heisenberg: a controversial figure
Heisenberg labeled 'White Jew' in 1937
"... the ethnic Jew himself threatened us less than the mentality he was spreading. When the carrier of this mentality is not a Jew but a German ,... the vernacular has stamped such germ carriers with the label 'White Jew', which is extremely suitable because it extends the concept of the Jew beyond race."
"''White Jews' in Science", Das Schwarze Korps, July 15, 1937
"In that same period [1937] the foremost Nazi newspaper carried an article condemning Einstein's theory of relativity as well as the new atomic theories, to which Heisenberg had made major contributions. Heisenberg came to the defense of his physics in a subsequent issue of the Nazi newspaper. This however, caused the appearance of a violent personal attack on him in Heinrich Himmler's newspaper Das Schwarze Korps. Heisenberg was called a 'White Jew' and his work described as unfit to be taught to Nazi students."
- Samuel A. Goudsmit
Samuel A. Goudsmit Papers, 1921-1979
"One field above all in which the intellectual ties of 'White Jews' to Jewish role models and masters can be irrefutably demonstrated, is science. Cleansing it of the Jewish spirit is of utmost urgency... How secure 'White Jews' feel in their positions, is evidenced by the actions of the professor for theoretical physics in Leipzig, professor Werner Heisenberg who succeeded in 1936 in smuggling an essay into an official party organ, in which he declared Einstein's relativity theory to be "the obvious basis for further research". Heisenberg is only one example among several others. All of them are puppets of Jewry in German intellectual life and must disappear just as the Jews themselves."
" White Jews' in Science", Das Schwarze Korps, July 15, 1937
"It so happened that Heisenberg's family was acquainted with the family of Himmler. This gave Heisenberg an opportunity to complain about the attack to Himmler directly. It took Himmler exactly a whole year before he answered Heisenberg's letter of July 21, 1937."
- Samuel A. Goudsmit
Samuel A. Goudsmit Papers, 1921-1979
"Esteemed Professor Heisenberg |
"Dear Heydrich |
Urged to leave Germany in 1939
According to his friends
"By the spring of 1939 it was clear that war was unavoidable. In the summer he visited the United States again and lectured in Michigan and Chicago. There many of his old friends and colleagues tried to persuade him to leave Germany because of the impending disaster,... To this Fermi added the warning that the recently discovered uranium fission might contain the possibility of military applications, and that in war time scientists might find themselves working for their government on such schemes. According to his account of these conversations, he expressed the conviction that Germany would lose the war. In the recollection of his colleagues, he appeared to foresee a German victory." |
according to heisenberg
"I can remember the meeting with Fermi in Goudsmit's home quite well. but not at all that Fermi would have mentioned the Uranium problem. The possibility that atomic weapons might already be used in the coming war, I certainly did not consider seriously at that time; perhaps repressed it out of an inner fear. At any rate, I cannot remember, as I said, the mention of the Uranium problem, and maybe that lack of memory itself is a sign of the repression back then. The conversation with Pegram only took place somewhat later, and I told Pegram at the time with utter conviction that Hitler would lose the coming war, yet I felt I needed to stay in Germany to contribute to preserving the good in as much as it still existed. During this conversation as well, I did not seriously consider that the atomic bomb would possibly be part of a war with Hitler." |
Heisenberg's visit with niels bohr in copenhagen in 1941
"Through the German authorities Heisenberg and Weizsacker had arranged a physics conference at the German Institute in Copenhagen, which had been established by the occupying power. Only a few Danes took part in this conference, and among them none of the leading physicists at the University's Institute for Theoretical Physics. " |
heisenberg's account
"This talk took place on an evening walk in a district near Ny-Carlsberg. Being aware that Bohr was under the surveillance of the German political authorities and that his assertions about me would probably be reported to Germany, I tried to conduct this talk in such a way as to preclude putting my life into immediate danger. This talk probably started with my question as to whether or not it was right for physicists to devote themselves in wartime to the uranium problem - as there was the possibility that progress in this sphere could lead to grave consequences in the technique of the war. Bohr understood the meaning of this question immediately, as I realized from his slightly frightened reaction. He replied as far as I can remember with a counter question., "Do you really think that uranium fission could be utilized for the construction of weapons?" I may have replied: "I know that this is in principle possible, but it would require a terrific technical effort, which, one can only hope, cannot be realized in this war." Bohr was shocked by my reply, obviously assuming that I had intended to convey to him that Germany had made great progress in the direction of manufacturing atomic weapons. Although I tried subsequently to correct this false impression I probably did not succeed in winning Bohr's complete trust, especially as I only dared to speak guardedly (which was definitely a mistake on my part), being afraid that some phrase or other could later be held against me. I was very unhappy about the result of this conversation." |
niels bohr's account
"Naturally, we understand that it may be difficult for you to keep track of how you thought and expressed yourselves at the various stages of the war, the course of which changed as time passed so that the conviction of German victory gradually had to weaken and finally end with the certainty of defeat. However, what I am thinking of in particular is the conversation we had in my office at the Institute, during which, because of the subject raised, I carefully fixed in my mind every word that was uttered. It had to make a very strong impression on me that at the very outset you stated that you felt certain that the war, if it lasted sufficiently long, would be decided with atomic weapons. I had at that time no knowledge at all of the preparations that were under way in England and America. You added, when I perhaps looked doubtful, that I had to understand that in recent years you had occupied yourself almost exclusively with this question and did not doubt that it could be done. It is therefore quite incomprehensible to me that you should think that you hinted to me that the German physicists would do all they could to prevent such an application of atomic science. During the conversation, which was only very brief, I was naturally very cautious but nevertheless thought a lot about its content, and my alarm was not lessened by hearing from the others at the Institute that Weizsacker had stated how fortunate it would be for the position of science in Germany after the victory that you could help so significantly towards this end." |
Guilt by association after the war
"You all have worked for Nazi Germany as well and never have even tried to put up a passive resistance either. ...but have allowed millions of innocent people to be slaughtered without making the least protest. When I heard a very factual report on English radio by English men and Americans on Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald, I began to cry out loud and could not sleep the whole night long. You should have seen the people who came here from out of the camps. Someone should force a man like Heisenberg and many million others to look at these camps and at the martyred people." "The documents cited in Alsos prove simply, that no different from their Allied counterparts, the German scientists worked for the military as best their circumstances allowed. But the difference, which it will be never possible to forgive, is that they worked for the cause of Himmler and Auschwitz, for the burners of books and the takers of hostages. The community of science will be long delayed in welcoming the armorers of the Nazis, even if their work was not successful." |
"I think he was fundamentally a German nationalist. He was sorry that Hitler was such a bandit - but he was happy to see that Hitler could lead Germany to what he thought was greatness." |
conclusion
Although Bohr's letters to Heisenberg make it apparent that Heisenberg was not trying to sabotage the German nuclear program, it is clear that Heisenberg was not a fundamental Nazi. He believed in "Jewish science", and endured a year long investigation by the SS. However, the Allies' policy of denazification, together with Heisenberg's guilt by association, gave him great reason to portray his work for Nazi Germany in a better light. It is likely that Heisenberg was a loyal German who worked hard to help Germany, not Hitler, in winning the nuclear race.