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david irving Secretly Overheard:
ding Hahn himself. Weizsäcker commented, “Of course, they are
mostly Germans.”
The fact that this statement was untrue [reported Rittner to M.I.6]
merely emphasizes the latent conceit of these people, who still believe
in the Herrenvolk.
At the same time an American army officer brought over from Germany
letters from the wives of von Laue, Hahn, Gerlach, and Heisenberg;
Weizsäcker’s wife had gone to her parents in Switzerland,
and Diebner’s wife, who had decamped with her child and another
man, could not be found (a distressing fact which Rittner decided
to keep from Dr. Diebner).
Wrongly anticipating an early end to their incarceration, the scientists
discussed again whether to stay in Britain, return to Germany,
or work for Russia.
HEISENBERG: I would think that one could come to an arrangement
with the Anglo-Americans, so that they would on the one hand
superintend the work – which they will do in any case – and that at the
same time they would see that we got sufficient material.
HARTECK: I can tell you that as soon as that happens we will be
looked upon as traitors in the eyes of the masses.
HEISENBERG: No. One must do that cleverly. As far as the masses
are concerned it will look as though we unfortunately have to continue
our scientific work under the wicked Anglo-Saxon control, and that
we can do nothing about. We will have to appear to accept this control
with fury and gnashing of teeth.
HARTECK: We couldn’t get away with that at Hamburg. . .
WIRTZ: I don’t understand why you are so optimistic about the
Anglo-Saxons; Hahn and the others are the same. Surely the last five
months have shown you that there is not much ground for optimism.
HEISENBERG: It is true that they have now held us prisoners for
five months, but when you consider the position the Allies are in, then
it is understandable. Now that they have got the atomic bomb, and
realise what a terrifically important thing they have in their hands, it is
this is a copyright manuscript © david irving 2007