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German Physicists are told of The Bomb

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 7:31 am
by thibodeaux
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf ... ish101.pdf

This is pretty interesting. They're shocked (and a bit skeptical).
HAHN was completely shattered by the news and said that he felt personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, as it was his original discovery which had made the bomb possible...

HEISENBERG: I don't believe a word of the whole thing. They must have spent the whole of their ₤500,000,000 in separating isotopes; and then it's possible.
...
WIRTZ: I'm glad we didn't have it.
...
WEIZSÄCKER: I think it's dreadful of the Americans to have done it. I think it is madness on their part.

HEISENBERG: One can't say that. One could equally well say "That's the quickest way of ending the war.”

HAHN: That's what consoles me.

Re: German Physicists are told of The Bomb

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 10:04 am
by GORDON
AMERICA: Fuck um. Nuke um. Twice.

Re: German Physicists are told of The Bomb

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 1:14 pm
by Malcolm
WIRTZ: It seems to me that the political situation for STALIN has changed completely now.

WEIZSÄCKER: I hope so. STALIN certainly has not got it yet. If the Americans and the
British were good Imperialists they would attack STALIN with the thing tomorrow, but they
won't do that, they will use it as a political weapon. Of course that is good, but the result will
be a peace which will last until the Russians have it, and then there is bound to be war.
Damn. Also open talk of sabotaging the German war effort, but not from Heisenberg.

Re: German Physicists are told of The Bomb

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 1:40 pm
by thibodeaux
Malcolm wrote:
WIRTZ: It seems to me that the political situation for STALIN has changed completely now.
Damn. Also open talk of sabotaging the German war effort, but not from Heisenberg.
These guys didn't know (like most people) that STALIN had a man on the inside.

Re: German Physicists are told of The Bomb

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 2:00 pm
by Malcolm
Sounds like they might have been assuming it, even if they didn't directly know.