19. Weizmann found the famous chemist, ‘broken, muddled, moving about in a
mental and moral vacuum …’, Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 226.
20. Gas Warriors. General Harold Hartley was head of Gas Warfare on the
British side. William Pope, Chair of Chemistry at Cambridge, was knighted
(K.B.E) in 1919 for developing mustard gas for the Chemical War Service.
Frederick Donnan of course was Robert’s tutor at UCL. These three men had
a remarkable affinity with Haber’s views on chemical warfare which they too
thought was more humane than conventional weapons.
21. ‘A Genius for Friendship’, pp 1–16, from Fractured Biographies (German
Monitor), Editor Ian Wallace, (c) Editions Radopi B. V., Amsterdam—New
York, NY (2003). ISBN-10: 904200956X and ISBN-13: 978-9042009561.
Containing ten letters from Haber to Sir William Pope from Paris and
Cambridge over the period August 1933 to January 1934. The letters are also
held as part of the Haber-Sammelung at the MPG, Berlin. These letters are a
moving testimony of Haber’s state of mind at the time.
22. From the letters in note 21 quoted in Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 228.
23. The dreaded ‘Reichsfluchtsteuer’, the ‘Reich Flight Tax’ to prevent the flight of
capital from the Weimar Republic.
24. The letters in note 21 show that Haber suggested a form of ‘ceremonial
honour’ that the British Ambassador in Berlin might present to the German
Foreign Office, which as an act of international courtesy, they might feel
obliged to support.
25. Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 232.
26. Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 234.
27. At the meeting with Weizmann in Zermatt, Haber had apparently
announced that; “I was one of the mightiest men in Germany, but at the end of
my life I find myself a bankrupt”. Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 231.
28. Charlotte brought the children to London in 1934 after Haber’s death. ‘Lutz’
became a Reader in Economic History at the University of Surrey whilst Eva
married and settled in Bath. Lutz died in 2004, Eva died in 2017.
29. I am completely indebted to Mrs. Joyce Heater (Hon. Archivist) at Brighton
for my understanding of Peter’s time there. She tells me; Peter Walter first
appears in a list of new boys at Brighton in May 1929 when he would have
been almost sixteen. The school has no indication of his previous education
but he would hardly have come from a ‘prep’ school at that age. This raises
the possibility of health problems and perhaps private tuition, but the school
has no evidence of either. He may have attended Brighton College ‘prep’
school at some stage but it was independently owned at the time and records
are incomplete. Peter was a boarder at Walpole House, the building still exists
but it closed as such in 1934 due to the depression. Peter was a Walpole
House Prefect there in January 1932 and a school Prefect from May 1932.
This was a great privilege and he is shown wearing the school tie in Plate
(16.2). He was also Platoon Commander in the OTC and achieved
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
401
mental and moral vacuum …’, Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 226.
20. Gas Warriors. General Harold Hartley was head of Gas Warfare on the
British side. William Pope, Chair of Chemistry at Cambridge, was knighted
(K.B.E) in 1919 for developing mustard gas for the Chemical War Service.
Frederick Donnan of course was Robert’s tutor at UCL. These three men had
a remarkable affinity with Haber’s views on chemical warfare which they too
thought was more humane than conventional weapons.
21. ‘A Genius for Friendship’, pp 1–16, from Fractured Biographies (German
Monitor), Editor Ian Wallace, (c) Editions Radopi B. V., Amsterdam—New
York, NY (2003). ISBN-10: 904200956X and ISBN-13: 978-9042009561.
Containing ten letters from Haber to Sir William Pope from Paris and
Cambridge over the period August 1933 to January 1934. The letters are also
held as part of the Haber-Sammelung at the MPG, Berlin. These letters are a
moving testimony of Haber’s state of mind at the time.
22. From the letters in note 21 quoted in Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 228.
23. The dreaded ‘Reichsfluchtsteuer’, the ‘Reich Flight Tax’ to prevent the flight of
capital from the Weimar Republic.
24. The letters in note 21 show that Haber suggested a form of ‘ceremonial
honour’ that the British Ambassador in Berlin might present to the German
Foreign Office, which as an act of international courtesy, they might feel
obliged to support.
25. Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 232.
26. Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 234.
27. At the meeting with Weizmann in Zermatt, Haber had apparently
announced that; “I was one of the mightiest men in Germany, but at the end of
my life I find myself a bankrupt”. Charles, op. cit. (note 18), p. 231.
28. Charlotte brought the children to London in 1934 after Haber’s death. ‘Lutz’
became a Reader in Economic History at the University of Surrey whilst Eva
married and settled in Bath. Lutz died in 2004, Eva died in 2017.
29. I am completely indebted to Mrs. Joyce Heater (Hon. Archivist) at Brighton
for my understanding of Peter’s time there. She tells me; Peter Walter first
appears in a list of new boys at Brighton in May 1929 when he would have
been almost sixteen. The school has no indication of his previous education
but he would hardly have come from a ‘prep’ school at that age. This raises
the possibility of health problems and perhaps private tuition, but the school
has no evidence of either. He may have attended Brighton College ‘prep’
school at some stage but it was independently owned at the time and records
are incomplete. Peter was a boarder at Walpole House, the building still exists
but it closed as such in 1934 due to the depression. Peter was a Walpole
House Prefect there in January 1932 and a school Prefect from May 1932.
This was a great privilege and he is shown wearing the school tie in Plate
(16.2). He was also Platoon Commander in the OTC and achieved
16 The GEC Laboratories 1930–1939
401