Truth in the penultimate instance
There are not many things in the world that are considered indisputable. Well, that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, I think you know. And that the Moon revolves around the Earth - too. And about the fact that the Americans were the first to create an atomic bomb, ahead of both the Germans and the Russians.
So I thought, until about four years ago I got my hands on an old magazine. He left my beliefs about the sun and the moon alone, but seriously shaken my belief in American leadership. It was a plump tome in German - a 1938 filing of the journal Theoretical Physics. I don't remember why I got there, but quite unexpectedly for myself I came across an article by Professor Otto Hahn.
The name was familiar to me. It was Hahn, the famous German physicist and radiochemist, who discovered in 1938, together with another prominent scientist, Fritz Straussmann, the fission of a uranium nucleus, in fact giving rise to work on the creation of nuclear weapons. At first I just skimmed the article diagonally, but then completely unexpected phrases made me become more attentive. And ultimately - even forget about why I originally picked up this magazine.
Ghana's article was devoted to an overview of nuclear developments around the world. As a matter of fact, there was not much to survey: everywhere, except for Germany, nuclear research was in the pen. They did not see much sense in them. “This abstract matter has nothing to do with government needs,” British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said at about the same time when he was asked to support British atomic research with budget money. "Let these bespectacled scientists themselves look for money, the state is full of other problems!" - this was the opinion of most of the world leaders in the 1930s. Except, of course, the Nazis, who just financed the nuclear program.
But it was not Chamberlain's passage, carefully quoted by Hahn, that caught my attention. England is not at all very interested in the author of these lines. Much more interesting was what Gahn wrote about the state of nuclear research in the United States of America. And he wrote literally the following:
If we talk about the country in which the least attention is paid to the processes of nuclear fission, then we should undoubtedly name the USA. Of course, I am not currently considering Brazil or the Vatican. However, among the developed countries, even Italy and communist Russia are significantly ahead of the United States. Little attention is paid to the problems of theoretical physics on the other side of the ocean, priority is given to applied developments that can provide immediate profit. Therefore, I can confidently assert that over the next decade, North Americans will not be able to do anything significant for the development of atomic physics.
At first I just laughed. Wow, how wrong my compatriot was! And only then I thought: whatever one may say, Otto Hahn was not a simpleton or an amateur. He was well informed about the state of atomic research, especially since before the start of World War II this topic was freely discussed in scientific circles.
Maybe the Americans misinformed the whole world? But for what purpose? In the 1930s, no one dreamed of atomic weapons. Moreover, most scientists considered its creation impossible in principle. That is why, until 1939, all new achievements in atomic physics were instantly recognized by the whole world - they were completely openly published in scientific journals. Nobody hid the fruits of their labor, on the contrary, there was an open rivalry between various groups of scientists (almost exclusively Germans) - who would move forward faster?
Maybe scientists in the United States were ahead of the whole world and therefore kept their achievements a secret? Not a bad guess. To confirm or refute it, we will have to consider the history of the creation of the American atomic bomb - at least as it appears in official publications. We are all used to taking it for granted. However, upon closer examination, there are so many oddities and inconsistencies in it that you are simply amazed.
On a string to the world - the States are bombed
One thousand nine hundred and forty-two began well for the British. The German invasion of their small island, which seemed inevitable, now, as if by magic, retreated into the misty distance. Last summer Hitler made the biggest mistake in his life - he attacked Russia. This was the beginning of the end. The Russians not only withstood the hopes of the Berlin strategists and the pessimistic forecasts of many observers, but also gave the Wehrmacht a good kick in the frosty winter. And in December, the great and powerful United States came to the aid of the British and became an official ally. In general, there was more than enough reason for joy.
Only a few high-ranking officials who owned the information received by British intelligence were not happy. At the end of 1941, the British learned that the Germans were developing their atomic research at a frantic pace. The ultimate goal of this process - a nuclear bomb - also became clear. British atomic scientists were competent enough to imagine the threat posed by the new weapon.
At the same time, the British did not create illusions about their capabilities. All the resources of the country were directed towards elementary survival. Although the Germans and Japanese were up to their neck in the war with the Russians and Americans, they occasionally found an opportunity to poke a fist at the dilapidated building of the British Empire. From each such poke, the rotten building swayed and creaked, threatening to collapse. Rommel's three divisions pinned down almost the entire combat-ready British army in North Africa. Admiral Dönitz's submarines dived like predatory sharks in the Atlantic, threatening to cut off a vital supply line from across the ocean. Britain simply did not have the resources to enter the nuclear race with the Germans. The lag was already great, and in the very near future it threatened to become hopeless.
And then the British went the only way that promised at least some benefit. They decided to reach out to the Americans, who had the necessary resources and could throw money left and right. The British were ready to share their achievements in order to accelerate the process of creating a common atomic bomb.
I must say that the Americans were initially skeptical of such a gift. The military department did not understand at point-blank why he should spend money on some obscure project. What other new weapons are there? Aircraft carrier groups and armadas of heavy bombers - yes, this is strength. And a nuclear bomb, which scientists themselves imagine very vaguely, is just an abstraction, grandmother's tales. It was necessary for British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to directly appeal to American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt with a request, literally a plea, not to reject the English gift. Roosevelt summoned scientists, sorted out the issue and gave the go-ahead.
Typically, the creators of the canon legend of the American bomb use this episode to highlight Roosevelt's wisdom. Look, what an astute president! We will look at it a little differently: in what enclosure were the Yankees atomic research, if they so long and stubbornly refused to cooperate with the British! This means that Gahn was absolutely right in his assessment of the American nuclear scientists - they did not represent anything solid.
Only in September 1942, it was decided to start work on the atomic bomb. The organizational period took some more time, and the business really got off the ground only with the onset of a new year, 1943. From the army, General Leslie Groves headed the work (later he would write a memoir in which he would detail the official version of what was happening), the real leader was Professor Robert Oppenheimer. I will talk about it in detail a little later, but for now let us admire another curious detail - how the team of scientists who began work on the bomb was formed.
In fact, when Oppenheimer was asked to recruit specialists, he had very little choice. Good nuclear physicists in the States could be counted on the fingers of a crippled hand. Therefore, the professor made a wise decision - to recruit people whom he knows personally and whom he can trust, regardless of which area of physics they were engaged in before. And so it happened that the lion's share of the seats was occupied by Columbia University employees from Manhattan County (by the way, that is why the project was named Manhattan). But even these forces were not enough. British scientists had to be involved in the work, literally devastating British scientific centers, and even specialists from Canada. In general, the Manhattan project turned into a kind of Babel Tower, with the only difference that all its participants spoke at least the same language. However, this did not save one from the usual squabbles and squabbles in the scientific community, arising from the rivalry of different scientific groups. Echoes of these frictions can be found on the pages of Groves's book, and they look very funny: the general, on the one hand, wants to convince the reader that everything was decorous and decent, and on the other, he wants to boast of how cleverly he managed to reconcile completely quarreled scientific luminaries.
And now they are trying to convince us that in this friendly atmosphere of a large terrarium, the Americans managed to create an atomic bomb in two and a half years. And the Germans, who have been merrily and amicably poring over their nuclear project for five years, did not succeed. Miracles, and nothing more.
However, even if there were no squabbles, such a record time would still arouse suspicion. The fact is that in the process of research it is necessary to go through certain stages, which are almost impossible to shorten. The Americans themselves attribute their success to gigantic funding - in the end, more than two billion dollars were spent on the Manhattan project! However, no matter how you feed a pregnant woman, she will still not be able to give birth to a full-term baby earlier than nine months later. The same is with the atomic project: it is impossible to significantly speed up, for example, the uranium enrichment process.
The Germans worked for five years with full effort. Of course, they also made mistakes and miscalculations that took up precious time. But who said that the Americans had no mistakes and miscalculations? There were many. One of these mistakes was the involvement of the famous physicist Niels Bohr.
Unknown Skorzeny operation
The British special services are very fond of showing off one of their operations. It is about the rescue of the great Danish scientist Niels Bohr from Nazi Germany.
The official legend says that after the outbreak of World War II, the outstanding physicist lived quietly and calmly in Denmark, leading a rather secluded lifestyle. The Nazis offered him cooperation many times, but Bohr invariably refused. By 1943, the Germans still decided to arrest him. But, warned in time, Niels Bohr managed to escape to Sweden, from where the British took him out in the bomb bay of a heavy bomber. By the end of the year, the physicist found himself in America and began to work zealously for the benefit of the Manhattan Project.
The legend is beautiful and romantic, but it is sewn with white threads and does not stand up to any checks. There is no more credibility in it than in the fairy tales of Charles Perrault. Firstly, because the Nazis look like complete idiots in it, and they never were. Think hard! In 1940, the Germans occupy Denmark. They know that a Nobel laureate lives on the territory of the country, who can be of great help to them in their work on the atomic bomb. The same atomic bomb that is vital for Germany's victory. And what are they doing? For three years they occasionally visit the scientist, knock politely on the door and quietly ask: “Herr Bohr, do you want to work for the benefit of the Fuhrer and the Reich? You do not want? Okay, we'll come back later. No, that was not the way the German special services worked! Logically, they should have arrested Bohr not in 1943, but back in 1940. If it works out - to force (just to force, not to beg!) To work for them, if not - at least, to make it so that he could not work for the enemy: to put him in a concentration camp or to destroy. And they leave him quietly roaming free, under the noses of the British.
Three years later, the legend says, it finally dawns on the Germans that they are supposed to arrest the scientist. But here someone (exactly someone, because I have not found anywhere an indication of who did it) warns Bohr about the impending danger. Who could it be? It was not in the habit of the Gestapo to shout at every corner about the impending arrests. People were taken quietly, unexpectedly, at night. This means that the mysterious patron of Bohr is one of the rather high-ranking officials.
Let's leave this mysterious angel-savior in peace for now and continue to analyze the wanderings of Niels Bohr. So the scientist fled to Sweden. How do you think? On a fishing boat, bypassing the boats of the German Coast Guard in the fog? On a raft made of planks? No matter how it is! Bor with the greatest possible comfort sailed to Sweden on the most ordinary private steamer, which officially entered the port of Copenhagen.
Let's not puzzle over the question of how the Germans released the scientist if they were going to arrest him. Let's think about the following. The flight of a world-renowned physicist is an emergency of a very serious scale. On this occasion, an investigation was inevitable - the heads of those who missed the physicist, as well as the mysterious patron, would fly off. However, no traces of such an investigation were simply found. Maybe because he did not exist.
Indeed, how much value was Niels Bohr in the development of the atomic bomb?
Born in 1885 and becoming a Nobel laureate in 1922, Bohr turned to the problems of nuclear physics only in the 1930s. At that time he was already a major, accomplished scientist with fully formed views. Such people rarely succeed in areas where innovation and out-of-the-box thinking was needed - and that was precisely the area of nuclear physics. For several years Bohr failed to make any significant contribution to atomic research. However, as the ancients said, the first half of life a person works for a name, the second - a name for a person. For Niels Bohr, this second half has already begun. Having taken up nuclear physics, he automatically began to be considered a major specialist in this field, regardless of his real achievements. But in Germany, where such world-famous nuclear scientists as Hahn and Heisenberg worked, they knew the real value of the Danish scientist. That is why they did not actively try to attract him to work. It will turn out - well, let us trumpet the whole world that Niels Bohr himself works for us. It won't work - it's also not bad, it won't get confused with its authority underfoot.
By the way, in the United States, Boron got underfoot to a large extent. The fact is that the outstanding physicist did not believe at all in the possibility of creating a nuclear bomb. At the same time, his authority made him reckon with his opinion. According to Groves's recollection, the scientists working on the Manhattan Project treated Bohr like an elder. Now imagine that you are doing some difficult work without any confidence in the ultimate success. And then someone who you think is a great specialist comes up to you and says that you shouldn't even waste time on your occupation. Will the job get easier? I do not think.
In addition, Bohr was a staunch pacifist. In 1945, when the States already had an atomic bomb, he strongly protested against its use. Accordingly, he treated his work with coolness. Therefore, I urge you to think again: what did Bohr bring more - movement or stagnation in the elaboration of the question?
It's a strange picture, isn't it? It became a little clearer after I learned one interesting detail that seemed to have nothing to do with either Niels Bohr or the atomic bomb. We are talking about the "main saboteur of the Third Reich" Otto Skorzeny.
It is believed that Skorzeny's rise began after he freed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from prison in 1943. Imprisoned in a mountain prison by his former comrades-in-arms, Mussolini, it would seem, could not hope for release. But Skorzeny, on the direct orders of Hitler, developed a daring plan: to land troops on gliders and then fly away in a small airplane. Everything turned out as well as possible: Mussolini is free, Skorzeny is held in high esteem.
At least that's what the majority thinks. Few well-informed historians know that cause and effect are confused here. Skorzeny was entrusted with an extremely difficult and responsible task precisely because Hitler trusted him. That is, the rise of the "king of special operations" began before the story of the rescue of Mussolini. However, not for long - a couple of months. Skorzeny was promoted in rank and position exactly when Niels Bohr fled to England. I have not been able to find any reasons for promotion anywhere.
So we have three facts. First, the Germans did not prevent Niels Bohr from leaving for Britain. Second, Bohr did more harm than good to the Americans. Third, immediately after the scientist was in England, Skorzeny received a promotion. But what if these are parts of one mosaic? I decided to try to reconstruct the events.
Having captured Denmark, the Germans knew perfectly well that Niels Bohr was unlikely to help in the creation of the atomic bomb. Moreover, it will rather interfere. Therefore, he was left to live in peace in Denmark, right under the very nose of the British. Perhaps even then the Germans expected the British to kidnap the scientist. However, for three years the British did not dare to undertake anything.
In late 1942, vague rumors began to reach the Germans about the start of a large-scale project to create an American atomic bomb. Even taking into account the secrecy of the project, it was absolutely impossible to keep the awl in the sack: the instant disappearance of hundreds of scientists from different countries, one way or another connected with nuclear research, should have pushed any mentally normal person to such conclusions. The Nazis were sure that they were much ahead of the Yankees (and this was true), but this did not prevent the enemy from doing nasty things. And at the beginning of 1943, one of the most secret operations of the German special services was carried out.
On the threshold of Niels Bohr's house, a certain well-wisher appears, who informs him that they want to arrest him and throw him into a concentration camp, and offers his help. The scientist agrees - he has no other choice, to be behind the barbed wire is not the best prospect. At the same time, apparently, the British are being told about Bohr's complete irreplaceability and uniqueness in nuclear research. The British bite - and what can they do if the prey itself goes into their hands, that is, to Sweden? And for complete heroism, they take Bohr out of there in the belly of a bomber, although they could comfortably send him on a ship.
And then the Nobel laureate appears at the epicenter of the Manhattan Project, producing the effect of an exploding bomb. That is, if the Germans managed to bomb the Los Alamos research center, the effect would be about the same. The work has slowed down, and quite significantly. Apparently, the Americans did not immediately realize how they were cheated, and when they did, it was already too late.
And do you still believe that the Yankees designed the atomic bomb themselves?
Mission "Alsos"
Personally, I finally refused to believe in these stories after I studied in detail the activities of the Alsos group. This operation of the American special services was kept secret for many years - until its main participants left for a better world. And only then came information - albeit fragmentary and scattered - about how the Americans hunted for German atomic secrets.
True, if you thoroughly work on this information and compare it with some generally known facts, the picture turned out to be very convincing. But I will not get ahead of myself. So, the Alsos group was formed in 1944, on the eve of the Anglo-American landing in Normandy. Half of the members of the group are professional intelligence officers, half are nuclear scientists. At the same time, in order to form Alsos, the Manhattan project was mercilessly robbed - in fact, the best specialists were taken from there. The mission was to collect information about the German atomic program. The question arises, how much did the Americans despair of the success of their undertaking, if they made the main stake on the theft of the atomic bomb from the Germans?
Great despair, if we recall a little-known letter from one of the atomic scientists to his colleague. It was written on February 4, 1944 and read:
It seems that we are involved in a hopeless business. The project is not moving forward one iota. Our leaders, in my opinion, do not believe at all in the success of the whole undertaking. Yes, and we do not believe. If it were not for the huge money that they pay us here, I think many would have been doing something more useful a long time ago.
This letter was cited at one time as proof of American talents: here, they say, what fellows we are, we pulled out a hopeless project in a little over a year! Then in the USA they realized that not only fools live around, and hastened to forget about the piece of paper. It was with great difficulty that I managed to dig up this documentary in an old scientific journal.
They did not spare money and efforts to ensure the actions of the Alsos group. She was perfectly equipped with everything she needed. The head of the mission, Colonel Pash, carried a document from US Secretary of Defense Henry Stimson, which obliged each and every one to provide the group with all possible assistance. Even the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, Dwight Eisenhower, did not have such powers. By the way, about the commander-in-chief - he was obliged to take into account the interests of the Alsos mission in planning military operations, that is, to capture, first of all, those areas where there may be German atomic weapons.
At the beginning of August 1944, or to be precise, on the 9th, the Alsos group landed in Europe. One of the leading US nuclear scientists, Dr. Samuel Goudsmit, was appointed scientific leader of the mission. Before the war, he maintained close ties with German colleagues, and the Americans hoped that the "international solidarity" of scientists would be stronger than political interests.
Alsos managed to achieve the first results after the Americans occupied Paris in the fall of 1944. Here Goudsmit met with the famous French scientist Professor Joliot-Curie. Curie seemed to be sincerely glad about the defeat of the Germans; however, as soon as it came to the German atomic program, he went into a deaf "unconscious". The Frenchman insisted that he knew nothing, did not hear anything, the Germans did not even come close to developing an atomic bomb and, in general, their nuclear project was exclusively peaceful in nature. It was clear that the professor was not saying something. But there was no way to put pressure on him - for cooperation with the Germans in then-France they were shot regardless of scientific merits, and Curie was clearly afraid of death most of all. Therefore, Goudsmit had to leave incessantly. During his entire stay in Paris, vague, but threatening rumors constantly reached him: in Leipzig there was an explosion of a "uranium bomb", in the mountainous regions of Bavaria strange outbreaks were noted at night. Everything indicated that the Germans were either very close to creating atomic weapons, or had already created them.
What happened next is still hidden by a veil of secrecy. They say that Pasha and Goudsmit still managed to find some valuable information in Paris. At least since November, Eisenhower has been constantly receiving demands to move forward into Germany at any cost. The initiators of these demands - it is now clear! - in the end, there were people associated with the atomic project and receiving information directly from the Alsos group. Eisenhower had no real opportunity to carry out the orders received, but the demands from Washington became more and more stringent. It is not known how all this would have ended if the Germans had not made another unexpected move.
Ardennes riddle
In fact, by the end of 1944, everyone believed that Germany had lost the war. The only question is when the Nazis will be defeated. It seems that only Hitler and his inner circle adhered to a different point of view. They tried to delay the moment of the catastrophe to the last.
This desire is understandable. Hitler was confident that after the war he would be declared a criminal and tried. And if you drag out for time, you can achieve a quarrel between the Russians and the Americans and ultimately get out of the water, that is, out of the war. Not without losses, of course, but without losing power.
Let's think: what was needed for this in conditions when Germany had nothing left to do? Naturally, spend them as sparingly as possible, keep a flexible defense. And Hitler at the very end of the 44th throws his army into a very wasteful Ardennes offensive. What for? The troops are given absolutely unrealistic tasks - to break through to Amsterdam and throw the Anglo-Americans into the sea. The German tanks were at that moment as far as the Moon on foot to Amsterdam, especially since less than half the way was splashing fuel in their tanks. Scare your allies? But what could have scared the well-fed and armed armies, behind which were the industrial power of the United States?
In general, until now, no historian has been able to clearly explain why Hitler needed this offensive. Usually everyone ends up arguing that the Fuhrer was an idiot. But in reality, Hitler was not an idiot, moreover, he thought quite sensibly and realistically to the very end. Those historians who make hasty judgments without even trying to figure something out are more likely to be called idiots.
But let's look at the other side of the front. Even more amazing things are happening there! And the point is not even that the Germans managed to achieve initial, albeit rather limited, successes. The fact is, the British and Americans were really scared! Moreover, the fear was completely inadequate to the threat. After all, it was clear from the very beginning that the Germans had little strength, that the offensive was of a local nature … But no, Eisenhower, Churchill, and Roosevelt simply fell into a panic! In 1945, on January 6, when the Germans were already stopped and even thrown back, the British Prime Minister wrote a panicky letter to the Russian leader Stalin, demanding immediate assistance. Here is the text of this letter:
There are very heavy fighting in the West, and big decisions may be required from the High Command at any time. You yourself know from your own experience how alarming the situation is when you have to defend a very broad front after a temporary loss of initiative. It is very desirable and necessary for General Eisenhower to know in general terms what you intend to do, since this, of course, will affect all his and our most important decisions. According to the message received, our emissary Air Chief Marshal Tedder was in Cairo last night, weather bound. It's not your fault that his trip has been dragged on. If he has not arrived yet, I will be grateful if you can let me know if we can count on a major Russian offensive on the Vistula front or elsewhere during January and at any other moments that you may have. you wish to mention. I will not pass on this highly classified information to anyone, with the exception of Field Marshal Brook and General Eisenhower, and only if it is kept in the strictest confidence. I think the matter is urgent.
If you translate from the diplomatic language into the usual one: save us, Stalin, we will be beaten! Therein lies another mystery. What will they be "beaten" if the Germans have already been thrown back to their starting lines? Yes, of course, the American offensive planned for January had to be postponed until the spring. So what? We should be glad that the Nazis wasted their forces in senseless attacks!
And further. Churchill slept and saw how to keep the Russians out of Germany. And now he literally begs them to start advancing westward without delay! To what extent must Sir Winston Churchill have been frightened ?! One gets the impression that the slowdown in the advance of the Allies deep into Germany was interpreted by him as a mortal threat. I wonder why? After all, Churchill was neither a fool nor an alarmist.
And nevertheless, the Anglo-Americans spend the next two months in terrible nervous tension. Subsequently, they will carefully hide it, but the truth will still break through to the surface in their memoirs. For example, Eisenhower, after the war, will call the last war winter "the most troubling time." What worried the marshal so much if the war was actually won? Only in March 1945, the Ruhr operation began, during which the Allies occupied West Germany, surrounding 300 thousand Germans. The commander of the German troops in this area, Field Marshal Model, shot himself (the only one of all the German generals, by the way). Only after that Churchill and Roosevelt calmed down more or less.
Atomic finale
But back to the Alsos group. In the spring of 1945, it became noticeably more active. During the Ruhr operation, scientists and scouts moved forward almost following the advance guard of the advancing troops, reaping a valuable crop. In March-April, many scientists involved in German nuclear research fall into their hands. The decisive find was made in mid-April - on the 12th, the members of the mission write that they have stumbled upon "a real gold mine" and now they "learn about the project in general." By May, Heisenberg, Hahn, Osenberg, Diebner, and many other outstanding German physicists were in the hands of the Americans. Nevertheless, the Alsos group continued active searches in already defeated Germany … until the end of May.
But at the end of May, something strange happens. The search is almost interrupted. Rather, they continue, but with much less intensity. If before they were dealt with by prominent scientists with a worldwide reputation, now they are beardless laboratory assistants. And the big scientists pack their things in bulk and leave for America. Why?
To answer this question, let's see how events developed further. At the end of June, the Americans are testing an atomic bomb - allegedly the first in the world. And in early August, two are dropped on Japanese cities. After that, the Yankees run out of ready-made atomic bombs, and for a rather long period of time.
It's a strange situation, isn't it? To begin with, only a month passes between the tests and the combat use of the new superweapon. Dear readers, this does not happen. Making an atomic bomb is much more difficult than a conventional projectile or rocket. This is simply impossible in a month. Then, probably, the Americans made three prototypes at once? Also unlikely. Making a nuclear bomb is a very expensive procedure. There is no point in doing three if you are not sure that you are doing everything right. Otherwise, it would be possible to create three nuclear projects, build three research centers, and so on. Even the United States is not rich enough to be so extravagant.
Well, well, let's assume that the Americans actually built three prototypes at once. Why didn't they start mass production of nuclear bombs immediately after successful tests? Indeed, immediately after the defeat of Germany, the Americans found themselves in the face of a much more powerful and formidable enemy - the Russians. The Russians, of course, did not threaten the United States with war, but they prevented the Americans from becoming masters of the entire planet. And this, from the point of view of the Yankees, is a completely unacceptable crime.
And nevertheless, the United States had new atomic bombs … When do you think? In the fall of 1945? In the summer of 1946? No! It was only in 1947 that the first nuclear weapons began to enter the American arsenals! You will not find this date anywhere, but no one will undertake to refute it. The data that I managed to get is absolutely secret. However, they are fully confirmed by the facts known to us about the subsequent build-up of the nuclear arsenal. And most importantly - the results of tests in the deserts of Texas, which took place at the end of 1946.
Yes, dear reader, exactly at the end of 1946, and not a month earlier. The information about this was obtained by Russian intelligence and came to me in a very difficult way, which, probably, does not make sense to disclose on these pages, so as not to frame the people who helped me. On the eve of the new year, 1947, a very curious report lay on the table of the Soviet leader Stalin, which I will quote here verbatim.
According to agent Felix, in November-December of this year, a series of nuclear explosions were carried out in the area of El Paso, Texas. At the same time, prototypes of nuclear bombs, similar to those that were dropped on the Japanese islands last year, were tested. Within a month and a half, at least four bombs were tested, the tests of three ended unsuccessfully. This series of bombs was created in preparation for the large-scale industrial production of nuclear weapons. Most likely, the beginning of such a release should be expected no earlier than mid-1947.
The Russian agent fully confirmed the information I had. But maybe all this is misinformation on the part of the American special services? Unlikely. In those years, the Yankees tried to assure their opponents that they were the strongest in the world, and would not underestimate their military potential. Most likely, we are dealing with a carefully hidden truth.
So what happens? In 1945, the Americans dropped three bombs - and everything was successful. The next tests are the same bombs! - pass a year and a half later, and not very well. Serial production begins six months later, and we do not know - and will never know - how the atomic bombs that appeared in the American army warehouses corresponded to their terrible purpose, that is, how high-quality they were.
Such a picture can only be drawn in one case, namely: if the first three atomic bombs - the same ones of 1945 - were not built by the Americans independently, but received from someone. To put it bluntly, from the Germans. Indirectly, this hypothesis is confirmed by the reaction of German scientists to the bombing of Japanese cities, which we know about thanks to the book by David Irving.
Poor Professor Gun
In August 1945, ten leading German nuclear physicists, ten of the main protagonists of the Nazi "atomic project", were held captive in the United States. They pulled out all possible information from them (I wonder why, if you believe the American version that the Yankees far outstripped the Germans in atomic research). Accordingly, the scientists were kept in a kind of comfortable prison. There was also a radio in this prison.
On August 6, at seven o'clock in the evening, Otto Hahn and Karl Wirtz were at the radio. It was then that, in another news release, they heard that the first atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan. The first reaction of colleagues to whom they brought this information was unequivocal: it cannot be true. Heisenberg believed that the Americans could not create their own nuclear weapons (and, as we now know, he was right). "Did the Americans mention the word 'uranium' in connection with their new bomb?" he asked Ghana. The latter replied in the negative. "Then it has nothing to do with the atom," snapped Heisenberg. The eminent physicist believed that the Yankees were simply using some kind of high-powered explosive.
However, the nine-hour news release dispelled all doubts. Obviously, until then, the Germans simply did not assume that the Americans had managed to capture several German atomic bombs. However, now the situation has cleared up, and scientists began to torment the pangs of conscience. Yes Yes exactly! Dr. Erich Bagge wrote in his diary:
Now this bomb has been used against Japan. They report that even after a few hours, the bombed city is hidden in a cloud of smoke and dust. We are talking about the death of 300 thousand people. Poor Professor Gan!
Moreover, that evening, the scientists were very worried about how "poor Gang" would not commit suicide. The two physicists were on duty at his bedside until late to prevent him from suicide, and only retired to their rooms after they discovered that their colleague had finally fallen asleep soundly. Gan himself subsequently described his impressions as follows:
For a while, I was possessed by the idea of the need to dump all uranium reserves into the sea in order to avoid a similar catastrophe in the future. Although I felt personally responsible for what had happened, I wondered if I, or anyone else, had the right to deprive humanity of all the fruits that a new discovery might bring? And now this awful bomb went off!
I wonder if the Americans are telling the truth, and they really created the bomb that fell on Hiroshima, why should the Germans feel "personal responsibility" for what happened? Of course, each of them made his own contribution to nuclear research, but on the same basis, one could place some of the blame on thousands of scientists, including Newton and Archimedes! After all, their discoveries ultimately led to the creation of nuclear weapons!
The mental anguish of German scientists only makes sense in one case. Namely - if they themselves created the bomb that destroyed hundreds of thousands of Japanese. Otherwise, why should they worry about what the Americans have done?
However, so far all my conclusions were nothing more than a hypothesis, supported only by circumstantial evidence. What if I'm wrong and the Americans really succeeded in the impossible? To answer this question, it was necessary to closely study the German atomic program. And this is not as easy as it seems.