Did Nazi's Have A-Bomb?

[DJ_Quinn]

Drawing uncovered of 'Nazi nuke'

The diagram appears in an undated report about nuclear weapons work in Nazi Germany

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Historians working in Germany and the US claim to have found a 60-year-old diagram showing a Nazi nuclear bomb.

It is the only known drawing of a "nuke" made by Nazi experts and appears in a report held by a private archive.

The researchers who brought it to light say the drawing is a rough schematic and does not imply the Nazis built, or were close to building, an atomic bomb.

But a detail in the report hints some Nazi scientists may have been closer to that goal than was previously believed.

The Nazis were far away from a 'classic' atomic bomb. But they hoped to combine a 'mini-nuke' with a rocket

Rainer Karlsch

The report containing the diagram is undated, but the researchers claim the evidence points to it being produced immediately after the end of the war in Europe. It deals with the work of German nuclear scientists during the war and lacks a title page, so there is no evidence of who composed it.

One historian behind the discovery, Rainer Karlsch, caused a storm of controversy earlier this year when he claimed to have uncovered evidence that the Nazis successfully tested a primitive nuclear device in the last days of WWII. A number of historians rejected the claim.

The drawing is published in an article written for Physics World magazine by Karlsch and Mark Walker, professor of history at Union College in Schenectady, US.

'Mini-nuke'

The newly uncovered document was discovered after the publication of Karlsch's book, Hitlers Bombe (Hitler's Bomb), in which he made the nuclear test claim.

"The Nazis were far away from a 'classic' atomic bomb. But they hoped to combine a 'mini-nuke' with a rocket," Dr Karlsch told the BBC News website.

"The military believed they needed around six months more to bring the new weapon into action. But the scientists knew better how difficult it was to get the enriched uranium required."

The head of Nazi Germany's nuclear energy programme was the physicist Werner Heisenberg. Though he was highly accomplished in other areas of physics, Heisenberg failed to understand a key aspect of nuclear fission chain reactions.

Heisenberg's uncertainty

Some researchers say this led him to overestimate the amount of uranium - the so-called fissile material - required to build a nuclear bomb.

Hitler was desperate for weapons that would turn the tide of the war

However, the German report contains an estimate of slightly more than 5kg for the critical mass of a plutonium bomb. This is comparatively close to the real figure and may suggest some Nazi scientists had a better grasp of nuclear fission than Heisenberg.

Professor Paul Lawrence Rose, of Pennsylvania State University, US, and author of a 1998 book about the German uranium programme, said he had no reason to believe the report was not genuine, but was dubious about the significance of the critical mass detail.

"Though it's wonderful to find the 5kg figure written on the document, one has to be sceptical about the rationale for it. Even if it's true and [some scientists] did understand it, Heisenberg's group wouldn't have accepted it," Rose told the BBC News website.

He further speculated it was possible the author arrived at this figure by reading the Smyth Report into the development of the US atomic bomb, which was published in July 1945. But Karlsch and Walker reject this claim.

Bombshell claim

In Hitlers Bombe, Dr Karlsch suggests a team of scientists directed by the physicist Kurt Diebner, which was in competition with Heisenberg's group, tested a primitive nuclear device in Thuringia, eastern Germany, in March 1945.

Rose says that this is unlikely. Transcripts of conversations taped by MI6 when the scientists were held captive in England after the war showed Diebner lacked the knowledge to have done this, he says.

"Karlsch revealed some very important details in his book, but I can't go along with the picture he constructs with those details - of a Nazi nuclear test," said Professor Dieter Hoffmann, of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, in Berlin.

But in their Physics World article, Karlsch and Walker point to evidence of innovations made by Diebner's team, including a nuclear reactor design superior to that produced by Heisenberg's group.

"[Diebner] got the research papers from all other groups and he could control the information flux. Only a few scientists around Diebner knew about his bomb project. Heisenberg was not aware of it," Dr Karlsch explained.

[DJ_Quinn]

Reminds me of a joke;

Proffesor Heisenberg gets pulled over by a policeman for speeding.

The policeman walks over tho Dr. Heisenbergs car, tells him to roll down the window and asks him, "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?"

Dr. Heisenberg looks puzzled for a moment, then answers "No. But I know where I am."

[The Roswell Man]

i posted that for the main pages

but it hasnt appeared yet...

[DJ_Quinn]

I think we can imagine a much different Europe today if the Nazis had held out until they had nuclear warheads on their V2's.

[The Roswell Man]

i thought all tis talk of nazi nuke was discussed and proved to be just rumour

and that this was not coming to fruitition

[DJ_Quinn]

I think that the facts are showing that the Nazis had a crude design, but lacked enough fisionable material for a bomb.

They had balistic missles, so if they had been able to produce enough plutonium or U 232, they would have had a nuclear warheaded missle.

[The Roswell Man]

deffo not a nuclear A bomb

hydrogen bomb

[DJ_Quinn]

Not sure what your exactly trying to say Roswell, but it was a fission bomb, an A-bomb. A fusion bomb is an H-bomb.A dirty bomb is conventional explosives with radioactive material enclosed to spread radioactivity.

[The Roswell Man]

ah, the news is up

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...showtopic=42176

u got the info from bbc stite DJ?

[marduk]

I think we can imagine a much different Europe today if the Nazis had held out until they had nuclear warheads on their V2's.

654191[/snapback]

If they had held out ?

they didn't because we didn't let them

i thought that was the point

thats like saying the germans wouldn't have had a chance if we'd waited for Harrier jump jets before we declared war on them

hehe

[DJ_Quinn]

I got it from the Fortean Times, but I think it was the same BBC report Roswell.

[Mr Ed]

(I will let you all in on a secret, they didn't have a nuclear device because they didn't use it. Shhhhhhhhh.)

[DJ_Quinn]

I think we can imagine a much different Europe today if the Nazis had held out until they had nuclear warheads on their V2's.

654191[/snapback]

thats like saying the germans wouldn't have had a chance if we'd waited for Harrier jump jets before we declared war on them

hehe

654338[/snapback]

Not exactly. The Germans were 6 mos away, according to this report, not 40 years like the Harriers.

If the Gremans had concentrated their divisions at the Normandy beacheads, its concievable they could have repulsed the first landing attempts and prolonged the war by at least 6 mos.

[The Roswell Man]

wishful thinking......

[marduk]

I think we can imagine a much different Europe today if the Nazis had held out until they had nuclear warheads on their V2's.

654191[/snapback]

thats like saying the germans wouldn't have had a chance if we'd waited for Harrier jump jets before we declared war on them

hehe

654338[/snapback]

Not exactly. The Germans were 6 mos away, according to this report, not 40 years like the Harriers.

If the Gremans had concentrated their divisions at the Normandy beacheads, its concievable they could have repulsed the first landing attempts and prolonged the war by at least 6 mos.

654349[/snapback]

If

perhaps

maybe

don't win wars

luckily for us

[DJ_Quinn]

I'd have to agree. I'm pretty happy the war turned out the way it did.

Can you imagine Hitler with the bomb? Scary thought.

[aquatus1]

It's pretty unlikely that the Nazis would have devoted time, money, and effort to an unbelievable idea that was thought up by a jew.

[DJ_Quinn]

Well, I that's ironic yes, but you brought up a good point regarding whether or not the Nazis would have had the resources for the program.

They were being bombed to hell, and were stretched very thin.

They had a lot of advanced weapons, V2 rockets and jets, but not the resources for mass production and deployment.

[Hans Dolbrook]

if hitler would have thought he could have developed an a bomb,he damn sure would have.truth is,he was too busy caught up in his own rage and insanity,he rarely only listened to anybody but himself.

[marduk]

if hitler would have thought he could have developed an a bomb,he damn sure would have.truth is,he was too busy caught up in his own rage and insanity,he rarely only listened to anybody but himself.

655428[/snapback]

If Hitler had the "A" bomb we'd all be having this conversation right now in german.

personally i understand it but i wouldn't say i was fluent

imao i would be a very good obersturmfuerher

just in case they're listening

[+joc]

(I will let you all in on a secret, they didn't have a nuclear device because they didn't use it. Shhhhhhhhh.)

Mr. Ed is correct. They were so close though....so very, very, close! That isn't a rumour...that is fact. The very day they had perfected a weapon would have been the day they used it....on London.

[Hans Dolbrook]

if hitler would have thought he could have developed an a bomb,he damn sure would have.truth is,he was too busy caught up in his own rage and insanity,he rarely only listened to anybody but himself.

655428[/snapback]

If Hitler had the "A" bomb we'd all be having this conversation right now in german.

personally i understand it but i wouldn't say i was fluent

imao i would be a very good obersturmfuerher

just in case they're listening

655549[/snapback]

i'm with ya,but i would'nt be around.i'm having a hard enough time speaking english. if the nazis would have had an a bomb,you are right they would have used it the day they got it,and they would have definetly sent it to engald on a v12.

[marduk]

if hitler would have thought he could have developed an a bomb,he damn sure would have.truth is,he was too busy caught up in his own rage and insanity,he rarely only listened to anybody but himself.

655428[/snapback]

If Hitler had the "A" bomb we'd all be having this conversation right now in german.

personally i understand it but i wouldn't say i was fluent

imao i would be a very good obersturmfuerher

just in case they're listening

655549[/snapback]

i'm with ya,but i would'nt be around.i'm having a hard enough time speaking english. if the nazis would have had an a bomb,you are right they would have used it the day they got it,and they would have definetly sent it to engald on a v12.

656531[/snapback]

a V12 ?

are you sure

why not V8

nah thats a drink

[Hans Dolbrook]

i had a brain fart case of the dumbass man. i meant v2.i know the idea of being bombed by a v8 almost makes me sh** my pants though.

[marduk]

i had a brain fart case of the dumbass man. i meant v2.i know the idea of being bombed by a v8 almost makes me sh** my pants though.    

656551[/snapback]

Thats the same effect as drinking it iirc