Hellmuth Simons (1893–1969), who predominantly published under the name H. C. R. Simons, was a German-Jewish

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learning about bacteria, ...

and authority on

tropical diseases Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by forci ...

, who encouraged the belief that Germany was developing

biological weapons A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism ...

before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Simons worked at I. G. Farben before escaping Germany as a refugee. He provided scientific help to Heinz Liepman for his 1937 book ''Death from the skies: a study of gas and microbial warfare''. When

broke out he was working at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, but was offered a chair at a university in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. In autumn 1939 he and his son were interned at Marseilles en route to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. At some point he visited

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, where he reportedly worked at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

and in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, and came to know

Wickham Steed Henry Wickham Steed (10 October 1871 – 13 January 1956) was an English journalist and historian. He was editor of ''The Times'' from 1919 to 1922. Early life Born in Long Melford, England, Steed was educated at Sudbury Grammar School an ...

. In 1943, when Simons was working at the Zurich Polytechnic Institute, Allen Dulles passed on Simons' fear that Germany would use '' bacillus botulinus'' for

bacteriological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of Toxin#Biotoxins, biological toxins or Pathogen, infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and Fungus, fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, anima ...

.Allen Dulles, telegram from OSS Bern, 8 December 1943, in Neal H. Petersen, ed. ''From Hitler's doorstep: the wartime intelligence reports of Allen Dulles'', Penn State Press, 1996 p.173 According to Donald Avery, Simons claimed that I. G. Farben was producing botulin at its plant at

Hoechst Hoechst, Hochst, or Höchst may refer to: * Hoechst AG, a former German life-sciences company * Hoechst stain, one of a family of fluorescent DNA-binding compounds * Höchst (Frankfurt am Main), a city district of Frankfurt am Main, Germany ** Fra ...

, at a

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

laboratory, and elsewhere. In 1947 Simons started teaching biology at the

Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

. The bacterial genus '' Simonsiella'' is named after him.

References

1893 births 1969 deaths German bacteriologists Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States {{Germany-scientist-stub