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I wonder if Oppenheimer would have been haunted by the atom bomb's use if it was dropped on Germany instead of Japan

posted a year ago by RustyShacklefurd (2039)
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Oppenheimer's Jewishness is mentioned several times in the movie, more than I thought it would be mentioned. We know that Nazi Germany was on his mind because he was concerned about it being able to develop the atom bomb first. The movie shows how he was haunted by the atom bomb's use on Japan. I wander if he would have felt the same if it was used on Germany instead considering that it was the Germans who killed millions of his fellow Jews. Perhaps if it was used on the Germans then his only feeling would have been the satisfaction of revenge.

[–] Martoto (5036) a year ago

The movie doesn't show he was haunted by its use on Japan. He was troubled by the arms race it spawned which would destroy all mankind if that race had to be settled by the use of the new weapons.

[–] RustyShacklefurd (2039) a year ago

Don't you remember the scene where Oppenheimer gave that speech at Los Alamos after Hiroshima was bombed? It showed him imagining the dead bodies at Hiroshima. Aside from what the movie itself showed, Oppenheimer reportedly fell into a depression after he saw the immediate impact of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He told Harry Truman that he felt he had blood on his hands.

[–] Martoto (5036) a year ago

And it showed him primarily imagining a crowd of Caucasian people being obliterated by the bomb It wasn't because it was Japan that he was disturbed. It wasn't "What have I done to Japan?". It was what he thought he'd done to humanity. The bomb was pursued long after its need in the Europe theater was redundant. The movie showed he knew about the murder of millions of Jews by the Nazis but he didn't view Japan all that differently from Germany when it came to completing the project.

[–] RustyShacklefurd (2039) a year ago

The dead bodies Oppenheimer imagined were supposed to represent the Japanese that had just been killed. The decision to keep working on developing the atom bomb after the war ended in Europe wasn't made by Oppenheimer. The movie never showed Oppenheimer expressing hatred of the Japanese.

Regardless of how he may have felt about the Japanese prior to the atom bombings, he clearly felt bad about it afterwards. That's an establishted historical fact. As I told you before, Oppenheimer reportedly fell into a depression after he saw the immediate impact of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and he told Harry Truman that he felt he had blood on his hands.