Original subtitles

Fuses. Blasting caps.

Blasting caps.

We're calling it!

- What happened? - It's my fault.

- I was sure I had them. - It's all right. -It's not fucking all right, he has to check first.

It's not his fault, you where already late. By 15 seconds.

- There are a lot of stairs. - That's the least of your problems.

Any questions before we try again?

What's so important about that water?

The Heavy Water War: Stopping Hitler's Atomic Bomb

My famous friend Niels Bohr.

- Did you just arrive? - No, no, no. I was watching you.

I just wanted to be the first one to congratulate you. You beat me by six years.

-Without you, I wouldn't have... - Na-h, nonsense.

The new star is Werner Heisenberg. I'm so proud of you, as the day I won it myself.

- The whole institute is ecstatic. - All my thoughts and theories... - Yeah, anyways...

Where are we going to celebrate? I hear that Stockholm is full of young women with Nobel-fewer.

Now, I am going to tell you something that is more secret than the fact

that an object can be in two places at the same time.

Women are unpredictable.

Nothing in my scientific research indicates that a young, beautiful, intelligent and entertaining woman

- can't fall for a pale, unathletic and quiet nuclear physicist.

On the contrary. All my calculations point to you being able to pick from the top draw.

- Now don't forget what I told you. - An object can be in two places at the same time.

No. Women are unpredictable.

- Right. - Mr Heisenberg?

Adolf Hitler has had absolute control of Germany since August 1934

I can't stand the smell of coal when I am pregnant.

You shouldn't be pregnant so often.

Hurry up and invent that new fuel.

You will get the future as a late anniversary present.

- Thanks. - Sorry, but what fuel?

Neutron in a chain reaction.

They fission the core and it forms... Like a hurricane Out of control

- Last cry within the world of science. - Yes, she is right.

Politics does not interest me.

It's a shame that the world sees Germany from looking at these people.

- Himmler is not that bad. - What do you mean by that?

Because my mother knows his mother.

Have you ever seen Himmler's chin?

I've heard that you where offed a job at Colombia.

Yes. Do you think I accepted?

I don't know.

My kids will grow up in Germany.

And I also can't think without you.

- Are we expecting someone? - Himmler's mother, perhaps?

- Werner Heisenberg? - Yes. - Can you follow us?

- Why? - Now, this instant.

I don't understand.

You are getting interrogated.

Do you know who I am? Professor Werner Heisenberg.

I would prefer not to arrest you. Will you come freely?

Is everything alright?

In this letter you refuse to go to a conference about Aryan physics.

- That falls short. - What? - That falls short.

- So you are against it? - Essential things are missing.

In December 1938 you refused to participate in the Nuremberg Rally.

I am perceiving ... - And you refused to join NSDAP.

- I am a physicist. - Yes, which is working against the state.

- That's a lie. - You quote jews and others

who are actively working against the Nazi movement.

- They are all recognised scientists... - That have betrayed Germany.

- And you confess to referring them a number of times.

- and you quote them in public texts and articles.

"Understanding modern physics would be impossible without Albert Einstein."

A Jew, as you know.

"The advancement within quantum mechanics builds up on the research by Max Born."

Also a Jew.

"The answer to the Schrödinger equation describes macroscopic systems" -

- "and therefore the answer to the universe."

I can understand it is hard to believe.

Your marriage is a fake.

You met in January 1937. Three weeks later you got engaged.

And on the 29th of April, no more than 3 months later, you married.

Until then you had not shown any interest in women.

You never had a girlfriend or any close relations with a woman.

Witnesses confirm you are interested in men.

- Young men, in particular. - That's ridiculous.

On the 8th of March in Leipzig,

on a trip to Urbach you slept in a tent with three young men.

On the 24th of July, the same year

you encouraged the group to jump in Tegernsee (lake), naked.

- We were scouts. - No, professor Heisenberg.

You are a faggot.

- It's only two months. - Or two days.

- I am not going to die. - Don't you think any soldier will die?

Herfriede's brother died. Do you think he planned that?

Why the hell is Germany sending

their most important scientist to the trenches?

Come here.

This is completely crazy.

Werner. Werner!

- Did you not receive the message? - What message?

This is professor Heisenberg, as you know.

- What is this? - Read. - Just a moment, please.

Werner, it worked.

Himmler's mother gave him the letter, he is going good for you.

Here, for you. Read it, now. A letter from Himmler.

He means SS was wrong, and that Germany needs its scientists.

Diebner started a new project with the governments support.

It's the biggest thing we have participated in.

Do you understanding what I am saying?

Do you need anything else?

You have to be careful.

- Welcome, professor. Weizsäcker. -Mr Diebner.

The Army Weapons Agency, Berlin

- The Uranium club. -Yes.

Formal but at the same time casual.

We only took the best ones. Geiger. Hahn.

Harteck. Stetter. You know them all.

What is the target?

A nuclear reaction. Energy production from uranium.

I am going to have to make you sign. The project is top secret.

Why?

We are under Waffenamt's (the Army Weapons Agency) control.

We have everything we need. Resources, materials

assistants, everything you wish.

As scientists we have never had better conditions than here.

Einstein said: "Do not fear war serving science"

- But science serving war... Einstein.

Mr Heisenberg, with all due respect ...

We don't want to hear names like Einstein, Debye, Herzberg, Schrödinger.

And not Bohr either.

Knowledge is also a chain reaction. No idea comes from nothing.

I am not asking much of you.

You will get opportunities and terms that no other scientist has ever had before.

Tell me what you need, and I will see that you get it. Uranium, cement, graphite.

For building a reactor.

Good. What do we need?

- D2O. - D2O.

Heavy water?

We need heady water for starting a potential chain reaction.

Normal water absorbs to much of the neutrons.

Then I will get you heavy water.

Follow me.

The problem is that we need lots of it. And its only produced in Norway.

There is a factory in Norway that produces fertilisers.

The main product is ammonia, the byproduct is water.

A chemist used it to boil coffee

and realised it boiled at higher temperatures.

The discovery of heavy water.

How many know what one can do with heavy water?

The French, maybe. Not many.

I don't know any by name.

Good.

The Second World War breaks out on September the 3rd, 1939.

The headquaters of Norsk Hydro, Oslo

- Heavy water. - Yes. -W hat are the Germans going to use that for?

They want a lot, and they also pay a lot.

- How fast until we can deliver? - I don't know.

I don't know if we have any.

I can contact Tronstad. He built the factory.

Yeah, do that.

Technical University of Norway Trondheim

Get yourself something to eat, then I'll see you all in half an hour.

- Henriksen, that's a sight for sore eyes. Yeah, I was in Trondheim, thought I'd come by.

I doubt that.

- It's about the heavy water - Ok. - How much can we deliver?

- They built up their production. - And I believe you stopped the production in August. - Alright.

- There is nothing left? - There might be a couple of litres in the basement.

- How much? - Don't know, but talk with Brun at the factory.

How much time will it take to resume? The Germans want it.

- The Germans? - Yes.

- How long? - Two to three months.

- How much? - Maximum one litre a day.

- Can we make more? - Yes, but at the expense of the ammonia.

Good. I will take the rest with Brun.

Funny experiment by the way.

- Have a good day. - You too.

Norsk Hydro's factory at Vemork/Rjukan

- Brun. - It's Leif calling.

- Everything good? - It was funnier when you where here.

Henriksen was here. He was wondering about the heavy water.

- He want to restart the production. - Wow?

He also wanted to know how much was left at Vermork. The Germans want it.

I knew the French where interested, but not the Germans.

- Do you know why? - No I'm not sure.

Well, then they can fight about the few litres we have left.

If a neutron is split from an atom, -

- then the atom will send out multiple neutrons.

Each one of these neutrons can split multiple atoms -

- that makes those atoms send out more neutrons -

- and because of that creates a growing number of atom fission's.

The purer the uranium is the more effective the chain reaction is.

I'm sorry, but I really can't see any practical use for this.

Well, there is one.

A slow chain reaction will create a heat producing uranium machine.

But a fast chain reaction will create a very effective nuclear explosion.

- How effective? - Very effective.

Very effective?

It depends on how much uranium we are talking about, right?

Let's say, 100 kg.

100 kg?

At the moment I can only guess, but 100 kg can -

- probably produce double the power.

If U235 is hit with a neutron, -

- then we will get uranium 236, which releases huge amounts of energy.

And then a new neutron ...

- Two or three? - What?

You drew one neutron. I might be misunderstanding -

- but it is more correct if we talk about two or three.

The number is crucial.

If you will allow it, may I...

Please.

When we are talking about one neutron, -

- then the energy released it not that great.

But if it is two or three neutrons from the first split -

- can hit new U235-nucleus, which also fission -

- then we have a total different picture.

To way that 1kg of uranium -

- only corresponds to double the amount of normal explosives -

- is a huge underestimation.

Lets see. The energy released from one fission -

- is 179 mega electron volt.

- which means that 1kg enriched uranium can produce the energy to no less -

- than 15,000 tonnes of normal explosives.

I'm sorry, can you... Can you repeat that please?

15,000 tonnes. I already wrote about this two years ago.

This bomb ...

Is it possible to build it?

I only calculated the energy that theoretically could be released.

But the answer is: Of course.

You only need to know how this kind of energy can be used.

Very promising.

The headquarters of Norsk Hydro, Oslo

Allier?

Welcome. Welcome.

- Good to see you. - But you know the board meeting is not before next month.

I know, but it is not the board that sent me this time.

I have been sent by the saint bureau.

According to our sources heavy water is devised, in the German arms program.

We propitiate you sell to France instead.

In France, Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie and his wife Irène use the heavy water -

- as a moderator in a nuclear reactor.

- To create energy? - Yes.

We do not know if the Germans have other plans, we do not intend to wait and see either.

- How much will France pay? - How much are the Germans paying?

- How much and how fast?? - All of it. Now.

Alright, we have a deal. You can pay up when you've won the war.

Idiots! Why did no one notice that it was loaded into another plane?

Everything is in France now! I will not be fooled!

Not by the French! Do you understand? Get out of my sight!

- Good morning. - Good morning.

- Is everything all right? - Yes.

- With the delivery? - Yes, yes.

There were some problems, but the situation in Norway will soon be under control.

- Oh, really? - Yes.

You will get your heavy water. That is what you need right?

Naturally.

Good.

Germany invades Denmark and Norway on April the 9th, 1940

There will be no lesson today.

As you have probably heard, the Germans are in town.

Science is a noble profession.

I myself have never had a bigger ambition than knowing more.

10 years ago I did not know that neutrons carried -

- energy up to 2 million electron volt.

And when I learned that, I thought: "This is the most important thing I will ever learn."

But I was wrong. It's probably the second most important thing.

Are we going to sit here and do math?

Or are we going to go out, weapon in hand and fight for what is ours?

Are we going to do as they say, and hope they will give something back in return?

Or are we going to use our heads, to try to send them home.

Dear students, dear scientists, dear humans...

The choice is yours.

But remember that the choice you make today, -

is going to be history in 100 years.

The choice is yours, and yours...

I want you to call the Industry federation and ask their support in stopping the acts of war.

The king should also be encouraged to abdicate, due to the situation.

The king is, after all, the head of Norway.

Norsk Hydro has had for several years, a budget much larger than the national budget.

I don't want to compare myself to the king, but the Federation asking him to abdicate would be for Norway's best.

All right.

We will increase the production of heavy water.

Negotiations are taking place with I.G Farben until further notice.

- Germany? - Do you have anything against that?

No.

The Germans keep sending people to the factory, everything from scientists to generals.

- What are they asking? - They want to expand Herøya.

And multiply the production of aluminium. Then it's the heavy water.

- They are also ordering more cells. - How many?

They want to quintuple the production and that I leave for Berlin.

Suddenly is everything's urgent.

I've alerted London, I now have nothing else to report. Gestapo is about to bust the entire group.

They took one of my students yesterday, interrogated and shot him.

Did he crack? Leak any names?

I don't know.

- So what do we do now? - I'll be heading for London.

I'll contact SIS and SOE and tell them what is happening.

You go back to the factory and do everything as before.

I'm sorry, I'll call you back later.

I have heard that you have paid Quisling and the National Gathering 25,000 kroner.

- We don't need any disturbances. - Haha, you are completely right.

The world won't stop because of an occupation or a government change.

- Can you spare a couple of minutes? - Yes.

- How are the negotiations going with the Germans? - They are keen on trading.

- I am only awaiting the board's approval. - That's the problem.

Germany, France, Norway, everyone in war. They are never going to decide.

I am wondering if the decisions regarding orders should be made locally.

Rjukan needs a new boss.

Someone who knows what's going on and can follow the production properly.

Wouldn't that be fun?

There are going to be 22 guests on Saturday.

It was hard getting proper food, but I managed to get three nice courses.

It will be wonderful to have our friends visit, in these strange times.

Yes.

What is it?

I've been asked to take more responsibility at Rjukan and Vemork.

- And that means? - It means I should be closer for a while.

- You? - Us.

- Do you mean moving? - Yes.

- When? - In a week.

- 22 bedrooms? - Yes, I told you it was big.

But it's only going to be the two of us.

Do you suggest that the new director should have to live in barracks because he doesn't have any kids?

- You are going to get by fine here. - We are going to get by fine.

Thanks.

Good day. Good day.

- I can't sit here. - What?

I thought we could go to the mountains this weekend.

I don't need to be at the factory until Monday.

Can you bring the bread?

Can I have a piece?

What are you thinking about?

This promotion and us moving, what good does it bring?

What do you mean by that?

It all happened so fast.

These are hard times. Very few know the in and outs of Hydro like I do.

Yes, but why the rush? You are only a lawyer.

I've been a faithful servant of Hydro my entire career.

Exactly. A faithful servant does not suddenly become a director.

Are you questioning my qualifications?

I guess I don't have anything to fear.

You have already begun talking like a director.

- Daddy? Where are you going? - To Oslo.

- For how long? - I might be back on Friday.

- Daddy, my train is broken. - Oh, is it?

I'll take it with be, then I can see if we can repair it over there.

- What's going on? - They are about to smoke me out.

- Where are you going? - To London. Via Sweden.

Is there any possibility for you to contact us?

I can write letters and send them to your mother.

What?

For our anniversary.

I melted the university ring.

Just make sure you return.

Leif Tronstad. I'm here to see Col. John Skinner Wilson.

He's expecting me.

- He's not here, sir. - He's not here? - No, sir.

I don't think you understand. I need to see him, it's important.

The colonel's not here, sir.

- We lost, sir? - No, no, no. I'm going to...

- Good... Goodg Street... - Goodge Street.

The King & Queen's on Goodge Street. It's not the best of places.

Bad mattresses, lumpy cushions, eggy smell in the corridor.

And there's bedbugs and crabs. Terrible choice, Mr Tronstad.

I'm sorry, do I know you?

Leif Tronstad, professor of inorganic chemistry at the NTH in Trondheim.

Sped through the diploma studies, became the youngest professor in the faculty at age 33.

Now the foremost expert in the world on heavy water

and responsible for building the factory that lies in the place with the name I'll never be able to pronounce.

- Rjukan. - Roocan. Told you.

Welcome to London, Mr Tronstad.

If you care to follow me. We've been expecting you.

Leif Tronstad, I heard you where on the premises.

I am colonel John Skinner Wilson. Eric Welsh sends his regards.

- How is everyone at home, your wife and children? - They're well. Thank you.

- You've already meet Capt. Smith? - Kind of.

Julie works in intelligence here. She is head of Norwegian operations.

I'm currently setting up lines of communication in Norway, as well as training field agents.

- Oh really, but you are a... - Yes, I'm a woman. How very observant of you Prof. Tronstad.

I'm also your superior officer. I've grown up with 5 brothers and can now outrun every one of them.

Don't underestimate Capt. Smith, Tronstad. She can tell you the last time you smoked a cigarette. She's been following you for the past four hours.

- Right, tell us what you know. - Production has gone up five times in the last year and -

the first deliveries are on their way. They have doubled the amount of fuel cells and are constantly hiring people.

- And the new director of the factory? - Bjørn Henriksen.

Aubert's right hand man, a wolf in sheep's clothing.

He was placed in the factory to bear the brunt, but he is no lightweight, he personally brought in the army during a strike at the factory

and he is reported to be in favour for the king abdicating after the invasion.

They call themselves "der Uranverein", the Uranium Club.

They've gathered together the best scientists in the country. People like von Weizsäcker, Bagge, Hahn

and of course Werner Heisenberg,the Nobel price winner.

Kurt Diebner runs the project, they are based at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute,

but the whole thing is run by the Waffenamt (Army Weapons Agency), with the sole aim of creating an atomic bomb.

We still don't know how far they've got, but with this new order for 5 tonnes of heavy water we have every reason to fear the worst.

You can start with these, Tronstad. Taken from 3,000 feet, so not perfect.

We had a plane over yesterday. Here is the factory, there's the bridge.

Check for any changes, building, transport and access, roads and paths.

And also all routines, employees, guards, management.

Names, affiliations, wives, children, girlfriends, mistresses.

Anything you can get a hold of, every last little scrap, however inconsequential it may seem.

You'll do all the sifting through. You will get your own office with everything you need, copies, photos, estimates.

We built a base camp in Scotland, so we're all flying up there tomorrow.

You could not have arrived at a better moment. What are you planning on doing?

- What are you planning on doing? - Stopping them, of course.

There are plenty of Norwegians with local knowledge and technical abilities. We can send over...

I don't think that is your decision or do you, Mr Tronstad?

We are at war. You are still playing at war.