Niels Bohr letter to Heisenberg B elow   I   show   a   draft   of   a   letter   by   Niels   Bohr   to   Werner   Heisenberg   written in   1957   in   response   to   a   letter   send   by   Heisenberg   to   Robert   Jungk,   the author    of    the    book    “Brighter    than    a    thousand    suns”    about    the    role    of German    scientists    in    the    development    of    the    atom    bomb.    In    his    letter Heisenberg   supports   the   statement   that   the   German   scientists   did   not   want to build the atom bomb. Bohr’s   letter   refers   to   a   meeting   in   Copenhagen   in   1941   during   which   the atomic bomb was discussed. This   letter   supports   my   hypothesis   that   Heisenberg   wanted   to   build   the atom bomb but he made mistakes in his calculations. Dear Heisenberg, I   have   seen   a   book,   “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 sides   engaged   in   mortal   combat.   That   my   silence   and   gravity,   as   you   write   in   the letter,   could   be   taken   as   an   expression   of   shock   at   your   reports   that   it   was   possible   to make   an   atomic   bomb   is   a   quite   peculiar   misunderstanding,   which   must   be   due   to the   great   tension   in   your   own   mind.   From   the   day   three   years   earlier   when   I realized   that   slow   neutrons   could   only   cause   fission   in   Uranium   235   and   not   238,   it was   of   course   obvious   to   me   that   a   bomb   with   certain   effect   could   be   produced   by separating    the    uranium.    In    June    1939    I    had    even    given    a    public    lecture    in Birmingham   about   uranium   fission,   where   I   talked   about   the   effects   of   such   a   bomb but   of   course   added   that   the   technical   preparations   would   be   so   large   that   one   did not   know   how   soon   they   could   be   overcome.   If   anything   in   my   behaviour   could   be interpreted   as   shock,   it   did   not   derive   from   such   reports   but   rather   from   the   news,   as I   had   to   understand   it,   that   Germany   was   participating   vigorously   in   a   race   to   be the first with atomic weapons. Besides,   at   the   time   I   knew   nothing   about   how   far   one   had   already   come   in   England and   America,   which   I   learned   only   the   following   year   when   I   was   able   to   go   to England   after   being   informed   that   the   German   occupation   force   in   Denmark   had made preparations for my arrest. All    this    is    of    course    just    a    rendition    of    what    I    remember    clearly    from    our conversations,     which     subsequently     were     naturally     the     subject     of     thorough discussions   at   the   Institute   and   with   other   trusted   friends   in   Denmark.   It   is   quite another   matter   that,   at   that   time   and   ever   since,   I   have   always   had   the   definite impression that you and Weizsäcker had   arranged   the   symposium   at   the   German   Institute,   in   which   I   did   not   take   part myself   as   a   matter   of   principle,   and   the   visit   to   us   in   order   to   assure   yourselves   that we suffered no harm and to try in every way to help us in our dangerous situation. This   letter   is   essentially   just   between   the   two   of   us,   but   because   of   the   stir   the   book has   already   caused   in   Danish   newspapers,   I   have   thought   it   appropriate   to   relate   the contents   of   the   letter   in   confidence   to   the   head   of   the   Danish   Foreign   Office   and   to Ambassador Duckwitz.

The fall of communism in the Soviet Union The   fall   of   communism   in   Russia   is   a   riddle   so   far   unexplained,   because   the Soviet   Union,   despite   being   militarily   and   economically   well   behind   the   United States,   was   at   that   time   a   world   power   and   could   have   remained   as   such   for many   years.   The   matter   is   more   mystifying   due   to   the   fact   that   “the   conversion   of Russia”   was   foretold   in   the   second   Fatima   secret.   The   statement   in   the   secret   that Russia    will    return    to    the    bosom    of    the    Church    is    probably    one    of    the    most extraordinary   fulfilled   prophecies   in   the   history   of   humanity.   No   man   could   have predicted    it.    Nevertheless    it    happened    and    communism    collapsed.    What    has decided it? Situation in communist Russia In   communist   Russia   two   systems   of   governing   operated   side   by   side.   Officially the   Supreme   Council   of   the   USSR,   corresponding   to   a   parliament   chosen   by citizens,   was   the   highest   authority.   The   Council   selected   the   Presidium   of   the Central     Executive     Committee,     which     was     the     official     government.     The Government    and    the    Council    of    Ministers    were    nominally    responsible    to parliament. However   the   real   power   was   exercised   by   the   communist   party.   At   the   top   of   the party   administration   and   making   all   important   political   and   economic   decisions was   the   Politburo,   comprising   10-15   members,   which   was   chaired   by   a   General Secretary   selected   by   the   Central   Committee.   In   fact   nobody   was   able   to   control the   General   Secretary   who   had   absolute   power   and   held   the   office   for   life,   as Stalin,   Brezhnev   and   Andropov   did.   It   was   possible   to   remove   him   only   by staging a coup d'état as in the case of Khrushchev.

One    of    the    most    mysterious    events    in    the    history    of    mankind    is    the abandoning   of   the   development   of   the   atom   bomb   by   Nazi   Germany.   It   is   not necessary   to   have   a   great   imagination   in   order   to   realize   that   the   destiny   of hundreds    of    millions    of    people    in    Europe    and    even    in    the    entire    world depended   on   this   decision.      If   Germany   had   had   nuclear   weapons   at   its disposal   in   1943   or   even   in   1944,   the   outcome   of   the   war   would   have   been totally   different.   It   would   have   been   enough,   for   example,   for   only   one   atom bomb   to   have   been   dropped   on   England,   for   Great   Britain   to   surrender   and for   the   western   front   to   then   cease   to   exist.   If   Japan   had   had   the   atom   bomb from    Hitler,    the    United    States    would    probably    also    have    signed    a    peace treaty   and   the   political   map   of   the   contemporary   world   would   look   totally different   than   it   does   today.   It   is   a   blood-curdling   scenario   which   would   have meant   the   end   of   European   civilization   in   its   then   form.   Let’s   try   to   throw some new light on these events.