How Did Julius Oppenheimer Change The World

On August 6th and 9th, 1945, about 80,000 Japanese civilians and soldiers were brutally killed in an instant by two American-made atomic bombs. Years of horrendous fallout would then follow in the wake of two of the worst man-made disasters of all time. This was the work of the many people who contributed to the Manhattan Project, which Julius Oppenheimer was chiefly involved. As the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, Julius was instrumental in the development of the world’s first weapon of mass destruction. What would cause this man to labor on such a terrible instrument of horrifying power, and how would this invention change the world? Julius Robert Oppenheimer was born in New York City on April 22, 1904. Julius was born to Julius Oppenheimer and Ella Friedman, and had one sibling, who was named Frank Oppenheimer. Julius’ parents immigrated to the United States of America in 1888. Oppenheimer and his family were all of Jewish descent, though none of the family were orthodox in belief (Rouze). When Oppenheimer was a little older, the boy went to school at the Ethical Culture School in New York (Carnes). Julius enrolled into the school in September of 1911. Julius excelled, and was advanced in the academic studies. Oppenheimer was so advanced that the Ethical Culture Society invited the …show more content…
Oppenheimer and Tatlock made plans to marry, though these plans were never carried out. At this time, Oppenheimer began to share many communist ideals. Julius also began to have socialist friends and was involved in socialist communities and clubs. In 1937, Oppenheimer’s father passed away and obtained a lot of money because of the death. Oppenheimer donated a copious amount of money to leftist organizations. Later in 1939, Julius met another communist woman, whose name was Katherine Puening Harrison. Both got married together in November of 1940 and had two children (Oppenheimer,