At the beginning of his time at Berkeley, Oppenheimer
embodied the ivory tower intellectual, and, caring nothing for
politics or current events, he isolated himself from both. Immersed
in physics and spending all his spare time pondering Hindu mythology
or the classics of the ancient world, Oppenheimer had no time to
spare for worldly matters.
He had no phone, no radio, and never read the newspaper,
and, so, was completely unaware of everything going on beyond the bounds
of Berkeley. When the stock market crashed, ushering in the Great
Depression, Oppenheimer took no notice of it. After
all, he lived off a trust fund from his parents, and thus he was
not economically affected. He remained unaware of the country's
dire straits until six months later, when someone mentioned the
stock market crash to him in casual conversation.
But the events of the 1930s were soon to shock Oppenheimer
out of his apathy. As he has said, seeing how the Depression affected
his students forced him to understand "how deeply political and
economic events could affect men's lives." It was the beginning
of a newly aware, politically active Oppenheimer.
The physicist's new political resolve was soon strengthened
by events abroad. Fascism had begun to take hold across Europe,
as Adolf Hitler swept into power in Germany and as Spain was taken over
by General Francisco Franco. Oppenheimer had German roots, and
it was clear to him that Hitler was no friend of the German Jews.
His distaste for European fascism and his distress about
the precarious state of the American economy may have shocked Oppenheimer
into awareness, but it wasn't until he met a passionate, radical
woman, Jean Tatlock, that he was propelled into action.
Tatlock was a graduate student at Berkeley, working toward
a degree in psychology. She was also a member of the Communist Party.
This was not unusual in the 1930s. Communism was a standard path
for young liberals to take, and it was an allegiance that they
often claimed quite openly at the time. The Communist Party was
seen as a liberal, reformist party that worked for integration, fair
wages, and other popular causes. Perhaps most appealing to Oppenheimer,
the communists stood solidly against fascism, and supported the
causes of oppressed peoples abroad.
