was aware of friends in Germany long after he left. Coates however is singled
out for particular attention. ‘He owes his life to me!’ Robert recalls when
Coates and Kirchenbauer worked on what Jaenicke vaguely calls the ‘oxide
case’
21 which they were testing at 300 atmospheres. ‘I was horrified at the
[dangerous] way they tested it .. they simply put it out of the window …
Coates and Kirchenbauer used to have a jolly good talking [to]!’ But he also
recorded the undercurrent of anti-Semitism in Germany against some.
Robert’s friend Paul Krassa for example married a Russian General’s daughter,
who was very indignant that she married a Jew. The Habers and the Le
Rossignols were at their wedding in Dahlem, Robert noting that she cried the
whole time and she was very nervous and sick. After that the couple lost
contact with their parents and later left for Chile making their life there. As
for the relationship between Haber and Nernst, Robert was careful … ‘I don’t
like to say too much … Nernst was not a pleasant gentleman … [at
Hamburg] he told Haber all his work was wrong …’.
After leaving Robert and Emily, the Jaenickes moved on to Swansea to
meet J. E. Coates, still surviving after a career as Professor of Chemistry at
University College there! Coates of course presented the Haber Memorial
Lecture to the Chemical Society a few years after Haber’s death in 1934, and
Jaenicke was keen to be allowed access this material along with Coates’
recollections, but did he mischievously make Coates aware of Robert’s
comments? Who knows? However, Robert subsequently received a final
enthusiastic letter from Jaenicke;
October 13
th 1959,
Dear Herr Doktor Le Rossignol
After an enjoyable trip through southern England and
Wales my wife and I wish to return [to Germany] without
delay. We are grateful to you and your gracious wife for
the hospitality and the information you gave us in your
home. We have perceived it as a particular advantage, to
have had a personal acquaintance with one of the closest
employees of Haber in both a social and academic climate. Through your recollections I feel in many
respects more confident and richer than previously and I
now have a clearer picture of Haber allowing me to
counter some of the more extravagant claims regarding
his life.
472
D. Sheppard
out for particular attention. ‘He owes his life to me!’ Robert recalls when
Coates and Kirchenbauer worked on what Jaenicke vaguely calls the ‘oxide
case’
21 which they were testing at 300 atmospheres. ‘I was horrified at the
[dangerous] way they tested it .. they simply put it out of the window …
Coates and Kirchenbauer used to have a jolly good talking [to]!’ But he also
recorded the undercurrent of anti-Semitism in Germany against some.
Robert’s friend Paul Krassa for example married a Russian General’s daughter,
who was very indignant that she married a Jew. The Habers and the Le
Rossignols were at their wedding in Dahlem, Robert noting that she cried the
whole time and she was very nervous and sick. After that the couple lost
contact with their parents and later left for Chile making their life there. As
for the relationship between Haber and Nernst, Robert was careful … ‘I don’t
like to say too much … Nernst was not a pleasant gentleman … [at
Hamburg] he told Haber all his work was wrong …’.
After leaving Robert and Emily, the Jaenickes moved on to Swansea to
meet J. E. Coates, still surviving after a career as Professor of Chemistry at
University College there! Coates of course presented the Haber Memorial
Lecture to the Chemical Society a few years after Haber’s death in 1934, and
Jaenicke was keen to be allowed access this material along with Coates’
recollections, but did he mischievously make Coates aware of Robert’s
comments? Who knows? However, Robert subsequently received a final
enthusiastic letter from Jaenicke;
October 13
th 1959,
Dear Herr Doktor Le Rossignol
After an enjoyable trip through southern England and
Wales my wife and I wish to return [to Germany] without
delay. We are grateful to you and your gracious wife for
the hospitality and the information you gave us in your
home. We have perceived it as a particular advantage, to
have had a personal acquaintance with one of the closest
employees of Haber in both a social and academic climate. Through your recollections I feel in many
respects more confident and richer than previously and I
now have a clearer picture of Haber allowing me to
counter some of the more extravagant claims regarding
his life.
472
D. Sheppard