William L. Laurence

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Laurence before the atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

William Leonard Laurence (born March 7, 1888 in Lithuania , † March 19, 1977 in Mallorca ) was an American journalist of Lithuanian origin.

Work as a journalist

Laurence worked mainly for The New York Times . He was the only journalist (and civilian observer at all) who participated in the Manhattan Project as an eyewitness with the approval of the US government . Since he was the only journalist to testify to the atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki , he was given the nickname Atomic Bill . In the course of his career, he received the Pulitzer Prize twice (1937 and 1946). Laurence has published several books, including the bestseller: The History of the Atomic Bomb .

Demand for the Pulitzer Prize to be withdrawn

In 2004 journalists David and Amy Goodman urged the Pulitzer Board to revoke the 1946 Pulitzer Prize from Laurence and the New York Times. They complained that while Laurence was reporting on the atomic bombs, he was paid not only by the NYT but also by the US Department of Defense (then still the United States Department of War ) and therefore did not report independently, as is appropriate for a journalist. They criticized the fact that he reported on the government's instructions and thus withheld some of the devastating consequences of the bombing, especially deaths from radiation.

Publications

  • Dawn over zero. The story of the atomic bomb. Knopf, New York 1946. (German as: Twilight over point zero. The history of the atomic bomb. List, Munich and Leipzig 1948)
  • We are not helpless. How we can defend ourselves against atomic weapons. New York 1950.
  • The hell bomb. Knopf, New York 1951. (German as: Hydrogen bombs. Production. Military. Use. Their role in world politics. Metzner, Frankfurt a. M. 1951)
  • Men and atoms. The discovery, the uses, and the future of atomic energy. Simon and Schuster, New York 1959. (German as: Menschen und Atome. List, Munich 1961)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Hiroshima Cover Up, report by Amy and David Goodman ( Memento of March 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Laurence, William L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Laurence, William Leonard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American journalist of Lithuanian origin
DATE OF BIRTH March 7, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Lithuania
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1977
Place of death Mallorca