Göttingen Declaration, April 12, 1957 (1)

The plans of the German Army of acquiring atomic weapons has caused deep concern to the undersigned nuclear physicists. Some of them have already communicated their concern to the appropriate members of the government. Today, the debate has become public, and the undersigned feel compelled to point out publicity certain facts known to the experts, but seemingly not sufficiently known to the public.

1. Tactical atomic bombs have the same destructive effects as normal atomic bombs. The designation "tactical" is used in order to express that they are to be used not only against human settlements, but also against troops in surface combat. Every single tactical atomic bomb or atomic grenade has similar effects as the first atomic bomb which destroyed Hiroshima. Since tactical atomic weapons are today available in large numbers, their destructive effect would be on the whole much larger. These bombs are designated as "small" only in comparison to the recently developed "Strategic" bombs and mainly to the hydrogen bombs.

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