Project Number: 48-JDF-0812
FRITZ HABER: THE PROTEAN MAN
An Interactive Qualifying Project Report
submitted to the
Faculty of
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of Bachelor of Science
by
Elizabeth L. Ray
Kristin E. Renault
Meghan A. Roache
Date: March 5, 2009
Approved:
Professor Joseph D. Fehribach, Major Advisor
Professor David B. Dollenmayer, Co-Advisor
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Enjoy the gaieties of life
And its serious sides as well.
Nothing alive has a single cause,
It is always many-sided.
Freut Euch des wahren Scheins
Euch
des ernsten Spieles
Kein lebendiges ist Eins
Immer ist‟s ein Vieles.
1
Lutz Haber
Bath, March 1998
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This IQP analyzes whether German chemist Fritz Haber ever considered the moral implications of his
involvement in the development of German chemical weapons, including Zyklon B. Haber, born a Jew, had
family members killed in Nazi gas chambers, making this ethical dilemma even greater. This question was
investigated using several biographies, articles, and original letters translated German. We determined there is no
evidence that Haber regretted his involvement.
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Contents
INTRODUCTION: FRITZ HABER: THE PROTEAN MAN ....................................................................................... - 5 -
THE EARLY YEARS: AN OVERVIEW OF HIS LIFE BEFORE HIS WORK WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS - 8 -
THE GREAT WAR: “THE GREATEST PERIOD OF HIS LIFE” ............................................................................ - 12 -
C
LARA
I
MMERWAHR
:
H
ABER
‟
S
F
IRST
W
IFE
................................................................................................................... -
22
-
THE POST-WAR YEARS: HABER’S ONGOING RESEARCH ON CHEMICAL WEAPONRY ........................ - 29 -
A
LBERT
E
INSTEIN
:
“F
RIENDS IN
O
PPOSITION
”
1
.............................................................................................................. -
36
-
C
HARLOTTE
N
ATHAN
:
H
IS
S
ECOND
W
IFE
...................................................................................................................... -
47
-
THE FINAL YEARS: “THE TRAGEDY OF THE GERMAN JEW”
1
....................................................................... - 52 -
R
ICHARD
W
ILLSTÄTTER
:
T
HE
R
ELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
F
RITZ
H
ABER AND HIS
O
LDEST
F
RIEND AND
C
OLLEAGUE
...... -
61
-
W
ILLIAM
P
OPE
:
E
NEMY
T
URNED
A
DVOCATE
................................................................................................................. -
67
-
CONCLUSION: LIKE FIRE IN THE HANDS OF SMALL CHILDREN ................................................................. - 70 -
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................................. - 74 -
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Introduction: Fritz Haber: The Protean Man
Is it possible for a person to exist who is a very patriotic German, a Jew who became more aware of his
faith later in life, a person who helped catapult world food production to record highs, and a man who aided
Germany in developing the chemical weapons which killed thousands of people? Surprisingly, the answer is yes;
his name was Fritz Haber and by today‟s standards one might consider him to be a monster. When one considers
the circumstances in which he lived, however, he becomes a more sympathetic character with complex
motivations who made choices he once believed were the right ones. Did he regret these decisions before he
died, or did he go to the grave firm in the belief that everything he did was morally sound and justifiable? We
hope to illustrate in this work just what sort of a man Fritz Haber was.
First, we will present a brief history of Fritz Haber‟s early life; in order to understand the man he grew to
become, one must first understand the child he once was. The values which his father instilled in him would
become the basis of his morals. Examining his life during World War I, which will be referred to as the Great
War for the remainder of this paper, will show that he believed that chemicals were a legitimate form of
weaponry. When others spoke out against them, he simply believed that these people were resistant to change,
once stating “The disapproval that the knight felt for the man with a gun is repeated by the soldier who shoots
steel bullets, when confronted by a man who appears with chemical weapons.”
1
This statement clearly illustrated
that he was consistently an advocate of technological advancement, in this case chemical warfare.
A study of his marriages–first to Clara Immerwahr, until she committed suicide with his service pistol in
1915, and second to Charlotte Nathan, which ended in divorce–shows a demanding and oppressive side of
Haber‟s personality to which his friends and colleagues were never exposed. Unaware of his near-tyrannical rule
at home, they unanimously declared him to be a “great man, but friendly at the same time.”
2
Richard Willstätter
and Albert Einstein were two examples of this. These two relationships evolved over time from being strictly
colleagues to being colleagues and friends, so that the letters exchanged between Haber and the two men
eventually contained matters of a more personal nature, in addition to matters pertaining to their work. Because
of this, we can gain more insight into Haber‟s true character.