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"technology tree" from the atom bomb, just as it was for the
Americans and Russians after the war. Is there any indication the
this was in fact the real ultimate goal of the secret German SS atom
bomb program In other words, was it really an atom bomb
program at all Or was it a hydrogen bomb program
Fantastic as it may be to believe, the latter possibility would
seem to be the actual case. The letter of Professor Lachner referred
to previously also gives further illumination on the goal of
Kammler's SS Sonderkommando:
Work was also conducted on the hydrogen bomb. A factory for the
manufacture of heavy hydrogen was constructed in Norway but was of
course destroyed by the enemy. The small uranium bombs were
primarily intended as detonators for the hydrogen bombs, so their
immediate use was not contemplated. 16
Another corroboration for this astonishing assertion may be found
in a pre-war Austrian patent for a "molecular bomb", an early
version of the hydrogen bomb, from 1938. 17 In any case, Professor
Lachner asserts unequivocally that the real goal of the project was
weapon more terrifying and destructive than the atom bomb.
Another factor is worth mentioning in this regard. The pursuit
of the hydrogen bomb would also explain why the Nazis were
interested in small atom bombs, made smaller via boosted fission,
for a hydrogen bomb, at least with the technology available back
then, would have been an enormously heavy and cumbersome
object. The quest for "miniaturization" was therefore another
practical aim: any such bomb would have to be made small enough
for German bombers or rockets to carry, and even then, only the
very largest bombers or rockets would have been up to the task, if
at all. 18
16 Mayer and Mehner, Das Geheimnis, p. 80.
17 Ibid., pp. 255-256.
18 It should be recalled that the first hydrogen bomb, America's "Mike",
weighed several tons, and was impractical as an actual weapon. America's first
operational hydrogen bomb actually weighed several tons. It is difficult to
imagine any existing aircraft in the German arsenal, not even the enormous Ju
390, as being up to the task of delivering a hydrogen bomb, and the
specifications for the A9/10 Amerikaraket are far below what would be needed
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