Scarce original Cold War-era Russian M-125 cipher machine, codenamed 'Fialka,' in its case with separate original power supply. The machine's case measures 11″ x 13″ x 9″, and is stenciled on the front with a serial number, "98-70243"; another serial number, stamped inside the cover, reads, "98-70246." The suitcase-style power supply box measures 10.5″ x 6″ x 7″, and is stenciled with the serial number "98-70925."
The Fialka is an electromechanical, wheel-based code-generating and decoding machine. Its development came after World War II, and was based loosely on the German Enigma machine, with rotors moving to a new position each time a key is pressed, creating a new electrical circuit and an alphabetic substitution for the letter that was pressed. However, the Fialka incorporates a number of different features from the Enigma that made it a much more daunting cipher-generating machine. These features include the use of 10 rotors (each with 30 contacts), wheels rotating in opposite directions, and more frequent wheel stepping. In addition, the rotors could be quickly rewired in the field, and input and output from the machine was accelerated via the use of punched paper tape, a spool of which is included. This example has ten rotors installed in the device's drum, an additional set of ten spare rotors to be stored inside the lid (in their original canister), plus one single extra rotor.
Being regularly produced starting in 1956, the Fialka quickly became a primary cipher machine for all of the Warsaw Pact countries and Cuba. Each country had the Fialka keyboard modified to their language—this example has Cyrillic and Latin characters—and had specially wired rotors. The Fialka was in use by Russia and its allies well into the 1990s, and very little information was available about this machine until 2005 as it had been kept secret. Few Fialka machines remain as they were systematically destroyed by the Soviet Union and its successors as the machines were taken out of service.
In very good, untested condition. Accompanied by a Russian Cold War-era telegraph key and a detailed reference manual in English, compiled by Paul Reuvers and Marc Simons. An important piece of Cold War code-making history.
