The Manhattan Project was a secret U.S. effort during World War II to develop nuclear weapons, driven by fears that Nazi Germany was doing the same. Running from 1939 to 1945, it involved top scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer and was led by General Leslie Groves. Key sites included Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hanford. It produced the first atomic bomb, tested in July 1945, and culminated in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending the war.

Several prominent scientists involved in the development of the atom bomb during the Manhattan Project were Jewish or of Jewish heritage. Here are a few examples:

1. J. Robert Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer, often referred to as the “father of the atomic bomb,” was born into a wealthy Jewish family in New York City, although he himself did not practice Judaism actively.

2. Leo Szilard

Szilard was a Hungarian-Jewish physicist who first conceived the idea of a nuclear chain reaction and was instrumental in initiating the Manhattan Project. He co-wrote the famous Einstein-Szilard letter to President Roosevelt.

3. Edward Teller

Teller, also a Hungarian Jew, was another significant contributor to the Manhattan Project and later became known as the “father of the hydrogen bomb.”

4. Eugene Wigner

Wigner, another Hungarian-Jewish physicist, contributed to the theoretical understanding of nuclear reactions and played a role in the Manhattan Project.

5. Niels Bohr

While not directly involved in building the bomb, Bohr, a Danish physicist of Jewish descent on his mother’s side, provided critical theoretical insights and helped bridge communication between European and American scientists.

Their contributions reflect the significant role of Jewish scientists in the development of nuclear science and technology during this era. Many of these individuals fled Europe during the rise of Nazism, bringing their expertise to the United States.