weirdest fact from Rhodes

Probably the strangest detail in the Rhodes atomic bomb history is one mentioned so briefly that I always forget it each time I reread the book… Along with the official German atomic bomb project, which famously featured Werner Heisenberg in a starring role, the German freaking Postal Ministry was funding a secret parallel effort. Apparently the Minister of Posts was courted by leading atomic scientist, and dreamed of presenting the Führer with the surprise magic weapon to end the war.

We can all be glad it didn’t happen, of course. But imagine it had. This would be one of those cases where history was both tragedy and farce simultaneously on the very first try.

ADDENDUM: It’s funny to imagine a couple of alternate scenarios. One would be the German Postal Ministry attaining the bomb before anyone else, but then turning on Hitler and establishing some sort of postal junta to rule Europe for centuries.

Another is to imagine the US Postal Service funding a private atomic bomb project, and succeeding. Just imagine the wind being taken out of the sails of Oppenheimer, Teller, Bethe, General Groves et al. when they are told that the Postmaster General has just announced the successful test of a U-235 prototype bomb.