Two of the greatest scientists of the 20th century were close friends, even though one was a pacifist and opposed to nationalism while the other put science at the service of chemical warfare and the German Empire.
Albert Einstein He arrived in Berlin in April 1914, having left Switzerland to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences and work in the city, which was then one of the most important centers of world science. The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics did not yet exist: it was only founded in 1917, and Einstein was its first director until 1922.
In Berlin, Einstein became closely acquainted with Fritz Haber, Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Professor at the University of Berlin, a Jew who converted to Christianity and an ardent patriot of the German Empire.
According to the testimony of Nobel Prize laureate in physics James Frank, Haber was a lively man, with an extraordinary sense of humor, broad knowledge, quick thinking, and an impressive talent for conversation and lecturing. Einstein and Haber became close friends. Haber even played a role as a mediator in the difficult separation between Einstein and his first wife, Mileva Maric. For a period, Mileva and the couple's children stayed at Haber's house, before returning to Switzerland.
The discovery that fueled the world and the war machine
Before World War I Haber developed a way to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen at high pressure. Carl Bosch turned the method into an industrial process, now known asThe Haber-Bosch process.
Ammonia served as the basis for synthetic fertilizers, which greatly increased agricultural output and helped feed the world's population. But when combined with the Ostwald process, which made it possible to produce nitric acid from ammonia, it also opened the way to the production of explosives. For the synthesis of ammonia from its elements, Heber was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 1918, which he received in 1919.
At the outbreak of World War I, a naval blockade was imposed on Germany. The Allied powers estimated that without a regular supply of salt, Germany would not be able to continue producing the necessary quantities of explosives. The Haber-Bosch process helped the Germans overcome the shortage of raw materials and provide ammunition for their army during the war years.
The same discovery therefore had two opposing results: it provided fertilizers that saved people from starvation, while at the same time extending Germany's ability to wage war.
The Father of Chemical Warfare
Haber was not content with his contribution to the production of explosives. He became one of the central forces in the development of German chemical weapons. The institute he headed and the scientific organization around him swelled to hundreds of scientists and more than a thousand workers, who developed both chemical attack means and means of defense against them.
On April 22, 1915, the German army unleashed a large cloud of Chlorine gas Against French and colonial forces. It was the first large-scale lethal gas attack on the Western Front. Thousands of soldiers were injured; historical estimates of the number of casualties vary.
Haber personally oversaw the preparations for the attack. He argued that the use of gas could bring a quick end to trench warfare and thus reduce the overall death toll. This was a dubious moral justification for a weapon that added a new and horrific form of death to the war.
After the war, the Allies defined him as a war criminal for his central role in the use of chemical weapons, but he was not brought to justice.
German pacifist and patriot
Einstein was a pacifist and a staunch opponent of German nationalism and imperialism. In this sense, he was almost the complete opposite.
Haber tried to convince Einstein to convert to Christianity, so that he would "belong completely to us." Einstein replied that the "we" to which Haber felt he belonged was nothing more than a fiction. Despite their friendship, Einstein did not hide his reservations about the conversion and Haber's desire to be unconditionally accepted into German society.
In October 1914, Haber, Paul Ehrlich, and Richard Willstätter signed the "Manifesto of 93," in which German intellectuals and scientists defended their country's conduct and denied the accusations of atrocities in Belgium. All three were or later became Nobel Prize winners, but not all three in chemistry: Ehrlich won the prize in medicine, Willstätter and Haber in chemistry.
Einstein opposed what he called nationalist madness, and was among the four signatories of a counter-manifesto calling for European cooperation. The difference between them was not scientific but moral and political: Haber placed his scientific ability at the disposal of the Empire; Einstein saw the mobilization of scientists for war as a betrayal of European culture.
Unrequited love for Germany
Haber saw himself first and foremost as a German. His service in World War I gave him a temporary exemption from the law designed to remove Jews from the civil service at the beginning of the Nazi regime. However, in the spring of 1933 he refused to fire the Jewish employees at the institute he headed.
In his resignation letter, he wrote that for more than forty years of service he had chosen his colleagues on the basis of their intellectual achievements and character, and not on the basis of their ancestral origins, and that he had no intention of changing this principle in the last years of his life. His resignation took effect in May 1933, after which he left Germany for Britain.
At Cambridge, Chaim Weizmann suggested that he join the Daniel Ziv Research Institute in Rehovot, from which the Weizmann Institute of Science later grew. Haber accepted the offer and planned to come to Israel.
Einstein wrote to him ironically that he was glad to hear that his love for the "blonde beast" had cooled, adding that he would never have imagined that his wild friend would become a supporter of the Jewish cause and the Land of Israel.
Haber did not live to see his plan come to fruition. He died of a heart attack in Basel on January 29, 1934, on his way to a new life outside Germany.
In a letter of condolence to his family, Einstein wrote that Haber's life was "the tragedy of the German Jew - the tragedy of unrequited love."
Friendship over a moral abyss
What was the basis of their friendship? Both were born into secular, assimilated, middle-class Jewish families. Both were great scientists and dedicated to science, but they represented completely different responses to German society.
Haber loved ranks, titles, and honor. Einstein abhorred hierarchy, military discipline, and the "stupid faith in authority." Haber saw civil service and patriotism as expressions of moral duty; Einstein was suspicious of state institutions and the power they wield over individuals.
Even when the Nazis came to power, the gap between them was exposed. In March 1933, Einstein resigned from the Prussian Academy of Sciences and announced that he would not return to Germany, because the new regime did not recognize individual rights and equality before the law.
When the Academy considered issuing a hostile resolution against Einstein, Max von Laue spoke out against the move at a special meeting on April 6. He was left almost alone. Haber, Einstein's friend, did not join in his opposition and voted with the majority.
Nevertheless, Einstein continued to be drawn to Haber's charisma, wit, and knowledge. He saw Haber as a kind and reliable friend, with a rich spiritual world, a tendency toward introspection and depression. They often met for coffee. Einstein forgave him for his nationalism, his militarism, and his central responsibility for chemical warfare.
The Schwarzschild Affair
This forgiving attitude stands out against the backdrop of Einstein's attitude towards Karl Schwarzschild, the German-Jewish astronomer and physicist who found the first exact solution to the equations of general relativity.
Schwarzschild volunteered for the German army at the age of forty and served as an artillery officer. He was involved in ballistic calculations and meteorological observations. During his service at the front, he contracted pemphigus, a severe autoimmune skin disease, and died of it on May 11, 1916, at the age of 42. He did not die from gas poisoning, and mustard gas was not used on the battlefield for the first time until 1917, after his death.
Einstein wrote an impressive eulogy for him, but in a letter to his friend Michele Besso criticized his identification with the German military effort. The contrast raises a question: Why did Einstein have difficulty coming to terms with Schwarzschild's military volunteering, but forgave Haber for his much deeper involvement in the war?
Perhaps friendship is not weighed in neat moral scales. Einstein saw Haber as a brilliant, charismatic, and contradictory man, and their personal relationship survived differences of opinion that were almost impossible to bridge.
At the end of his life, Haber realized that his love for Germany was unrequited. He is credited with saying to Chaim Weizmann: "At the end of my days I see myself as bankrupt; I will go and not be, and my name will be forgotten."
His name has not been forgotten. He remains associated simultaneously with the fertilizers that helped feed billions and the chemical weapons that caused suffering and death. Perhaps that is why his friendship with Einstein remains a disturbing symbol of the fact that scientific greatness does not guarantee moral clarity.
Questions and Answers
What was the Haber-Bush process?
An industrial process for producing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen at high pressure and temperature in the presence of a catalyst. It enabled the mass production of fertilizers, but also provided a starting material for the production of explosives.
What was Fritz Haber's role in chemical weapons?
Haber led the German research effort to develop Chemical weapon and oversaw preparations for the chlorine attack near Ypres in April 1915.
How did Haber and Einstein remain friends despite their opposing views?
The relationship was based on deep intellectual appreciation, personal conversations, and mutual assistance. Einstein strongly opposed Haber's nationalism and military activities, but continued to value his personality and their friendship.
Did Karl Schwarzschild die from a gas attack?
No. Schwarzschild contracted pemphigus, an autoimmune skin disease, and died from it in May 1916. Mustard gas was first used on the battlefield only in 1917.
Read more on the news website
- Karl Schwarzschild: The scientist who solved Einstein's equations from the front
- James Frank – Creator of weapons of mass destruction and fighter against them
- Albert Einstein – Scientist and Philosopher
- Is it possible to improve the ammonia synthesis process?
- A century of chemical weapons and the fight to ban them
For the original publication: Opening the original publication
More on the subject on the science website
- The Murdered History of Marc Bloch – the Jewish historian murdered by the Nazis and buried in the Pantheon in Paris
- Karl Schwarzschild: The scientist who solved Einstein's equations from the front
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