Science: Physicist for Russia

When the allied armies raced toward Berlin in the spring of 1945, control of German territory was not the only big prize. Quietly but fiercely they competed with each other for the leaders of German science. One of those who disappeared into the silence of Soviet hospitality was Nobel Prizewinner Physicist Gustav Hertz. A few years later his colleagues heard that he had died in Russia.

Last week the New York Times announced that the reports of Dr. Hertz's death were false. Scandinavian and West German scientists, said the Times, have established contact with 64-year-old Physicist Hertz. They have letters postmarked Moscow,...