Rosbaud: Midwife to Fission

Educated, cultured, sophisticated, the scientist Paul Rosbaud was a leading figure in Nazi society. But operating as “The Griffin,” he was also Britain s most valuable agent-in-place, relaying reports on arms and technology to the Allies. He authored the “Oslo Report,” which documented Ger man rocket work at Peenemünde—a warning that went unheeded until it was too late. In his book The Griffin (Houghton Muffin Co., 1986), Arnold Kramish reports for the first ti

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Educated, cultured, sophisticated, the scientist Paul Rosbaud was a leading figure in Nazi society. But operating as “The Griffin,” he was also Britain s most valuable agent-in-place, relaying reports on arms and technology to the Allies. He authored the “Oslo Report,” which documented Ger man rocket work at Peenemünde—a warning that went unheeded until it was too late. In his book The Griffin (Houghton Muffin Co., 1986), Arnold Kramish reports for the first time the role Rosbaud played in undermining the Nazi war effort. In this adaptation from the book, he describes how Rosbaud used his position to break the news of the birth of fission to the rest of the Western world. Author: ARNOLD KRAMISH Date: December 15, 1986 On the night of December 22, 1938, five months after they had conspired to save [Jewish physicist] Lise Meitner from arrest by the Gestapo, Professor Otto Hahn, of the Kaiser ...

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