<<< Return to Spanish version Germans Max von Laue and James Frank received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 and 1925, respectively. The first was a clear opponent of the Nazi regime and the second was Jew. When World War II began, these two physicists sent their commemorative medals awards to Niels Bohr’s Laboratory (Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922), in Copenhagen, so that he had a safe place until the end of the war. But medals are gold and gold export from Germany was a very serious offense at that time. Regrettably, Denmark was invaded and as the Bohr’s lab had become a refuge for Jewish physicists and would received a Nazi visit, so he had to hide medals but the name of the winner was recorded in them. To avoid the capture and the likely punishment to these researchers, the Hungarian George de Hevesy (Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1943) chose the chemistry way “to hide" the medals. But gold, being a noble metal, does react with almost nothing, adding ...