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== Background ==
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"About your family?"
"Yes. Of course that's one reason. That's been going on for three months and I'm supposed to look happy here. I shall go mad. I can't stand it much longer."
"You must stick it."
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"My wife was like that sometimes. That is why I am worried whether she will hold out without news."
</pre>
<pre>
"I am becoming more and more pro-English. They do everything very decently. The Major takes great trouble."
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"No, no, that's out of the question."
</pre>
=== 6 August 1945 ===
Shortly before dinner on the 6th August, I (Major T.H. Rittner) informed Prof. Hahn that an announcement had been made by the BBC that an atomic bomb had been dropped. Hahn was completely shattered by the news. He said that he felt personally responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people, as it was his original discovery which had made the bomb possible.
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"The point is that the whole structure of the relationship between the scientist and the state of Germany was such although we were not 100% anxious to do it, on the other hand, we were so little trusted by the state, that even if we had wanted to do it, it would not have been easy to get it through."
"Even if we had got everything that we wanted, it is by no means certain whether we would have got as far as the Americans and the English have now. It is not question that we were very nearly as far as they were, but it is a fact that we were all convinced that the thing could not be completed during this war."
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- K. Diebner
</blockquote>
=== 18 August 1945 ===
Sir Charles Darwin, who was accompanied by Lt. Cdr. Welsh arrived at Farm Hall in time for tea on 18 August. This was the first time the guests had had contact with a scientist since their detention and they were delighted to have the opportunity of meeting him. After meeting the guests at tea, he had a conversation alone with Hahn and they were later joined by Heisenberg. Both expressed appreciation of the treatment they were receiving here and stated that their chief worry was the absence of news of their families. Heisenberg gave Sir Charles some details of the work carried out at his Institute.
<pre>
"We have tried to make a machine which can be made out of ordinary uranium."
"With a little bit of enrichment?"
"No, not at all."
"With heavy water?"
"Yes. That worked out very nicely. So, we were interested in it. After our last experiments, if we had had 500 litres more heavy water, I don't doubt that we had got the machine going."
</pre>
=== 28 August 1945 ===
The American Military Authorities sent Lieutenant Warner (US Army) to Germany with the letters the guests had written to their families, with instructions to bring back replies if possible. This officer returned with a numbers of replies and visited the guests at Farm Hall on 28 August.
Replies were received from the wives of von Laue, Hahn, Gerlach, Heisenberg, Wirtz and Badge, showing that these families were well and living under reasonable conditions. Von Weizsacker's wife had gone to her parents in Switzerland. Harteck and Korsching are bachelors and had not written.
The only unfortunate case was that of Diebner. When the American officer arrived at the home to deliver Diebner's letter, he found that Diebner's wife and child had left for an unknown destination accompanied by a certain Herr Rackwitz. Meanwhile, Diebner appears to be satisfied that his friend Rackwitz is protecting his interests in looking after his wife and child.
In a letter, Frau Wirtz stated that the Institute was still working. She and the other wives were being paid 60% of their husband's salaries.
Heisebnerg made it quite clear to me that he wishes to continue to work on uranium, although he realises that this could only be done under Allied control. His main interest at the moment is to get back to Germany to look after his family, who appear to be in some difficulty as they live in the mountains near Munich. His wife has no one to help her with her seven children. He is very distressed to hear from his wife, that his mother died two months ago, and that a women friend of his wife, who had been helping her had also died. He is perfectly prepared to give an undertaking on oath not to work on uranium, except under Allied control, if he is allowed to return to his family.
=== 8 September 1945 ===
Prof. Blackett and Lt. Cdr. Welsh arrived at Farm Hall on 8th September in the early evening, staying until after lunch on 9th September.
=== 15 September 1945 ===
Early in the morning of 15 September, Heisenberg proposed to Harteck, Von Weizsacker and Wirtz that he should write a letter to Prof. Blackett setting out their own wishes for their future which he could bring up at a supposed conference on 20th Setpember. All believe that their best hope for the future is to work under Allied, including Russian, control, as they will then be given more ample facilities.
Later, Heisenberg, having read his letter to Hahn, discusses it with him. He says that the letter, in fact, implies that, unless he is generously treated by the Western Allies, he will seriously consider working for the Russians.
=== 17 September 1945 ===
The letter was passed on September 17th to Lt. Com. Welsh
<blockquote>
Dear Blackett. After our recent talk, I thought matters over and came to the conclusion that it might be as well to tell you about the special situation of my institute before we discuss the future of our institutes in general.
The 'Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut' for physics in Berlin was built by Debye. It was under his direction until January 1940. After Debye's departure, Diebner was in charge of the administration for some time. He was responsible for the conversion of the institute to nuclear physics. From spring 1941 onwards, I was practically in charge and later also officially. Since that time, the bulk of our work was done on uranium and on nuclear physics in general (high tension apparatus). Besides that, the work on cosmic rays and also work in the various departments (x-ray, low temperature, optics) was continued on a reduced scale.
As the first aim of our scientific work, we had intended to build a burner with D2O, graphite and uranium metal. This 'burner' was to be a strong source of neutrons. In war-time, naturally, these results would have been followed by technical developments, which would have aimed at a practical use of the energy. The quantities of D2O, graphite and uranium at Haigerlocch and Stadtilm would probably have been just sufficient for the construction of the 'burner'.
The first question regarding the future of the institute is whether Debye will return and take charge once more. If Debye does not return, the question of the future subject of our research will arise.
If we are to choose between two possibilities, either a very much reduced field of work without control, or a wider one but controlled by Allied physicists, then I should certainly prefer the latter possibility for the following reasons. If there were no control, policy would probably prohibit work on nuclear physics in general.
The question of the location of the institute can probably be decided only when the future of the 'Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft' as a whole is being discussed.
</blockquote>
=== 21 September 1945 ===
Regarding the meeting on 20th September, I went to London on 21st September at the request of the Professors to find out the result of the meeting. On my return, without immediate permission to return everyone to Germany, a tense situation arose.
<pre>
"The result of today's meeting was such that one still doesn't know what they want. There will be another meeting next week and it is hoped that a decision will be taken then."
</pre>
=== 23 September 1945 ===
Harteck described to Hahn a method of producing deuterium oxide which he and Suess had discovered, which is considered more economical than any other method known to them.
=== 24 - 30 September 1945 ===
Major Rittner having suggested that they should write a memorandum on their political convictions and hopes for the future.
<pre>
"The Major thought that we should put something about our political convictions into this memorandum, that is, something about the anti-Nazi convictions of our whole group."
</pre>
The guests found some difficulty in composing the memorandum, as their principal desire is for something to be done for their families and not to protest their political convictions, which they feel are well enough known.
=== 2 October 1945 ===
A meeting between Professors Hahn, Von Laue and Heisenberg with various British scientists at the Royal Institution on 2nd October. In addition to the various British scientists, Heisenberg also met his brother-in-law, Herr Schuhmacher. On returning from the London meeting, Heisenberg gave the following account of what had taken place.
<pre>
"Blackett has told me the following : the Americans have decided that we should return to Germany. They have made a condition, however, that we are not to return to the French zone."
"The Americans do not appear to raise objections against our going to the British sector. In accordance with a very detailed report which my brother-in-law gave me, conditions seem to be best in the English sector at present. Goettingen, Hamburg and Bonn came under discussion. Goettingen was mentioned as the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft has been evacuated to Goettingen. The only snag about Goettingen is the proximity of the Russian sector. Blackett thought that the Americans would not consider Goettingen for that reason."
"It will naturally be a tremendous task for any Allied organisation to endeavour to obtain an institute and accomodation for us, to get us there and to have our families and furniture brought along as well."
"We can influence matters considerably as they themselves don't know yet what they shall do."
</pre>
Later that evening, Heisenberg suggested writing a letter to Prof. Blackett outlining their wishes.
=== 3 October 1945 ===
Having slept on the matter, the drafting of the letter was discussed again on the morning of the 3rd October. It appears that the meeting at the Royal Institution has greatly encouraged the guests, even to the point of dictating their own terms.
<pre>
"The key to the whole problems seems to be that we cannot work in any place in Germany without our institutes. It is vital that, if we are to be moved, all the institutes and at the same time all our furniture and everything belonging to the families must be moved as well. We must make it clear to Blackett, therefore, that the Allied authorities cannot avoid negotiations with the French under any circumstances."
</pre>
=== 22 - 28 October 1945 ===
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=== 16 November 1945 ===
The Daily Telegraph's announcement of the award to Hahn of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry caused general pleasure and also deep misgivings, as no official confirmation was forthcoming. It was even thought that some unaccountable malice was responsible for our withholding the news. However, great efforts were made in London to try to verify the report.
As the source seemed reasonably reliable, the award was duly celebrated with songs, speeches and baked meats.
==== Von Laue's Speech ====
<blockquote>
Dear Otto Hahn!
The longer our detainment drags on, the worse our customs become. Now there are even table speeches. But I have to tell you a little secret today.
Ten or more years ago you gave me your picture. I had it framed and hung it in my institute study; there in Hechingen it still hangs today - hopefully. On its back I wrote: Otto Hahn, born March 8, 1879, recorded in 1933 (which should be at least somewhat correct). I write such biographical notes on all pictures of acquaintances, so that they keep a certain value beyond my life, and so that the Goettingen history is not repeated, where pictures of Gauss and Bessel were mixed up.
But behind your picture there is also a quote :
''Gifts, who doesn't have them? Talents, toys for children!''<br>
''Only seriousness makes the man, only diligence makes the genius.''
This was once written by Theodor Fontane to Adolf v. Menzel on his 70th birthday.
When I look at the scholars whose life I think to know to some extent, then I find none, on whom it fitted so well, as on you. Because - to mention only one point - for quick analyses of rapidly decaying radioactive substances, which you have so often carried out, gifts and talents are not sufficient; rather, a training of the innate abilities must be added, which requires deep work-seriousness and tremendous, life-long diligence.
But because you have both, so the series of your discovery can be compared also to a curve, which on high level - with the discovery of the Radiothor, which you made in this area beginning over the discovery of the Mesothorium (alias Megatherium) constantly rises, in order to find in the discovery of the Uranium fission a maximum, but no end.
And as an external crowning of your life's work you have now received the most beautiful honor that can be bestowed on a scientific researcher, the Nobel Prize.
I don't think there is a better way to congratulate you than with this little verse.
But my speech would be very incomplete if I did not remember another person: your wife. She must have received the news as well; how conflicting feelings may be rushing at her this evening! But I hope that in the end the joy, the proud joy of being the wife of such a man will prevail.
Gentlemen! We raise our glasses and drink to the health of Otto and Edith Hahn.
May they live well!
</blockquote>
==== Jokes ====
These fictitious newspaper extracts were invented and read by Heisenberg, von Weizsacker and Wirtz.
<blockquote>
'''Excerpt from the '_____' of November 17, 1945.'''
Prof. Dr. Otto Hahn, German radiologist, has been awarded the 1944 Nobel prize for chemistry. It has been stated in official circles, that Otto Hahn has been detained since the end of the war. No further comment was available.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
'''Translated from '____', November 18, 1945.'''
'''NOBEL ATOM ACE MYSTERY. WHERE IS OTTO HAHN?'''
The latest atomic bomb is the news from Stockholm that Hitler's atomic expert, Prof. Otto Hahn from Berlin, has received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. As we have learned from reliable sources, the Swedish Academy has announced a prize at the same time as the award ceremony for the person who can provide useful information about the present whereabouts of Otto Hahn. Numerous solutions have been received and are awaiting processing.
The obvious assumption was that Otto Hahn from U boat 530 had been dropped off in Patagonia at the same time as Hitler and Eva Braun and was working there on the production of new and better atomic bombs. However, these suspicions have not yet been confirmed.
Another source now brings the sensational news that Otto Hahn was seen a few days ago in Tel Aviv, where he apparently wants to discuss the continuation of his work with other Frankfurt and Dahlem people living there. However, the need for specialists in atomic splitting no longer seems to be great there, and there is no certain confirmation of his presence in Tel Aviv so far.
In order to get reliable news about the whereabouts of O. Hahn, we have sent our special correspondent to Germany; he first visited the small Wuerttemberg town of Tailfingen, where Otto Hahn carried out his atomic fissions during the last years of the war. Since the professor's family has apparently changed their home several times recently, our correspondent only managed to reach a small, modest apartment after much effort, where he was not welcomed by Prof. Hahn, but by his charming daughter-in-law. Unfortunately, however, even this young lady could give no further information than that the professor had been taken away by American troops in April and was probably in England or America.
After several unsuccessful journeys, which took our correspondent to Heidelberg, Versailles and the Maas Valley near Luettich, he came across a rumor that Otto Hahn was being held under the most severe arrest in England in a small town of Godmanchester together with other war criminals.
A visit to Godmanchester showed that a red brick building with heavily barred windows was so closely guarded by secret police in civilian clothes and soldiers in uniform that any approach during the day seemed completely impossible. Our correspondent therefore tried to sneak across the neighboring meadows to the rear prison yard during the night, and succeeded in reaching an iron fence wrapped with barbed wire at first dawn, from which he could overlook a lawn behind the prison. Here a strange sight presented itself to him: A naked figure with a tired expression was walking continuously up and down a bed of roses, up and down, comparable to the polar bear in the zoological garden. At a silent call from our correspondent, the figure flinched and, with a cry of horror, ran in wild flight into the house. Who this pitiful figure was has not yet been determined with certainty.
A snapshot, which our correspondent managed to take, resulted in a bad shot, in which some scientists, asked for advice, actually wanted to recognize Otto Hahn's features. Sic transit gloria mundi! Even these findings have not brought any certainty about the whereabouts of Otto Hahn.
We have therefore followed up on other rumors which claim that Otto Hahn is well settled in England and is writing his memoirs there, which he intends to publish in book form under the title: 'From Oxford Street to Farm Hall'. This reference to Oxford Street prompted us to survey the department stores and shops in this neighborhood. We came across an elderly, dignified-looking matron, head of the sales department of a clothing store, who remembered Prof. Hahn well. She told with a happy smile about the time of her acquaintance with Otto Hahn, but she was not in a position to tell the more intimate details of this time. Any clue for the present whereabouts of Otto Hahn could not be gained here either.
WHEN THE MYSTERY OF OTTO HAHN WILL BE SOLVED? NOBODY KNOWS!
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
'''FROM GOETHE TO HAHN'''
In our series "Great Frankfurters" we span today two centuries of Frankfurt history with an illustrious pair of twins: our city may count Goethe, the splitter of the heart, on the one hand, and at the same time, to give the matter a new twist, Hahn, the splitter of atoms, among its own. Let us quickly pass over the life fate of the older of the two, which should be known to most of our readers, and turn our attention to the new pillar in the German chemist's circle, Otto Hahn.
Born in our city in 1879, we honor him as the discoverer of the Mesozoic era, the inventor of the cockscomb unit and the cocktail, the founder of several sports clubs and the long-time tireless reader of our newspaper. He is the honorary chairman of the Association for Thrift and Trade and the holder of several patents for increasing the life of razor blades, cigarettes and anecdotes. However, he has just recently put the crown of uranium fission on the barrel of his merits.
As we learn from the secretary of the League for Physical Culture, he is said to have used a new method for precipitating radiant bodies. He stood, so to speak, with one foot firmly between the stools of facts, but with the other he grasped the golden ladder of fame. With him, his hometown basks in the colorful glow of the deserved honor that has just befallen him, and we would like to be like a bird in several places at once, both to lay our sincere congratulations at the feet of the honoree and to be able to give our readers an eyewitness report of the latest and greatest world event.
P.S : We would like to point out that in the feuilleton of this paper, Wilhelm Westphal acknowledges Otto Hahn's academic achievements. Meanwhile in the business section we have an article from the valued pen of our special correspondent P.H. bring about the financial importance of the Nobel Prize
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
'''BUSINESS SECTION of the FRANKFURT NEWSPAPER : Nobel prize and nuclear energy'''
Otto Hahn, the discoverer of uranium fission, has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
The first question that arises in the mind of the unbiased observer is: Is the amount of money he receives proportionate to the amount he has given to humanity through his discovery?
The Nobel Prize today is about 6,000 pound sterling. Under the assumption of the gold standard, this would be RM 120,000. The uncertainty of all monetary relationships suggests the need to choose a different scale of value based on basic human needs.
If we set the price of a pound of sugar at 40 penny, Prof. Hahn would receive the equivalent of 150,000 kg of sugar. This figure is still difficult to compare with the energy yield provided by his discovery because uranium cannot be eaten.
We therefore reduce sugar and uranium to the common measure of the calorie. One kg of sugar contains about 4000 Kcal; the Nobel Prize therefore amounts to about 600 million kilocalories. On the other hand, according to Hahn, about 10^13 Kcal. can be released from one ton of uranium 235.
The total amount of uranium on earth is known only by estimation. We assume that the hundred millionth part of the matter of the earth's surface consists of uranium. If we assume that uranium would be exploited to a depth of 1 km, then, since the dry surface of the earth is about 100 million square kilometers, we get 100 cubic kilometers of exploitable matter, of which one cubic kilometer is uranium. That is, since the specific gravity of uranium is about 20, 20 billion tons of uranium. About one hundredth of the uranium is uranium 235, so we would have 200 million tons of uranium 235.
2x10^8 to uranium 235 at 10^13 Kcal each give 2x10^21 Kcal. The 6x10^8 Kcal of the Nobel Prize are the three trillionth part of it or the fraction 3x10^13.
This number was probably chosen because it is just the radius of an atomic kernel.
</blockquote>
==== Song ====
Sung by Kurtz Diebner and Karl Wirtz at the celebration dinner.
<blockquote>
THE FARMHALLER : Nobel-Prize Song
Detained since more than half a year.<br>
Here's Hahn and us at Farm Hall.<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
The real reason, by the way<br>
Is because we have worked on nuclei<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
The nuclei were for war<br>
And for the general victory.<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
How is that possible, you ask?<br>
The story about seems whimsical<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
The commanders, heads of state, newsboys,<br>
Having him everyday in their mouth.<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
Even the sweethearts in the world<br>
They now call themselves : atom-girls<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
If you lose your bets like this,<br>
That's what it's called "you didn't split the atom"<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
Everybody knows that the accident came<br>
As a result of splitting of uranium.<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
The energy makes everything warmer,<br>
Only the Swedes get poorer.<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
At the academic behest<br>
Germany gets a Nobel Prize.<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
In Oxford Street, there lives a being<br>
She will read that today with tears.<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
Only one atom was missing at that time,<br>
He would have said: I marry you, madam.<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
This is just our first celebration<br>
I think things will get expensive<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is: Otto Hahn!<br>
And let's get out of this burrow,<br>
We hope, we'll be quite lucky now.<br>
And one asks, who is to blame for it?<br>
The answer is always: Otto Hahn!<br>
</blockquote>
==== Aleatory ====
This story was Bagge's contribution. The original joke, written in German language, contains aleatoric adjective.
<blockquote>
The impeccable history of the useless nuclear physicists since their superfluous detainment.
On April 27, the representatives of KWI.f.Chemie in Tailfingen and KWI.f.Physik in Hechingen will set off on a sweet car ride into sour detainment.
Through crooked towns, past endless numbers of coarse tanks, the somber group of travelers marched westward, until they arrived in Heidelberg in the afternoon. They imagined they were already at the destination of their silent journey, but they was only to realize in the course of time that this was only the first stop on a long journey that they were starting with.
The next destination was Reims, where they arrived a few days later and waited for the end of the war. But then things went smart. In a flight from Reims to Versailles they crossed over northern France, only to reside for a few days in a heavenly chateau, all set up to receive the nuclear physicists with gusto. Here something unexpected happened. After spending the first night and day on icy cold field bed, reinforcements arrived. Mr. Heisenberg and Mr. Diebner arrived.
Nevertheless, the Detainees did not like to stay so long in Chesnay, so they decided to move excitedly from there to Vesinet, especially since the new place of residence offered them certain chances to get in touch with their families.
In the meantime it had become the end of May. Because one loved the puzzling change and because one already knew this questionable one well in many 100-lap runs around the Villa Argentina, one packed again the suitcases and traveled to Faqueval.
The considerate wishes of our detainer were also very much met, especially since in the meantime the shameless gentleman had been kindly and burned up invited to take part in this hypocritical trip, which he did willingly and with a witty face.
Finally, in Faqueval, the circle of atomists, which had meanwhile grown to nine people, experienced its last and final expansion when Herr Gerlach joined them.
However, as eager as they were to travel, they didn't last long in Faqueval. One wanted to go further. Yes, and after some dreadful hesitation, we always proceeded on the best and terrible terms with those peculiar to us.
Authorities into the now historic Godmanchester. Since their arrival on July 3, 1945, everyone has been spending their bare-legged days here in an honorable mood. Since then, the ten detainees are eager to make this flowery stay as daring as possible, and because the characters of the participants do not exactly match in all points, the leisure time is organized in different ways.
First there is the bold senior of our group, the modest Prof. Hahn. He works on his so-called memoroids, as long as he's not running a sleepy 10K to the admiration of his comrades at Farm Hall. But that's not the only thing that all the people around him know to say about him. If he didn't have other things on his mind - which we'll have to talk about later - then we still have to tell about his cocktails, which he serves in his tender goodness, about the seven split eggs on his head in Mossejaw, about the deeply felt lady on Oxford Street, about the Berliner Pfannkuchen doughnut, about the lost 300 thalers on a train journey and about the presidential turn that table conversations can take, but don't have to, when he contributes to the entertainment.
Much could be said of the other middle-class gentlemen of this circle, which for later generations of detainers could serve as a groundless guide to the wildly romantic pastime. But we have to be brief.
After all, the merits of the overmighty Herm v. Laue are quite undisputed, who has managed to get two eager lecturers every week for half a year for the colloquium he directs, and thus has contributed quite substantially to our seasoned stay.
Our graceful Mr. Gerlach, on the other hand, whiles away the time with the very heroic preoccupation with the humorous phenomena of magnetism, he also contributes to the hazy cocooning of our rooms by making the sweet resolution of looking after about 20 flower vases a day.
The sentimental leisure activities of our Mr. Heisenberg look different again. From the quantum theory and nuclear physics he came to the superconductivity. At first he was quite distressed because he had nothing more to do, but since he read the spiced Trollope, he no longer suffers greatly, but only a very little, but even this is overcome because the always friendly Mr. Harteck, there always puts him in a sporting mood. And if that doesn't help, Mr. Harteck knows how to lift our breathless spirits by calculating how long-shanked we are by determining the calorie content of our trusty food.
So you could still talk about many fellow sufferers, at their head our Capt. Brodie, Weizsacker with his snappy shaking rhymes, the sublime Wirtz, the capricious Diebner and his good-natured jokes, and Korsching with his beard. But we have to close with it.
Because even if life is very interesting because of these things alone with the hollow details, it has become really exciting, since Mr. Heisenberg discovered today in the 'Daily Telegraph' that our Prof. Hahn has been designated the God-ordained Nobel Prize winner.
We search catastrophically for the right adjectives to colossally describe this ingenious fact.
Our otherwise all-surpassing mood has suddenly climbed unequaled strict heights and we can look unbelievably into the unshakable future and in this sense we congratulate our never-ending Masters to this honor!
</blockquote>
=== 4 December 1945 ===
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=== 17 - 30 December 1945 ===
The arrival of Lt. Cdr. Welsh.
The guests were considerably cheered by the news of their impending return to Germany, which the Commander conveyed to them. This, together with Christmas celebrations, produced a general feeling of good will.
<pre>
Line 460 ⟶ 770:
== Epilogue ==
The ten detainees were brought back to Germany on 3 January 1946, initially to the small village of Alswede.
On 12 March 1946, von Laue, von Weizsacker, Wirtz, Korsching and Bagge left Alswede for Gottingen. Hahn and Heisenberg having gone ahead of them to confirm the suitability of the space there in Prandtl's former Aerodynamics Research Establishment, which had been allocated by the British control authorities for the relocation of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics and the Administration of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft. The Aerodynamics Research Establishment was available because aerodynamics research was forbidden to the Germans under the control laws.
Already before his return to Germany, Hahn had been invited to accept the presidency of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft in succession to the aged and ailing Max Planck, who was to die on 4 October 1947. Hahn accepted it. The British control authorities gave permission for the society to carry on with its work, only on condition that the name of Kaiser Wilhelm should be dropped. Hahn secured Max Planck's agreement to lending his name to the Society, and foundation of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft became official in the British Zone of Occupation on 11 September 1946.
Hahn's presidency was no mere honorific sinecure. It took all his persistence and diplomacy to win over the American control authorities, who had resolved that the Kaiser Wilhelm Society should be dissolved and re-establishment of its Institutes not permitted. But he got his way in the end. Soon after American objections were lifted in February 1948, the French also came round. By July 1948, the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft had permission to function in all three Western zones of occupation, proceeding to re-establish most of the old Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes, and some new ones, at various points in Germany. With Heisenberg as Director of the German Research Council (Deutsche Forchungsrat), created early in 1946, the two of them played the leading parts in the post-war restoration of Germany scientific research. Hahn died in 1968.
In 1951, von Laue left Gottingen for Berlin-Dahlem to become Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, which continued to call itself a "Kaiser Wilhelm" Institute until 1953 as the "Fritz Haber Institut of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft". Von Laue died in 1960. Korsching spent the rest of his career at the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics.
Heisenberg moved his Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics to Munich in 1958. He held an adjunct Professorship at the University there, and continued to find time for productive contributions to theoretical physics as well as for organizational matters, till forced by illness to retire in 1970. He died in 1976.
Harteck and Diebner left Alswede immediately for Hamburg. Diebner to set up a private Institute for Measuring Instruments. Harteck to resume his chair of Physical Chemistry at the University in Hamburg. In 1951, Harteck left Hamburg for the United States, becoming a Research Professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnice Institute. He died in 1985.
Von Weizsacker, pursuing his combined interests in cosmology and philosophy, was appointed Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hamburg in 1957. Meanwhile, he was to play a leading role in the German branch of the Pugwash movement. Gerlach departed to become a guest-Professor in Bonn. Thence after a year or so to resume his chair of Experimental Physics in Munich, later to become Rector of the University. He died in 1979. In 1957, Wirtz was appointed Professor at the Karlsruhe Technische Hochschule and Director of the Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology at the Nuclear Research Centre, Karlsruhe.
Bagge was appointed to a Professorship in Hamburg in 1948, later to become Professor and Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Kiel. Diebner, together with Bagge, was the driving force behind the foundation in 1956 for the "Society for Exploitation of Nuclear Energy in Shipbuilding and Shipping" in Hamburg. This developed into the GKSS-Forschungszentrum-Geesthacht GmbH, which built the first German nuclear-powered ship, launched in 1968 and named "Otto Hahn". By then, Diebner had died in 1964.
=== Album for Captain Brodie ===
<blockquote>
Line 470 ⟶ 798:
''Die Detainen''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
Best wishes for Chrismas. I would like, Herr Hauptmann Brody to express my thanks for having, as far as lay in your power eased my position
Line 476 ⟶ 804:
''-- H. Korsching''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
I was born on 8th March 1879 in Frankfurt a. M.
Line 492 ⟶ 820:
''-- Otto Hahn''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
Born 9.10.1879 in Pfaffendorf near Koblemz. Became acquainted in his youth with a large realm by way of Brandenburg, Altona, Posen and Berlin. In Strasburg i.E I attended the long-famous Protestant Gymnasium from 1893 to 1898.
Line 500 ⟶ 828:
''-- Max Theodor Felix Laue''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
Born 1 August 1889 at Biebrich on the Rhine as son of a doctor. Both parents came from old Frankfurt - Nassau families.
Line 514 ⟶ 842:
''-- Walther Gerlach''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
I was born on 05.12.1901 in Wurzburg, where my father was a teacher at the Gymnasium and Dozent at the University. In 1909, my father was called to Munchen. There I grew up, learning languages, mathematics and music. Studied from 1920 onwards -- after a short interruption fighting as a volunteer -- Physics from Sommerfeld. At the same time, I familiarized myself in the youth-movement with wandering through the homeland and with many kinds of sport.
Line 524 ⟶ 852:
''-- Werner Carl Heisenberg''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
Born 20.vii.02; Vienna
Line 538 ⟶ 866:
''-- P. Harteck''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
I was born on the 13 May 1905. After an Oberrealschule, I studied Natural Sciences in Halle and Innsbruck. I promovierte in November 1931 as Dr. rer. nat. My teacher was Prof. Hoffmann, known for his researches in Cosmic Rays.
Line 548 ⟶ 876:
''-- Kurt Diebner''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
I was born on the 24 April 1910 in Koln a. Rhein. My father is a judge, my mother comes from South Germany. As a young boy I enjoyed physical-technical experiments.
Line 558 ⟶ 886:
''-- K Wirtz''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
I was born on 30 May 192 in Neustadt near Coburg. My youth was spent in my home town, from which from 1922 to 1931 I attended the Realgymnasium in Sonneberg.
Line 570 ⟶ 898:
''-- Erich Bagge''
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
Born 28.6.1912 in Kiel from a Swabian family. My childhood was spent, because my father was first a naval officer and then a diplomat, at varying places in Germany, Holland, Switzerland and Denmark.
Line 584 ⟶ 912:
''-- Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsacker''
</blockquote>
== Further reading ==
# Sir Charles Frank, OBE, FRS (1993) "Operation Epsilon : The Farm Hall Transcripts" IOP Publishing
# Jeremy Bernstein (2001) "Hitler's Uranium Club : The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall" Springer Science + Business Media
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