# William and Elizabeth Friedman

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "William and Elizabeth Friedman," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/william-friedman/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*American cryptologists who, per John Kiriakou, broke the Nazi Enigma encryption largely by exploiting a single known fact: every German communication ended with 'Heil Hitler', sometimes spelled out, sometimes abbreviated 'HH.' Working outward from the letters H, E, I, L, T, R, they cracked the code one letter at a time. Their work led directly to the founding of the National Security Agency. Both are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.*

- **Field:** Cryptology / codebreaking
- **Per Kiriakou:** Broke Nazi Enigma starting from the 'Heil Hitler' sign-off
- **Legacy:** Their work led to the founding of the NSA

**William and Elizabeth Friedman** were American cryptologists buried at [Arlington National Cemetery](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/arlington-cemetery-spies). [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) discussed them during his cemetery tour.

Per [Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), the Friedmans broke the Nazi Enigma encryption largely by starting from a single known fact: every German communication ended with *"Heil Hitler,"* sometimes written out in full and sometimes abbreviated *"HH."* Beginning with the letters H, E, I, L, T, and R, they worked outward one letter at a time until the code was broken. Their work led directly to the founding of the National Security Agency.[1][2][3]

## See also

- [Spies of Arlington National Cemetery](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/arlington-cemetery-spies)
- [Thin Thread](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thin-thread)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 16:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=990s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/
2. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 17:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=1020s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/
3. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 17:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=1050s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/william-friedman/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt