Einstein Column

We have just commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the start of the war between the United States and Japan.

On occasions like this, there is often a connection made between the start of the war with Japan and the end of it, in conjunction with the dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The question often arises, who was responsible for creating the nuclear bomb?

As every high school student learns, it was Albert Einstein, whose formula E=mc2 — published in a scientific paper in 1905 — was the formula that opened the way to building a nuclear weapon.

However, the question of whether Albert Einstein bears any responsibility for the annihilation of those two Japanese cities has remained mostly unanswered.

That is, until recently when Rick Rodington of Williamsburg, a website builder who since the age of 7 was fascinated with science, devoted years of research to find out and document what role Einstein played in the building of the American atomic bomb and how much responsibility he bears for its use against Japan.

Rodington utilized parts of the more than 1,400 FBI files kept on Einstein. The data had been collected since 1932, when Einstein and his wife arrived in the United States. 

"The report consists of several background investigations, such as of a close associate  of Einstein who was thought to be a foreign intelligence agent, and materials showing a general FBI concern about Einstein’s politics in relation to atomic energy issues," Rodington notes.

Rodington quotes from an interview Einstein gave in 1948.

"I happened to have nothing to do with the actual research and development of the bomb," Einstein said. "My letter to President Roosevelt was nothing but a letter of introduction for Dr. Szilard who wanted to create adequate contact between scientists and Washington regarding the Manhattan Project. I had only handled the problem of nuclear defense when it was reported to me that the Germans were working on such an atomic bomb and, in fact, had uranium mines in Czechoslovakia, in their control. I felt it was imperative for the United States to proceed in the development of the bomb, before Hitler used it to destroy London."

Einstein continued: "When I later learned that the bomb had been created and was to be used against Japan, I did all in my power to avert President Truman from this plan, since publicly dropping it on an empty island would have been sufficient to convince Japan or any nation to sue for peace."

In a previous column, I quoted Roger Tubby, the former press secretary to President Truman. Tubby, in his papers deposited at Yale University, asserts that President Truman was warned that Japan will fight the war to the bitter end, no matter the sacrifices, and to win the war against Japan with conventional weapons will cost the United States more than a million casualties.

Thus, President Truman decided to use the nuclear bomb.

In a letter Rodington sent to me, he wrote: "Albert Einstein is my hero. He was not only a theoretical physicist, but also a philosopher and a great humanitarian. ... It is true that Albert Einstein in his 1905 Theory of Special Relativity, wrote the formula E=mc2. It signified that mass, such as the unstable element uranium-238, could release an incredible amount of energy if the atoms could be split open."

Rodington added it is untrue that Einstein was at fault for the atomic attacks on Japan. 

"In fact, he knew about these plans beforehand and tried to prevent the Truman Administration from dropping the bombs on the Japanese cities. I only discovered this interesting fact recently, while working on the politics section of the Einstein Quotes page. Ironically, not only was he not directly involved in the Manhattan Project, but he would not have been able to get security clearance due to his known pacifism."

Rodington gathered all of Einstein's statements regarding the nuclear issue and posted them on a website called "Roddy Web."

Some of the quotes are, "I made one great mistake in my life—when I signed that letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made, but there was some justification—the danger that the Germans would make them!"

"If I had foreseen Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I would have torn up my formula in 1905."

This column was published in The Virginia Gazette on December 22, 2021. The newspaper, which was founded in 1736, serves Williamsburg, James City County and the Bruton Parish District of York County, which comprise the Historic Triangle in Virginia. Shana Gray was editor at the time of publication. Kim O'Brien Root is the current editor.

Frank Shatz is a Williamsburg resident. He is the author of "Reports from a Distant Place," the compilation of his selected columns. The book is available at Bruton Parish Shop and Amazon.com. The YouTube video, "Meet Frank Shatz; a Holocaust Survivor," can be viewed at Meet Frank Shatz.

All of Einstein's statements regarding the nuclear issue are posted on the Einstein Quotes page, in the "On Politics, War and Peace" section, and also in my letter to Frank Shatz, on the Letters page. Einstein's FBI records can be accessed at vault.fbi.gov/.