Heavy Water War: Stopping Hitler's Atomic Bomb

Has anyone seen this Norwegian television mini-series? I just ordered it and wonder if I am in for a good experience. It tells the story of physicist Heisenberg and his (alledged) efforts to sabotage Hitler's atomic bomb program.

 

Haven't seen the series but I watched a documentary about the Norwegian heavy water sabotage at Vemork and the recovery of the barrels containing heavy water that were trapped on the bottom of the lake for decades. It turned out that some of the barrels were intact and still contained the heavy water.
Quite an interesting documentary that was.

 

This is one of those mysteries that will lead to consistent conjecture until documents reveal, without a doubt, what he was actually doing. The show sounds interesting to me but the show seems to be leaning towards one side, but I could be mistaken. I'll have to check it out. Let us know how it is.

 

Okay I will. There was an interesting part of the miniseries "A Man Called In trepid" that revolved around the sabotage of heavy water.

 

OP, I'd have to go with KJ's comments It's still ANYTHING but clear what Heisenberg did during the war. After the war he claimed he slowed down research etc...but it's also suitably clear from his mid-war visit to Nils Bohr that he didn't know what he was doing or what direction to go in - he was still butting his head up against the idea that a "bomb" was only a runaway reactor....and thus had to weigh 100tons+ !!! And that visit was quite late in the day....

Kurt Deibner later had at least one unsuccessful go at a heavy water-moderated reactor....little more than a hole in the ground, really. And was about to carry out a second test when the war ended. It was actually the Canadians who proved, six months after VE Day, that it was possible to build a heavy-water moderated reactor at Chalk River.

 

Thanks for the clarification Phylo. I will be alert to how Heisenberg is portrayed.

 

Finally received my copy and watched it. Terrific!

The Norwegan sequences are powerful and realistic. The winter plateau scenery is austere and beautiful. Shot in three languages (English, German and Norwegan) and subtitled, rather than have people speak with silly accents.

Heisenberg is treated with just the right amount of ambiguity to suggest that the historical record is muddled. Did he try to slow down the German effort to produce a German atomic bomb as he later claimed? Or was he just unsuccessful in his efforts? That's left unclear. The actor they chose to play him is rather enigmatic in several key scenes. The famous meeting with Neils Bohr was very well handled. The moral decision to kill innocent people in an act of sabotage (arguably an act of terrorism) in order to save more people later is treated with the weight it deserves. It does not come easily to any of the SOE people.

Really good series.

 

Thanks for the review Andre7,

Looks like something I may start watching.

 

Watched the first few episodes and I am really enjoying it. Good writing and excellent acting. Yes, the history you have to take with a grain of salt, but solid enough that it keeps your interest. Looking forward to watching it further when the kiddos hit the rack

Thanks for the recommendation Andre

 

"Kampen om tungtvannet" (means: 'The Fight Over the Heavy Water') from 1948 is an older Norwegian film about the same events at Rjukan. Then of course we have the American 1965 film "The Heroes of Telemark".

In this film some of the actors where actually those who took part in the raid.

 

I borrowed a copy of Heroes of the Telemark after posting this. It was not bad. Some of the usual Hollywood soap opera romance, but the scene of the raid on the plant was well comparatively well done. Not crazy about the way they showed the ferry at the end. They had the heroes standing by with a boat to pick up survivors... Really?