HITLER’S URANIUM CLUB DER FARMHALLER NOBELPREIS-SONG (Melodie: Studio of seiner Reis) Detained since more than half a year Ein jeder weiss, das Unglueck kam Sind Hahn und wir in Farm Hall hier. Infolge splitting von Uran, Und fragt man wer is Schuld daran Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. The real reason nebenbei Die energy macht alles waermer. Ist weil we worked on nuclei. Only die Schweden werden aermer. Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Die nuclei waren fuer den Krieg Auf akademisches Geheiss Und fuer den allgemeinen Sieg. Kriegt Deutschland einen Nobel-Preis. Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Wie ist das moeglich, fragt man sich, In Oxford Street, da lebt ein Wesen, The story seems wunderlich. Die wird das heut’ mit Thraenen lesen. Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Die Feldherrn, Staatschefs, Zeitungsknaben, Es fehlte damals nur ein atom, Ihn everyday im Munde haben. Haett er gesagt: I marry you madam. Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Even the sweethearts in the world(s) Dies ist nur unsre-erste Feier, Sie nennen sich jetzt: “Atom-girls.” Ich glaub die Sache wird noch teuer, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Verliert man jetzt so seine Wetten, Und kommen wir aus diesem Bau, So heisst’s you didn’t split the atom. We hope, we’ll be quite lucky now. Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Stets ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. THE FARM HALL NOBEL PRIZE SONG (Melody: Studio of seiner Reis) Sung by Kurt Diebner and Karl Wirtz at the celebration dinner on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry to Otto Hahn (see Appendix to Farm Hall Report 18). Detained since more than half a year. Oh, what misery has come Are Hahn and we in Farm Hall here. From splitting of uranium. If you ask who bears the blame, If you ask who bears the blame, Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. The real reason, by the by, The energy removes the cold; Is we worked on nuclei. Only the Swedes have lost some gold. If you ask who bears the blame, If you ask who bears the blame, Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. They’re for the war, the nuclei The Academy’s order is precise; And the general victory. A German wins the Nobel Prize. If you ask who bears the blame, If you ask who bears the blame, Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. You ask, how’s it possible; In Oxford Steet someone resides The story seems wonderful. Reading now with tearful eyes. If you ask who bears the blame, If you ask who bears the blame, Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. For generals, statesmen journalists, Lacked a single, tiny atom Every day he’s on their lips. For him to say: I marry you madam. If you ask who bears the blame, If you ask who bears the blame, Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Even the sweethearts in the world(s) We’ve begun to celebrate: Call themselves the atom girls. Things will yet accelerate. If you ask who bears the blame, If you ask who bears the blame, Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Lagging when the race is run We’ll leave here sometime, somehow; Means you didn’t split the atom. We hope, we’ll be quite lucky now. If you ask who bears the blame, If you ask who bears the blame, Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Otto Hahn’s the culprit’s name. Second Edition Hitler’s Uranium Club THE SECRET RECORDINGS AT FARM HALL ANNOTATED BY JEREMY BERNSTEIN WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY DAVID CASSIDY Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Extracts from Erich Bagge’s diary are from Von der Uranspaltung bis Calder Hall by Erich Bagge, Kurt Diebner, and Kenneth Jay, published in the series Rowohlts Deutsche Enzyklopädie. Copyright © 1957 by Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, Hamburg. Reprinted with permission. Letters from Max von Laue to Paul Rosbaud reprinted with the permission of Theodore H. von Laue. © 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. in 2001 All rights reserved. Originally published, in different form, by the American Institute of Physics, 1996. Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlaw- ful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to Copernicus Books. Published in the United States by Copernicus Books, an imprint of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Editor: Paul Farrell Project Management: Mareike Paessler Book Design and Production: Deb Wood, Mia Ihara, Jordan Rosenblum, and Sara Stemen. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Bernstein, Jeremy Hitler's uranium club : the secret recordings at Farm Hall / Jeremy Bernstein ; introduction by David Cassidy.—Second ed., Rev. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-387-95089-1 ISBN 978-1-4757-5412-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4757-5412-4 1. Atomic bomb—Germany—History. 2. Nuclear weapons—Germany—History. 3. Scientists—Germany—Correspondence I. Title. QC773.3.G3B47 2001 355.8'25119'092243—dc21 00-060336 Manufactured in the United States of America. Printed on acid-free paper. 987654321 ISBN 978-0-387-95089-1 SPIN 10772099 CONTENTS Preface to the Revised Edition ix Preface to the First Edition xi Introduction by David Cassidy xvii PROLOGUE: THE URANIUM CLUB 1 Brief Chronology 57 Cast of Characters 61 PART I: SETTLING IN 63 Preamble (May 1–July 3, 1945) 65 Report 1 (July 3–18, 1945) 77 Report 2 (July 18–31, 1945) 89 Report 3 (August 1–6, 1945) 107 PART II: THE BOMB DROPS 113 Report 4 (August 6–7, 1945) 115 Appendix I to Report 4 141 Appendix II to Report 4 147 PART III: PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER 151 Report 5 (August 8–22, 1945) 153 Appendix to Report 5 191 PART IV: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE 209 Report 6 (August 23–September 6, 1945) 211 Report 7 (September 7–13, 1945) 215 Report 8 (September 14–15, 1945) 235 vii viii CONTENTS PART V: LOOKING TOWARD HOME 245 Report 9 (September 16–23, 1945) 247 Appendix to Report 9 249 Report 10 (September 24–30, 1945) 253 Appendix to Report 10 256 Report 11 (October 1–7, 1945) 261 Report 12 (October 8–14, 1945) 267 Report 14 (October 14–21, 1945) 269 Report 16 (October 22–28, 1945) 271 Report 16-A (October 29–November 4, 1945) 273 Report 17 (November 5–11, 1945) 277 PART VI: A NOBEL FOR OTTO HAHN 281 Report 18 (November 12–18, 1945) 283 Appendix to Report 18 286 Report 19 (November 19–25, 1945) 303 Report 20 (November 26–December 2, 1945) 309 Report 21 (December 3–9, 1945) 311 Report 22 (December 10–16, 1945) 313 Report 23/24 (December 17–30, 1945) 315 EPILOGUE: AFTERMATHS 317 Appendix A: Heisenberg’s Lecture, February 26, 1942 337 Translation by William Sweet 337 Original German Text 341 Appendix B: Von Laue’s Letters to Paul Rosbaud, 1959 349 Appendix C: BBC Report, August 6, 1945 357 Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of the Ten Detainees 363 Selected Bibliography 367 Index 373 PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION The remarkable success of Michael Frayn’s play Copenhagen has rekindled interest in the subject of this book—the German nuclear program in World War II. I will not go into any details here. They are presented in the body of the book. But I would like to say a few words about the nominal subject of Frayn’s play, the visit of Werner Heisenberg to Niels Bohr in Copenhagen in mid-September of 1941. By this time the Germans had occupied Denmark for over a year, so that Heisenberg was officially and unofficially representing the occupiers. He had known Bohr since the 1920s and had worked intensely with him on the creation of quantum mechanics. If circum- stances had been different, one might even speculate that this visit was an effort to renew a collegial relationship. But it certainly did not seem that way to Bohr’s wife Margrethe, who never much liked Heisenberg and saw the visit as hostile, nor to Bohr’s son Aage, who reported that the visit had deeply shaken his father. During this visit Bohr and Heisenberg had had a private talk. There is a disagree- ment as to where this talk took place, let alone as to what was said.