Description:

THE INVENTOR OF THE ATOMIC BOMB...AND THOSE THAT USED IT AT WAR
The most unusual "short snorter" we have ever uncovered, a 1938 Russian one ruble note signed on the reverse by the man who pioneered the development of the atomic bomb, J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (1904-1967). Oppenheimer is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first nuclear weapons. After viewing the first test of "the bomb", Oppenheimer that it brought to mind words from the Bhagavad Gita: "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Oppenheimer would thereafter oppose nuclear proliferation until his death. The note is also signed by THOMAS W. FEREBEE(1918-2000), the Army Air Corps officer who served as the bombardier on the Enola Gay's mission to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, adding rank as "Maj." and also by KERMIT K. BEAHAN (1918-1989), the Army Air Corps officer who dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki three days later, who adds his rank as "Capt.". As both bombardiers appear to have used the same pen, we suspect this item was signed very shortly after their missions, probably while both were still on Tinian Island. An excessively rare grouping of signatures on a single piece.

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September 27, 2012 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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