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Oppenheimer’s hero Niels Bohr has a legacy as complicated as the “father of the atomic bomb”

In Christopher Nolan’s hit biopic “Oppenheimer,” real-life Danish physicist Niels Bohr is more than just a major character. As depicted by Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh, he is a living legend, looming large both over the film’s depiction of the Manhattan Project and over the psyche of the titular protagonist himself, J....

Originally posted on salon.com

My great-uncle helped liberate a concentration camp. His last words to me were a warning

The last time I saw my great-uncle, he uttered six words that I will never forget. Struggling to speak, as he was already 102 years old, his mouth slowly formed each syllable with excruciating effort: “Nazis… are… bastards… Shoot… to… kill!”

My mother and I laughed. We were visiting Dr. Merrill Stern — retired New Jersey dentist and former officer in the United States Army Air Corps (a precursor to the Air Force) — after receiving a dire update about his health....

Originally posted on salon.com