Hitler's Uranium Club The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall

420 Pages·2001·38.507 MB·English

by  Jeremy Bernstein

HITLiilR'S TJRANIir-I CLUB
Second Edition
The Secret Recordings nt Parra Hall
JER-iMY BERNSTEIN'
with an Introduction by David Cassldy

llil
STO
3 1833 03922 7506
WITHDRAWN
HITLER'S URANIUM CLUB
DER FARMHALLER NOBELPREIS-SONG
(Melodie:StudioofseinerReis)
Detainedsincemorethanhalfayear Einjederweiss,dasUnglueckkam
SindHahnundwirinFarmHallhier. InfolgesplittingvonUran,
UndfragtmanwerisSchulddaran Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran,
SoistdieAntwort:OnoHahn. SoistdieAntwon:OttoHahn.
Therealreasonnebenbei Dieenergymachtalleswaermer.
Istweilweworkedonnuclei. OnlydieSchwedenwerdenaermer.
Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran, Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran.
SoistdieAntwon:OttoHahn. SoistdieAntwon:OnoHahn.
DienucleiwarenfuerdenKrieg AufakademischesGeheiss
UndfuerdenallgemeinenSieg. KriegtDeutschlandeinenNobel-Preis.
Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran. Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran.
SoistdieAntwon:OnoHahn. SoistdieAntwon:OnoHahn.
Wieistdasmoeglich,fragtmansich. InOxfordStreet,dalebteinWesen,
Thestoryseemswunderlich. Diewirddasheut'mitThraenenlesen.
Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran.
SoistdieAntwon:OnoHahn. SoistdieAntwon:OnoHahn.
DieFeldherrn,Staatschefs,Zeitungsknaben, Esfehltedamalsnureinatom,
IhneverydayimMundehaben. Haettergesagt:Imarryyoumadam.
Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran. Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran.
SoistdieAntwort:OttoHahn. SoistdieAntwon:OnoHahn.
Eventhesweetheartsintheworld(s) Diesistnurunsre-ersteFeier,
Sienennensichjetzt: "Atom-girls." IchglaubdieSachewirdnochteuer,
Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran. Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran,
SoistdieAntwort:OttoHahn. SoistdieAntwon:OttoHahn.
VerliertmanjetztsoseineWetten, UndkommenwirausdiesemBau,
Soheisst'syoudidn'tsplittheatom. Wehope,we'llbequiteluck)'now.
Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran. Undfragtman,weristSchulddaran,
SoistdieAntwort:OttoHahn. StetsistdieAntwon:OnoHahn.
THE FARM HALL NOBEL PRIZE SONG
(Melody: StudioofseinerReis)
SungbyKurtDiebnerandKarlWirtzatthecelebrationdinnerontheoccasionofthe
awardoftheNobelPrizeforChemistrytoOttoHahn(seeAppendixtoFarmHallReport18).
Detainedsincemorethanhalfayear. Oh,whatmiseryhascome
AreHahnandweinFarmHallhere. Fromsplittingofuranium.
Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame, Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame.
OttoHahnstheculprit'sname. OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname.
Therealreason,bytheby. Theenergyremovesthecold;
Isweworkedonnuclei. OnlytheSwedeshavelostsomegold.
Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame. Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame.
OttoHahnstheculprit'sname. OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname.
They'reforthewar,thenuclei TheAcademy'sorderisprecise;
Andthegeneralvictor)'. AGermanwinstheNobelPrize.
Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame. Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame.
OttoHahnstheculprit'sname. OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname.
Youask,how'sitpossible; InOxfordSteetsomeoneresides
Thestor\'seemswonderful. Readingnowwithtearfuleyes.
Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame. Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame.
OttoHahnstheculprit'sname. OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname.
Forgenerals,statesmenjournalists, Lackedasingle,tinyatom
Ever)'dayhe'sontheirlips. Forhimtosay:Imarr)'youmadam.
Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame, Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame.
OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname. OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname.
Eventhesweetheartsintheworld{s) We'vebeguntocelebrate:
Callthemselvestheatomgirls. Thingswillyetaccelerate.
Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame. Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame.
OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname. OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname.
Laggingwhentheraceisrun We'llleaveheresometime,somehow;
Meansyoudidn'tsplittheatom. Wehope,we'llbequiteluckynow.
Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame. Ifyouaskwhobearstheblame.
OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname. OttoHahn'stheculprit'sname.
ExtractsfromErichBagge'sdiaryarefromVonderUranspaltungbisCalderHallbyErichBagge,
KurtOiebner,andKennethJay,publishedintheseriesRowohltsDeutscheEnzyklopadie.
Copyright©1957byRowohitTaschenbuchVerlagGmbH,Hamburg.Reprintedwithpermission.
LettersfromMaxvonLauetoPaulRosbaudreprintedwiththepermissionofTheodoreH.vonLaue.
®2001Springer-VerlagNewYork,Inc.
Allrightsreserved.
Originallypublished,indifferentform,bytheAmericanInstituteofPhysics,1996.
ReproductionortranslationofanypartofthisworkbeyondthatpermittedbySection107or108
ofthe1976UnitedStatesCopyrightactwithoutthepermissionofthecopyrightownerisunlaw-
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PublishedintheUnitedStatesbyCopernicusBooks,
animprintofSpringer-VerlagNewYork,Inc.
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LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Bernstein,Jeremy
Hitler'suraniumclub:thesecretrecordingsatFarmHall/JeremyBernstein;introduction
byDavidCassidy.—Seconded..Rev.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-387-95089-3(alk.paper)
1.Atomicbomb—Germany—History. 2.Nuclearweapons—Germany—History.
3.Scientists—Germany—Correspondence I.Title.
QC773.3.G3B47 2001
355.8'25119092243-dc21 00-060336
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
Printedonacid-freepaper.
987654321
ISBN0-387-95089-3 SPIN10772099
1
CONTENTS
PrefacetotheRevisedEdition ix
PrefacetotheFirstEdition xi
IntroductionbyDavidCassidy xvii
PROLOGUE:THEURANIUMCLUB 1
BriefChronology 57
CastofCharacters 61
PARTI:SETTLINGIN 63
Preamble(Mayl-July3, 1945) 65
Repon 1 0uly3-18, 1945) TJ
Repon2Quly18-31, 1945) 89
Report3(August 1-6, 1945) 107
PARTII:THEBOMBDROPS 113
Repon4(August6-7, 1945) 115
AppendixItoReport4 141
AppendixIItoRepon4 147
PARTIII:PUTTINGTHEPIECESTOGETHER 15
Report5(August8-22, 1945) 153
AppendixtoRepon5 191
PARTIV: LOOKINGTOTHEFUTURE 209
Repon6(August23-September6, 1945) 211
Repon7(September7-13, 1945) 215
Repon8(September 14-15, 1945) 235
8
CONTENTS
viii
PARTV:LOOKINGTOWARDHOME 245
Report9(September 16-23, 1945) 247
AppendixtoReport9 249
Report 10(September24-30, 1945) 253
AppendixtoReport 10 256
Report11 (October1-7, 1945) 261
Report12(October8-14, 1945) 267
Report14(October14-21, 1945) 269
Report16(October22-28, 1945) 271
Report 16-A(October29-November4, 1945) 273
Repon17(November5-11, 1945) 277
PARTVI:ANOBELFOROTTOHAHN 281
Report18(November12-18, 1945) 283
AppendixtoReport 1 286
Report 19(November19-25, 1945) 303
Report20(November26-December2, 1945) 309
Report21 (December3-9, 1945) 311
Report22(December 10-16, 1945) 313
Report23/24(December17-30, 1945) 315
EPILOGUE:AFTERMATHS 317
AppendixA:Heisenberg'sLecture,February26, 1942 337
TranslationbyWilliamSweet 337
OriginalGermanText 341
AppendbcB:VonLauesLetterstoPaulRosbaud, 1959 349
AppendixC:BBCReport,August6, 1945 357
AppendixD: BiographicalSketchesoftheTenDetainees 363
SelectedBibliography 367
Index 373