HITLERS ATOMIC BOMB

[morvwilson]

If memory serves, when the American bombs were ready, Germany had already colapsed or was very close to it.
Germany had always been considered the more dangerous threat. Even without the atomic bomb, the V1 & V2 weapons were causing enouogh damage in England for the allies to shift their strategic consentration from the south (Patton's sector) to Montgomery's in the North; in order to eliminate the launching sites.

This illustrates why the allies decided early on to commit 70% of all material to the European theater leaving only 30% for the Pacific. This also explains why Japan lasted longer than Germany, they just did not face the same pressure that the Germans did.
So, Japan was hit by the atomic bombs because it was the only enemy still standing.

[morvwilson]

ORIGINAL: SLAAKMAN

Im trying to determine if the Axis actually was neck & neck in the atomic arms race with the US. The History Channel asserted that Japan also conducted an atomic test in 1945;
Japan's Atomic Bomb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdCe2wBeCiw

Nope, don't think the Germans were even close. Now they did have quite a few other goodies they came up with and I don't think that Germany lacked the brain power, but Germany just did not have the resources for such a project. I don't think any other country at that time could have pulled it off.

Even the Soviet Union for their first nuke after WW2 had to steal the technology from the US.

As for Japan, their economy was in far worse shape. A nuke for them I think was impossible. But they were experimenting in biological warfare in Manchuria.

[SLAAKMAN]

Nope, don't think the Germans were even close. Now they did have quite a few other goodies they came up with and I don't think that Germany lacked the brain power, but Germany just did not have the resources for such a project. I don't think any other country at that time could have pulled it off.

Cite a source. I need to know if Kammler succeeded or the Italian journalist and the old woman who was an eyewitness are simply mistaken. Its possible that Speer was not informed of Kammlers progress.

[morvwilson]

Can't give you an internet source. I remember reading about it in a Time/Life WW2 encyclopedia set (pre-internet, lol). This set currently resides in my garage and I am at work. You may be able to search time life website for the set, now that I think about it.

I will check the set I have when I get home.

[SLAAKMAN]

I remember reading about this back in the 70's in several books or magazines but they didnt provide many details. They only mentioned that an explosive device detonating larger than conventional explosives available at the time had been testsed in the Baltic area. Mustve been classified for decades.

There is also this BBC article on the author;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4348497.stm

Hitler 'tested small atom bomb'
By Ray Furlong
BBC News, Berlin
Monday, 14 March, 2005, 17:33 GMT

A German historian has claimed in a new book presented on Monday that Nazi scientists successfully tested a tactical nuclear weapon in the last months of World War II.

Rainer Karlsch said that new research in Soviet and also Western archives, along with measurements carried out at one of the test sites, provided evidence for the existence of the weapon.

"The important thing in my book is the finding that the Germans had an atomic reactor near Berlin which was running for a short while, perhaps some days or weeks," he told the BBC.

"The second important finding was the atomic tests carried out in Thuringia and on the Baltic Sea."

Mr Karlsch describes what the Germans had as a "hybrid tactical nuclear weapon" much smaller than those dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

'Bright light'

He said the last test, carried out in Thuringia on 3 March 1945, destroyed an area of about 500 sq m, killing several hundred prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates.

The weapons were never used because they were not yet ready for mass production. There were also problems with delivery and detonation systems.

"We haven't heard about this before because only small groups of scientists were involved, and a lot of the documents were classified after they were captured by the Allies," said Karlsch.

"I found documents in Russian and Western archives, as well as in private German ones."

One of these is a memo from a Russian spy, brought to the attention of Stalin just days after the last test. It cites "reliable sources" as reporting "two huge explosions" on the night of 3 March.

Karlsch also cites German eyewitnesses as reporting light so bright that for a second it was possible to read a newspaper, accompanied by a sudden blast of wind.

The eyewitnesses, who were interviewed on the subject by the East German authorities in the early 1960s, also said they suffered nose-bleeds, headaches, and nausea for days afterwards.

Karlsch also pointed to measurements carried out recently at the test site that found radioactive isotopes.

Sceptical response

His book has provoked huge interest in Germany, but also scepticism.

It has been common knowledge for decades that the Nazis carried out atomic experiments, but it has been widely believed they were far from developing an atomic bomb.

"The eyewitnesses he puts forward are either unreliable or they are not reporting first-hand information; allegedly key documents can be interpreted in various ways," said the influential news weekly Der Spiegel.

"Karlsch displays a catastrophic lack of understanding of physics," wrote physicist Michael Schaaf, author of a previous book about Nazi atomic experiments, in the Berliner Zeitung newspaper.

"Karlsch has done us a service in showing that German research into uranium went further than we'd thought up till now, but there was not a German atom bomb," he added.

It has also been pointed out that the United States employed thousands of scientists and invested billions of dollars in the Manhattan Project, while Germany's "dirty bomb" was allegedly the work of a few dozen top scientists who wanted to change the course of the war.

Karlsch himself acknowledged that he lacked absolute proof for his claims, and said he hoped his book would provoke further research.

But in a press statement for the book launch, he is defiant.

"It's clear there was no master plan for developing atom bombs. But it's also clear the Germans were the first to make atomic energy useable, and that at the end of this development was a successful test of a tactical nuclear weapon."

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: SLAAKMAN

"It's clear there was no master plan for developing atom bombs.

That statement makes the story highly suspect. The Germans planned nearly everything pretty carefully, which is why they were able to maintain astonishing levels of weapons production even while being bombed around the clock.

To give one example, Primo Levi survived the camps by stealing an unlabeled jar of selenium rods from the lab he had been assigned to work in, and selling the rods on the black market as cigarette lighter flints. He knew that the lack of a label meant the Germans were unaware of the jar's existence.

[SLAAKMAN]

That statement makes the story highly suspect. The Germans planned nearly everything pretty carefully, which is why they were able to maintain astonishing levels of weapons production even while being bombed around the clock.

Interdepartmental rivalries stymied development frequently in Germany just as they compromised operations in Japan. General Galland wanted the ME262 to be the main air superiority fighter in may of 1943 but Hitlers & Görings meddling interfered with development for example.

[Jonathan Pollard]

ORIGINAL: Tony_A
Without presenting any hard data, it's just another crackpot conspiracy theory, like faked Apollo moon landings, alien spaceships at Roswell, or 911 being committed by a branch of the US Govt.

I was under the impression that discussion of data or lack thereof in support of governmental involvement in 9/11 was forbidden on this forum, but because apparently that policy is not being enforced and/or no longer in effect I'll chime in with my two cents. There are hundreds of archetects and engineers who disagree with your contention that there is no hard data.

http://www.ae911truth.org/

And it's an irrefutable fact that in 1962, all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff plotted to commit a 9/11-style operation in order to generate popular support for an invasion of Cuba. Fortunately President Kennedy refused to give the go-ahead for that conspiracy.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/

[Jonathan Pollard]

ORIGINAL: 105mm Howitzer

Spaceships are for real, man...[&:]

No need to fear, our friends at Popular Mechanics have come up with detailed instructions on what to do in the event of a UFO invasion or if aliens try to abduct you.[:'(]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... 83081.html

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... 89306.html

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Tony_A
Without presenting any hard data, it's just another crackpot conspiracy theory, like faked Apollo moon landings, alien spaceships at Roswell, or 911 being committed by a branch of the US Govt.

ORIGINAL: Jonathan Pollard
I was under the impression that discussion of data or lack thereof in support of governmental involvement in 9/11 was forbidden on this forum, but because apparently that policy is not being enforced and/or no longer in effect I'll chime in with my two cents.

First, we do not in fact read every thread on the forum every day. Second, someone else mentioning this as a "crackpot conspiracy theory" does not somehow change the forum rules on not discussing political subjects. It's extremely lame that you would pretend that this is somehow license for you to open up this whole can of worms, a subject which you must know is guaranteed to provoke strong emotions in people. Let me be exceedingly clear on this - political subjects, especially those that deal with current events and not distant history, are off limits here. I know you know this, so this is your final warning, if you cross this line again you will get a vacation from the forum.

Locking this thread.