Hunting Heisenberg: Capturing Germany's Atomic Secrets

The Alsos Mission, a joint US-UK secret team of nuclear experts was sent in 1945 to track down top German physicist Werner Heisenberg and the scientists and technology creating Germany's atomic weapons programme. It was a race against time, as the Allies were worried that the German's might develop an atomic weapon before the Manhattan Project.
A great many thanks to the Hoover Institution Library and Archives at Stanford University for allowing me to use the Alsos Mission films for this video (Boris T. Pash Papers, Reels 1-4: "Alsos Mission Films")
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Thanks: Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University

[@dylanpetrovic7307]

Jesse, its time to cook

[@honkhonk8009]

Waltuh. Im not working for the Germans Waltuh. Im not a Nazi right now.

[@MyLateralThawts]

How bizarrely appropriate that there was so much “uncertainty” regarding Heisenberg and the German atomic weapons program.

[@hawaiianbiceps9784]

Hitler cared so much about wonder weapons except the one that really mattered.

[@Johankenzeler]

The irony...

[@Wallyworld30]

He thought it was a Jewish science. Once again his racism bit him in the arse.

[@berndf.k.1662]

@HawaiianBiceps: your statement is almost complete nonsense. All hopes and directions from A.H. to win the war against the Allied aggressors was about the atomic bomb. The V2 - which costs were in no relation to its damage was just to later transport an atomic warhead. The same was true to the idea of the Blitzbomber (ME262 as fast-bomber instead of fighter) who should drop small A- bombs on England. Besides the video misses that a succesful A-bomb test had been done in Thüringen end of March 1945. So in the end it can be speculated that the A- bombs dropped on Japan were captured German ones.

[@PIG8STUIPID]

Hitler was stuipid. Germany would have assault rifles for the regular troops by 1942 and jet planes by 1943. Even earlier when He wouldnt have this stuipid racism

[@axelpatrickb.pingol3228]

@keith moore Most of the scientists in the Manhattan Project have the same concerns as Heisenberg. In the end they were right...

[@julianh1322]

My former High School is named after Heisenberg. Great video. Greetings from Germany

[@armysimp]

What a shame

[@messerschmittbolkow5606]

Garching?

[@Drakey_Fenix]

@Rob Torres Because he is a SJW and people like that hate anything that is related to germany in the 30's and 40's. It's rather a shame that he commented here.

[@DSAK55]

My former High School Teacher is named Heisenberg.

[@russell821]

Wife hears intro music and says....really, Mark Felton again? Me.....yes.😀

[@xatan3318]

Who needs the history channel when you can learn actual history for free.

[@veeaa]

True but remember that it's a lot of work so please support your favourite KZbinrs with at least one dollar a month. For many of them this is their only job. I'll gladly support them to provide free education for all of those who couldn't afford paying for it.

[@300wanker]

ya.. pull out your visa and help Mark Felton..

[@steyrproof]

Without Heisenberg, there would be no Breaking Bad

[@asheland_numismatics]

Yes! :D

[@fatstripper88]

Pipe down Rob Torres

[@Callumscornerpoo]

Mark your videos are God’s blessing to the internet please keep up the amazing interesting videos

[@numberstation]

Blimey, I think Mark deserves the credit.

[@normanhewitt9345]

Also god rest the two horsa glider borne troops of royal engineers attached to 1st airborne in operation freshman who crashed and suffered terrible deaths in hospital under the commando order with the Gestapo Thank god there was retribution after the war RIP brave men

[@0Zolrender0]

@@normanhewitt9345 Do not ever thank a god for there is none. There is only your wish there is one.

[@Jagdpanther226]

Germany: wow look at all this uranium! *US, Britain Want to know your location*

[@VulkanYT]

Germany invading the Romanian Oil Fields and Caucasus: Look at all this oil! USA has entered the game.

[@SupesMe]

This is the most detailed thing I’ve ever seen as to whether or not the Germans had nukes. I like how they saturation bombed the facility that the Soviets were trying to reach… It’s like they already knew what was coming

[@swunt10]

it's not the most detailed by a long shot. maybe you just never seen anything.

[@pantheonauxilia]

Casually digging and piling up uranium ingots. "It was such great day, I worked so hard that my hair fell off" From a memoir of US pioneer soldier.

[@tobymcelhinney5354]

There should be a movie about this.

[@mcedd54]

Hitler's obsession with strategically pointless 'Wunderwaffe' allowed the Western Allies time to develop the real thing. Although Nazi rocket and jet technology was of major importance post war, a working Atomic Bomb made them all shrink to comparative insignificance. Another fine and informative video Mark. Thanks!

[@TenOrbital]

‘Heisenberg still on the loose’! Quote of the week!

[@blueeyeswhitedragon9839]

Michael Fisher :- "Heisenberg still on the loose". No he's not... Yes he is... No he's not... Yes... Quote of the week !

[@danielmocsny5066]

They could determine his position, but not his velocity.

[@olengagallardo8551]

If Hitler had it, he would have used it, most likely first on the advancing Red armies of Zukov and Koniev.

[@craigwall9536]

Heisenberg didn't want Hitler to have the bomb. He made sure he was in a position to prevent it, but he went to his grave knowing most people thought he was pro-Nazi. Bohr misunderstood him at their last meeting, and that started the legend. Werner was a good guy. BTW, not using graphite wasn't a mistake; German scientists didn't know how to make high purity Calcium which is required for making high purity graphite by scavenging the Boron out of the graphite. They didn't even know that using calcium was the critical secret. They tried to use graphite but thought what they had was as pure as it could be made. It wasn't. The US guarded the secret of making high purity calcium for decades.

[@lucius1976]

Fun fact - Heisenberg did not invent Crystal meth

[@warpartyattheoutpost4987]

The differences between countries' technological developments during wartime is fascinating! Thanks for another great video!

[@mandernachluca3774]

Or rather the lack of much of a difference. The most fascinating thing about the two world wars was their impact on technological developement and the overlapping of independant developments.

[@VCYT]

The trouble with finding Werner Hiesenberg, is that you never know exactly where he is :-)

[@jrt818]

The story of the captured Germam atomic scientists who were put on ice in an English estate and secretly recorded might be interesting.

[@benpayne4663]

just sent $20 (16 pounds) via paypal to support your most excellent historical series. thank you.

[@SRNF]

Send me $40

[@kevinbelden9065]

@@SRNF So you can spend it on shitty razor harware? No thanks!

[@BigCrowdProductions]

I remember in 2008 watching hour-long documentaries on the History Channel with my uncle after he got back from Afghanistan. Then there was a long absence of great historical documentary shows. However, your channel has finally brought back those great memories. Thank you so much, Mark. I really appreciate your videos.

[@psleep4255]

I’m so happy I came across this channel. I grew up at a Manhattan Project site. My grandfather, mom and I all worked there. I’ve always been proud of my family’s service. My grandfather was a reactor operator on the reactor that produced the plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Thank you for these videos.

[@AngloFrancoDane]

Amazing how we were determined to stiff both the Soviets and the French!

[@charlesmartin8454]

Heisenberg was shocked after the war was over when he found out what a relatively small amount of fissionable uranium-235 was required to make a gun type gun used on Hiroshima. His calculations had shown a mass was needed many times that amount. So here too, mistaken assumptions due to Heisenberg's calculations would have delayed Germany from developing a nuclear bomb for isolating the U-235 was a long and laborious process. Germany would have never have had enough U-235 for years going by Heisenberg's calculations.

[@jackday9424]

could you imagine if they did make one, if they did and used the V-2 that would have been terrifying.

[@MrMattumbo]

Would have never fit on a V-2, just look at the size of the American bombs.

[@jemoeder51]

The US planned to nuke Berlin but the war in Europe was over before they could.

[@mandernachluca3774]

@@jemoeder51 Are there any sources for this claim? They would have had a hard time bombing a city with a nuke when being attacked by a ring of Flak towers with 128mm cannons.

[@Michael-he7xn]

What a scary situation running ahead between advancing and retreating armies trying to capture scientists and uranium. These guys knew the “big picture” of the post-war world. You present amazing chunks of history Mark. 👍

[@lucaspoole79]

The political maneuvering for atomic secrets on such a deep and complicated level was something I never knew. Thanks Mark, for these most impressive videos! Keep it up!

[@BrassLock]

What an amazing story about a unique team of criminal-investigative-soldier/scientists. We know all about cracking the Enigma codes but little about these heroes.

[@MrSabram07]

Holy s*** dude, where do you get these stories and this footage, absolutely incredible. These stories that I've never heard before and there is actual footage of them doing stuff like digging uranium out of the ground. Keep up the good work

[@basichistory]

What a cracking video

[@boostedpastime8036]

The germans were literally leading the world in so many areas back then it was absolutely staggering.

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Hilarious that combined U.S./British forces were heading off both the Soviets AND the French. "You have now entered the Blackadder/Python Zone!"

[@puncheex2]

... and were operating behind the German front lines.

[@shiver_me_timbers]

Absolutely fascinating film Mark and scarey at the same time. Keep em coming Sir.

[@Finecabinets1]

Scary why? Bad guys won, look at our world. Kids getting their dicks cut off is normalized, he was totally right.

[@remaincalm2]

Absolutely fascinating, Mark. Your mini documentaries are jam packed with facts, incredible detail, and appropriate and rare footage. This is so well researched and produced. Thank you!

[@beckeredward14]

Only natural that graphite was mentioned. Union Carbide in Niagara Falls NY and several chemical and heavy industrial companies in the Buffalo and Niagara Falls region were very much involved in the making of the components necessary for the atom bombs dropped on Japan. There is a Superfund site not far from where I live in Lockport NY that is at a former Republic Steel plant that was directly related to the Manhattan Project. PS to Dr Felton: On a personal historical note, a Mitchell bomber crashed into the Empire State Building on July 28, 1945 at 9:40am in heavy fog killing my grandfather and 10 coworkers. In the Pathe News film reel about the incident, there is a dead body out on the ledge on the 72nd floor. That deceased man was my grandfather W. Paul Dearing from Buffalo NY who was working in the office of the Catholic News Service at the time. I am a have permanent family connection to WWII in that my grandfather was one of only a very few domestic civil casualties of the war and also not at the hand of enemy actions. My mother was never quite right in the head for the rest of her life after the loss of her father at such an early age. There was a BBC documentary a few years back where my mother and her sisters were interviewed about the plane crash.

[@sleipner2637]

Great work as always. Puts a smile om my face when i see the belle icon. Greetings from Norway!

[@freskars]

God helg!

[@bruceschneider4928]

Incredible. Thanks for another compelling lesson, Mark!

[@EdMcF1]

The search for Heisenberg was hindered by uncertainty.

[@TheWilferch]

I see what you did there.....wonder if others who are not engineers or physicists would understand.

[@RandomButtonPusher]

Yup, whenever they found his position, they couldn't pin down how fast he was moving.

[@alexfogg381]

I didn't know about this operation. Also at 9:20 to 9:22 , a weasel tracked vehicle can be seen behind the m8 scout cars.

[@donjones4719]

Thanks! I was wondering what that was. Such wide tracks for such a small vehicle.

[@sharonkeith601]

Alex Fogg / Never heard of such a thing! Really strange looking, those wiiiiiide tires!

[@mastathrash5609]

I love these. They are perfect for my lunch break, or to history binge even. Keep it up ! 👍

[@randyrick8019]

Otto Hahn credits Lise Meitner with much of the credit for the discovery. On Feb. 11, 1939, she published a letter in Nature - a premier international scientific journal - that described exactly how such a thing could occur and even named it fission. Lise managed to escape Germany for Sweden with help from Otto Hahn. She had been working as Otto's assistant and was very much a part of his work. As a female, and Jewish, she was not allowed the recognition she deserved for her work. And, she managed to get out of Germany at the last minute. It also appears the Brits and Americans weren't much more willing to give here credit for her discovery and work. Otto Hahn later wrote that she deserved the Nobel Prize.

[@bartonpaullevenson3427]

If I remember correctly, Heisenberg had the critical mass for uranium too low by a couple of orders of magnitude--he thought less than a pound would be enough. That and the use of heavy water rather than graphite were the two big scientific mistakes the Nazi A-bomb project made.

[@pauldodson2018]

Hi Mark, I love your documentaries. I am a chemist myself so find science history fascinating. Just letting you know that it was Lise Meitner who discovered fission in 1938 while working with Hahn and Strassman. She had to flee Germany because she was Jewish and flee to Sweden. She never got the Nobel Prize. Just sayin.-Paul

[@dasboot5903]

Just another exceptional video from Mark Felton Production. Thank you so much !!!!

[@lingerslongest]

Again; brilliantly concise; and with footage that actually corresponds to the narration :)

[@maddog8356]

I think we just witnessed the birth of the Cold War. Once again, a truly fascinating and fantastic video, Mark. Keep up the great work!

[@paulmichaelsmith3207]

Great stuff as always, Mark. Thank you.

[@Bacopa68]

You really should mention that the nuclear fission discovery paper by Hahn and Strassman was the result of a project started by Lise Meitner. Also, even after Meitner had been forced to leave Germany, she still maintained illegal contact with Hahn and would publish the paper that showed a nuclear bomb would be possible. In the late 1940s Meitner was hailed in the US as "The Mother of the Atomic Bomb" a title she hated even though it was fairly accurate. While a lot of people are upset that Meitner did not share in the Nobel Prize awarded to Hahn, I don't think it's that important. Meitner became a member of the Swedish academy and got to vote on who got to vote on Prizes. She's also got an element named after her.

[@howardthompson9522]

Fascinating as always Mark. Thank You.

[@Owwyhhh]

Can you do a video about Britains part in the Manhattan project.

[@oceanhome2023]

Yes and which ones were the spys

[@NapoleonGelignite]

Zack Handley - and leave out all the soviet spies.

[@andrewhighfield3338]

My grandfather was a scientist working for Ministry of Defence along with PENNY before Manhattan project I was told, but have been unable to find out anymore. Alfred HIGHFIELD. A video about British involvement would be very interesting.

[@Delgen1951]

@e james and what? they were executed as spies and traders, except for the brit..

[@spacecatboy2962]

its ironic, to think that hitler disregarded America as a country that would never be able to make a dent on the war effort, yet only a few years later, at the end of WW2, America with its navy, air force, and the atom bombs, could have actually done what germany and japan dreamed of doing, that is ruled the world through military power, but did not

[@Dan-up6do]

I've been a subscriber for a while now, great channel Mark, keep it up 👍

[@samanthaforney7126]

Nicely done Mark! Once again you have delivered an outstanding video!

[@peachtrees27]

Fascinating and tense narration - much appreciated.

[@brucevilla]

Thanks for Uploading.

[@josephkane825]

" The "Joint US-UK Manhattan Project!!!!!

[@MarkFeltonProductions]

That's right - we did a lot of the early work with Tube Alloys but lacked the huge industrial base to make the bomb, so rolled our programme into yours to become The Manhattan Project. The US repaid us by excluding our scientists from the programme later on, and even refusing to give us the information necessary to build our own atomic weapons. British scientists at Los Alamos one day found themselves locked out of their offices and denied access to confidential scientific research papers they had written! So please don't buy in to the notion that America won WWII all on its lonesome. Britain was a much more powerful and resourceful country 80 years ago than today, and we contributed enormously to the eventual defeat of the Axis powers. Unfortunately, you never hear about it because Hollywood is in the US and churns out US-centric films and tv series that ignore British efforts almost entirely. It has become progressively worse since 1945 - compare The Longest Day to Saving Private Ryan if you don't believe me. I'll give George Clooney his due however, the Monuments Men did at least make an effort to show that Brits were involved.

[@ronriesinger7755]

I traveled by train all through that region a few years ago, never realizing what had gone on in those small towns! Thanks for the video.

[@edwardelliott5756]

It’s not hard to imagine what Hitler would have done with the Atomic Bomb.

[@marziaporta1806]

Amazing!! As always

[@Rick2010100]

The German nuclear scientists worked in differnt teams, different locations and different methods to enrich the uranium. Heisenbergs team used heavy water. Walter Bothe´s team used graphite and a other team very clean carbon. First they preferred graphite, but with bad results (later they discovered that the graphite contained to much boron), than heavy water had the best results and he rare uranium was mostly transported to Heisenberg´s heavy water facility. The main problem was the shortage of uranium to cover all test fascilities with a right amont. Ironicaly just a few years after the war, hughe amounts of uranium were in Germany (Russian sector) discovered and the most uranium in Russian nuclear bombs is from the uranium mines in Germany. Totally 231 000t were mined in Thuringia and the disposal of nuclear waste from the uranium production period has cost the German taxpayer in the last decade ca. 6 billion Euro.

[@squamsh122]

Outstanding research, commentary, and film that you dug up.

[@ericmcquiston9473]

I had read about some of Germany's scientists, but didn't know about this mission. Fantastic job Mark !

[@leeedmunds2539]

fantastic! great research as usual

[@jdraven0890]

Excellent work as usual, Mark

[@ItsAlwaysRusty]

Wonderful story telling as usual. Great presentation..

[@matthines41]

Great job Mark that was a very good video the best I’ve ever seen on that topic you do absolutely a fantastic job thank you

[@SuperAgentman007]

You should have your own show on BBC called history of war with mark Felton.

[@scottmcintosh4397]

In the end, it turns out the Germans weren't even close to creating an actual functioning bomb ⛲

[@Mishima505]

Yet another cracking video! I’d love to see this story made into a movie.

[@frankpineda1832]

Amazing works, thanks a lot

[@carbidegrd1]

After all of England's assistance with developing the bomb, the US locked them out of the program.

[@marks_sparks1]

Phenomenal detail once again

[@The508ranger]

Interesting. Keep the videos coming. Knowledge is power

[@xxthemasterx3407]

Another factor why the German atomic program advanced quite slowly was, that Hitler saw nuclear physics as "jewish" and therefore was not really a fan but more an opponent of it. Classic shot in the knee.

[@SoloTravelBlog]

Source?

[@xxthemasterx3407]

@@SoloTravelBlog nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-nazi-nuclear-bomb-never-happened-and-world-was-saved-53382 Just one example, I hope you are ok with it.

[@buzsalmon]

Most interesting and unknown to me. Thank you!

[@Mrhvac]

Mark, your work is awesome. Your videos are a class act, well above the majority of the content here.

[@rolsson1693]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@rickdeckard723]

...Mark (best name btw ;) )...that was quality, an utter pleasure to watch...

[@franciscoferreiracarmo4397]

Thanks a lot! Excellent video! This story could become a movie like "The atomic men".

[@maureenbonnotz4309]

A Fantastic story. A very substantive addition to my knowledge of the history of the atomic bomb.

[@dalezapple2493]

Mark thanks for this video

[@justifiedtruth9722]

Thank you mark

[@t8r507]

What a great story from ww2! So many brave and ballsy men that took part in the effort! So many unsung heros in these little known operations! Good job! I could watch these all day and I'm doing just that! Glad I found your channel Mark Felton! I can't learn enough about WW2! And many other clashes through the annals of time! Good on ya Mr Felton! These stories need to be told and never forgotten what great men laid at the alter of freedom, I'll also add I have respect for the other sides too! I dont like the atrocities they committed, but I do respect their skills and strategies!

[@brianbrady4496]

Another great video from Mark

[@mark19615]

Out standing Dr Felton subscriptions at a high and some sort of income sorted. one can only offer congratulations whilst the rest of us continue study our chosen fields. Mine alas rarely crosses yours but the never the less it proves knowledge can be passed on by varity of methods. Once again my warm congratulations yours faithfully Mark V Reynolds

[@jvmno4857]

Very good content like always!

[@johnperry5396]

Damn, dude... Great videos.

[@rando991]

Film on this is Called the Heroes of Telemark

[@PhonicArchaeology]

Sebastian Dove thanks, will check it out. Was just thinking this whole story would make for an amazing movie

[@charlesvincett84]

Great Video!!! Great job!!

[@lemonde3415]

Mister Felton.. I life nearby to the former Uranmachine (Haigerloch) its still possible today to find Uranium on the fields.There was a plan to blow the reactor up but thankfully it was not put in action. A very nice video as always!

[@THE-HammerMan]

The team included Peter Sellers, seen in jeep at 2:25! Who else is better suited to look for a "boohm"!

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Thanks Mark , a very well informed and edited story . Now wouldn't this be fantastic as a Movie ? Has all the elements of an original interesting story

[@andrewbarton8525]

Please note the joint USA, UK Manhattan project. Lol. Also that the Korean War was also UK and USA and others not just US. The most weird twist of fate is that the Migs, Meteors and Sabres were all using fundimentaly the same British designed jet.. That has to be a first and last time all combat fighters were using the same basic motor designon both sides...

[@patrioticgamer5878]

I mean that’s how the Russians get ahead, copying everything

[@oceanhome2023]

Why Why ? Would they gift 3 jet engines to Stalin ?

[@harveybrudvig2310]

Another great video. Thanks

[@tfleu725]

Love how closely the US and Britain worked together even competing with the other Allies as a team of two. 🇺🇸 🇬🇧

[@McRocket]

Amazing video...thank you.

[@kristianarnryd9739]

Very interesting and well told!

[@puncheex2]

"Alsos" was Greek for a grove of trees. The head of the Manhattan Project was Brigadier (later Lt. General) Leslie R. Groves. He'd wanted a command in Europe in 1942, but instead got assigned to this bomb project. But, as Richard Rhodes said it, "He got in the seat and put the pedal to the metal, and didn't let it up until after the war was over."