Kære Heisenberg,

Jeg har set en bog “Stærkere end tusind sole” af Robert Jungk, der for nylig er udkommet på dansk, og jeg synes jeg skylder dig at sige, at det har forbavset mig meget at se, hvor stærkt din hukommelse har svigtet dig i dit brev til bogens forfatter, der i uddrag er aftrykt i den danske udgave.

Jeg husker selv hvert ord af vore samtaler, der jo fandt sted på en baggrund af yderste sorg og spænding for os heroppe i Danmark. Især gjorde det et stort indtryk både på Margrethe og mig og på alle på Instituttet, som I talte med, at du og Weizsäcker gav udtryk for jeres bestemte overbevisning at Tyskland vilde sejre og at det derfor var ganske tåbeligt af os andre at opretholde håbet om en anden udgang af krigen og stille os tilbageholdende overfor alle tyske tilbud om samarbejde. Jeg husker også ganske nøje vor samtale i min stue på Instituttet, hvor Du i vage vendinger talte på en måde der måtte give mig det bestemte indtryk, at man i Tyskland under din ledelse gjorde alt for at udvikle atomvåben og at du sagde at vi ikke behøvede at tale om enkeltheder, fordi du var så nøje inde deri og i de sidste to år væsentlig kun havde beskæftiget dig med sådanne forberedelser. Jeg hørte på det uden at sige noget, idet det drejede sig om [en] stor menneskelig sag, hvori vi trods vores personlige venskab måtte opfattes som repræsentanter for to på liv og død kæmpende

Dear Heisenberg,

I have seen a book, “Stærkere end tusind sole” [“Brighter than a thousand suns”] by Robert Jungk, recently published in Danish, and I think that I owe it to you to tell you that I am greatly amazed to see how much your memory has deceived you in your letter to the author of the book, excerpts of which are printed in the Danish edition.

Personally, I remember every word of our conversations, which took place on a background of extreme sorrow and tension for us here in Denmark. In particular, it made a strong impression both on Margrethe and me, and on everyone at the Institute that the two of you spoke to, that you and Weizsäcker expressed your definite conviction that Germany would win and that it was therefore quite foolish for us to maintain the hope of a different outcome of the war and to be reticent as regards all German offers of cooperation. I also remember quite clearly our conversation in my room at the Institute, where in vague terms you spoke in a manner that could only give me the firm impression that, under your leadership, everything was being done in Germany to develop atomic weapons and that you said that there was no need to talk about details since you were completely familiar with them and had spent the past two years working more or less exclusively on such preparations. I listened to this without speaking since [a] great matter for mankind was at issue in which, despite our personal friendship, we had to be regarded as representatives of two