gifted one. He absorbed every thing available to an upper-middle class boy in
Breslau at the time. Theatre, literature, philosophy, friendly debate and
endless drinking in the city’s beer cellars. As often becomes the eldest child,
Fritz grew into a leader within the circle of his family and friends, at the same
time becoming a great favourite due to his kindness and the pleasure he took
in helping others. He soon became the dominant figure in his home and this
inevitably led to confrontations with his father. The two men were radically
different. Many of Siegfried’s brothers and sisters were adventurous and
talkative but within his family Siegfried was regarded as ‘dour’, not particularly social, careful with money and a pessimist. Young Fritz however was a
reckless spendthrift, an eternal optimist who lost all track of time when
engaged in conversation and creative in all he did. Balancing this aspect of his
personality however was an emerging interest in things more structured,
disciplined and academic, firstly through a knack for developing rhyming
verse which he used to entertain the family at special occasions and then
through an early interest in chemistry. This may have been sparked by his
father who possessed some chemical expertise, but it was probably the limit of
Siegfried’s influence over his son. More influential was his uncle Hermann—
brother of his mother Paula and cousin to his father—a liberal who ran a local
newspaper to which Fritz later contributed. Uncle Hermann also provided
space in his apartment for Fritz’s early chemical experiments, some of them
quite dangerous. By the time Fritz graduated from the Gymnasium—largely
undistinguished in his written examinations except for history and mathematics but with a masterful performance in the oral aspects (Charles
6
)—he
decided that he had enough of Breslau and indeed of his father.
Fritz was stifled. At the time, he wrote that Breslau was an ‘intellectual
swamp’. ‘Nothing, absolutely nothing; nothing satisfying to do, no stimulation only irritation and tedium … I’m so disgusted with my entire life here
that I could burst!’ (Charles
6 ). Here he was idle, ‘as idle as a painted ship on a
painted ocean’, Fritz therefore decided to go to university. To Siegfried Haber
however, a university education was expensive and unfamiliar, no-one in the
family had aspired to it and Jews were in short supply in the upper ranks of
Germany’s academic elite, (Charles
6
). Siegfried respected those modest
achievements
10 that were attainable for a Jew in Breslau and he was not
inclined to offer his son financial support. More acceptable to him would have
been an apprenticeship that would have prepared Fritz to take over the family
business. Another confrontation loomed, but uncle Hermann mediated and
broke the deadlock. Siegfried and Hermann had grown up together but
40
D. Sheppard
Breslau at the time. Theatre, literature, philosophy, friendly debate and
endless drinking in the city’s beer cellars. As often becomes the eldest child,
Fritz grew into a leader within the circle of his family and friends, at the same
time becoming a great favourite due to his kindness and the pleasure he took
in helping others. He soon became the dominant figure in his home and this
inevitably led to confrontations with his father. The two men were radically
different. Many of Siegfried’s brothers and sisters were adventurous and
talkative but within his family Siegfried was regarded as ‘dour’, not particularly social, careful with money and a pessimist. Young Fritz however was a
reckless spendthrift, an eternal optimist who lost all track of time when
engaged in conversation and creative in all he did. Balancing this aspect of his
personality however was an emerging interest in things more structured,
disciplined and academic, firstly through a knack for developing rhyming
verse which he used to entertain the family at special occasions and then
through an early interest in chemistry. This may have been sparked by his
father who possessed some chemical expertise, but it was probably the limit of
Siegfried’s influence over his son. More influential was his uncle Hermann—
brother of his mother Paula and cousin to his father—a liberal who ran a local
newspaper to which Fritz later contributed. Uncle Hermann also provided
space in his apartment for Fritz’s early chemical experiments, some of them
quite dangerous. By the time Fritz graduated from the Gymnasium—largely
undistinguished in his written examinations except for history and mathematics but with a masterful performance in the oral aspects (Charles
6
)—he
decided that he had enough of Breslau and indeed of his father.
Fritz was stifled. At the time, he wrote that Breslau was an ‘intellectual
swamp’. ‘Nothing, absolutely nothing; nothing satisfying to do, no stimulation only irritation and tedium … I’m so disgusted with my entire life here
that I could burst!’ (Charles
6 ). Here he was idle, ‘as idle as a painted ship on a
painted ocean’, Fritz therefore decided to go to university. To Siegfried Haber
however, a university education was expensive and unfamiliar, no-one in the
family had aspired to it and Jews were in short supply in the upper ranks of
Germany’s academic elite, (Charles
6
). Siegfried respected those modest
achievements
10 that were attainable for a Jew in Breslau and he was not
inclined to offer his son financial support. More acceptable to him would have
been an apprenticeship that would have prepared Fritz to take over the family
business. Another confrontation loomed, but uncle Hermann mediated and
broke the deadlock. Siegfried and Hermann had grown up together but
40
D. Sheppard