Documents relating to 1941 Bohr-Heisenberg meeting

Document 11a. Page 3 of 5.

First document | Previous document | Next document | Last document

Incomplete draft of letter from Bohr to Heisenberg, never sent.

First of three versions: draft in Aage Bohr's handwriting.

Undated Five numbered pages.

Facsimile and text Facsimile only First page | Previous page| Next page | Last page

Det jeg imidlertid særlig tænker på er den samtale vi havde i mit kontor på instituttet, og hvor jeg på grund af det emne du bragte op, nøje indprentede mig hvert ord der faldt. Det måtte jo gøre et meget stærkt indtryk på mig, at du straks til at begynde med udtalte, at du følte dig sikker på, at krigen, hvis den varede tilstrækkelig længe ville blive afgjort ved atomvåben. Jeg havde jo på det tidspunkt intet som helst kendskab til de forberedelser, der var i gang i England og Amerika. Du tilføjede, da jeg måske så tvivlende ud, at jeg måtte forstå at du i de sidste år næsten udelukkende havde beskæftiget dig med dette spørgsmål, og ikke tvivlede på, at det kunne lade sig gøre. Det er mig derfor ganske ubegribeligt, at du skulle mene, at have antydet for mig, at de tyske fysikere ville gøre hvad de kunne for at hindre en sådan udnyttelse af atomvidenskaben. Under samtalen, der jo kun blev meget kort, var jeg naturligvis meget tilbageholdende, men tænkte ikke desto mindre meget over dens indhold, og min forskrækkelse blev jo ikke mindre ved at høre fra de andre på instituttet, at Weizsäcker havde udtalt hvor lykkeligt det ville være for videnskabens stilling i Tyskland efter sejren, at du kunne hjælpe så væsentligt dertil.

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 you 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 Weizsäcker 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.