point onward,
1128
00:46:25,655 --> 00:46:27,448
"Sargo" and all of the people
1129
00:46:27,448 --> 00:46:29,586
he's recruited are on the run.
1130
00:46:29,586 --> 00:46:30,896
And Elizebeth has helped
1131
00:46:30,896 --> 00:46:33,862
to successfully destroy the most
1132
00:46:33,862 --> 00:46:37,310
effective opposition
in South America.
1133
00:46:41,172 --> 00:46:42,862
- [Narrator] Without
Elizebeth Friedman's
1134
00:46:42,862 --> 00:46:46,000
codebreaking skills
honed in World War I
1135
00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:48,068
and the fight against the mob,
1136
00:46:48,068 --> 00:46:49,758
America may have been fatally
1137
00:46:49,758 --> 00:46:53,103
compromised by Nazi spies.
1138
00:46:53,103 --> 00:46:54,724
The Battle of the Atlantic
1139
00:46:54,724 --> 00:46:56,724
might have been lost
1140
00:46:56,724 --> 00:46:57,896
and the Nazis might
1141
00:46:57,896 --> 00:46:59,448
even have launched an offensive
1142
00:46:59,448 --> 00:47:02,000
on the United States
from South America.
1143
00:47:04,413 --> 00:47:05,931
- I think it's amazing to note
1144
00:47:05,931 --> 00:47:07,724
that with a small team
1145
00:47:07,724 --> 00:47:09,965
of codebreakers armed with
1146
00:47:09,965 --> 00:47:12,241
literally pencils and paper,
1147
00:47:12,241 --> 00:47:15,379
no computers here,
no fancy technology,
1148
00:47:15,379 --> 00:47:17,931
they potentially
helped win the war.
1149
00:47:17,931 --> 00:47:20,448
And I think that
you can honestly say
1150
00:47:20,448 --> 00:47:21,620
that in this case,
1151
00:47:21,620 --> 00:47:24,000
the pencil is mightier
than the sword.
1152
00:47:25,344 --> 00:47:27,655
- [Narrator] But in the
decades after the war,
1153
00:47:27,655 --> 00:47:29,551
Elizebeth Friedman's
contribution
1154
00:47:29,551 --> 00:47:31,068
to the Allied victory
1155
00:47:31,068 --> 00:47:33,034
is all but forgotten.
1156
00:47:33,034 --> 00:47:35,000
- We have guarded the secrets,
1157
00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:37,344
have given the Army and Navy
1158
00:47:37,344 --> 00:47:40,000
its striking force in the field.
1159
00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:41,965
- J. Edgar Hoover would always
1160
00:47:41,965 --> 00:47:43,896
claim the decryptions
that were done
1161
00:47:43,896 --> 00:47:46,034
by Elizebeth had
been done by the FBI.
1162
00:47:46,034 --> 00:47:48,965
It wasn't true but Elizebeth was
1163
00:47:48,965 --> 00:47:51,413
under the terms of
the Espionage Act.
1164
00:47:52,379 --> 00:47:53,551
- [Narrator] Elizebeth was sworn
1165
00:47:53,551 --> 00:47:56,034
to secrecy for life.
1166
00:47:56,034 --> 00:47:58,586
- She could not
say I did that work
1167
00:47:58,586 --> 00:48:00,103
'cause she had to keep quiet.
1168
00:48:00,103 --> 00:48:02,896
She also had a boss
1169
00:48:02,896 --> 00:48:04,310
at the end of the war.
1170
00:48:04,310 --> 00:48:07,103
He received six different
medals and honors.
1171
00:48:07,103 --> 00:48:08,793
Elizebeth got none.
1172
00:48:11,827 --> 00:48:13,344
- [Narrator]
Elizebeth Friedman was
1173
00:48:13,344 --> 00:48:15,517
a true 20th century hero.
1174
00:48:16,689 --> 00:48:17,931
She served her country
1175
00:48:17,931 --> 00:48:20,931
through not two but three wars,
1176
00:48:22,137 --> 00:48:26,068
both world wars and the
war against the mob.
1177
00:48:27,862 --> 00:48:29,310
Now two decades
1178
00:48:29,310 --> 00:48:31,724
after her death, aged 88,
1179
00:48:31,724 --> 00:48:34,137
Elizebeth is finally
receiving recognition
1180
00:48:34,137 --> 00:48:36,344
for her brilliance and bravery.
1181
00:48:38,034 --> 00:48:40,551
In 1999, she was inducted
1182
00:48:40,551 --> 00:48:43,758
to the National Security
Agency's Hall of Honor.
1183
00:48:45,344 --> 00:48:47,206
And in July 2020,
1184
00:48:47,206 --> 00:48:48,931
the U.S. Coast Guard announced
1185
00:48:48,931 --> 00:48:50,655
it was naming a new ship
1186
00:48:50,655 --> 00:48:53,000
in honor of Elizebeth Friedman.
1187
00:48:54,896 --> 00:48:57,068
- Elizebeth broke glass ceilings
1188
00:48:57,068 --> 00:48:58,137
before we even knew
1189
00:48:58,137 --> 00:48:59,482
what glass ceilings were.
1190
00:48:59,482 --> 00:49:02,896
She invented the
science of cryptography
1191
00:49:02,896 --> 00:49:03,827
and she invented it
1192
00:49:03,827 --> 00:49:04,931
as she went along.
1193
00:49:04,931 --> 00:49:06,103
There was no instruction book.
1194
00:49:06,103 --> 00:49:08,206
She wrote the instruction book.
1195
00:49:08,206 --> 00:49:10,896
She didn't look
for the attention
1196
00:49:10,896 --> 00:49:12,413
but I think that
she would be glad
1197
00:49:12,413 --> 00:49:14,068
to know that the work
1198
00:49:14,068 --> 00:49:15,724
and the accomplishments could
1199
00:49:15,724 --> 00:49:18,206
be inspiring to
young women today
1200
00:49:18,206 --> 00:49:19,724
who think that the cards
1201
00:49:19,724 --> 00:49:20,724
are stacked against them,
1202
00:49:20,724 --> 00:49:21,655
because if the cards
1203
00:49:21,655 --> 00:49:23,068
were stacked against anyone,
1204
00:49:23,068 --> 00:49:25,206
they were certainly
stacked against Elizebeth.
85414
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