 Schmidt, who worked at Defence Ministry Cipher Office in Berlin, sold the French the manuals explaining how to operate the top secret Enigma cipher machine being used by the German Army.Schmidt ultimately provided all the information necessary to crack the complex ciphers, which would play a key role in the Allied victory.In September 1939, when France declared war on Germany in response to Germany's invasion of Poland, Josephine Baker was recruited by the Bureau and provided them with information as an "honorable correspondent".