In the play "Copenhagen", how is conformity rewarded?

In “Copenhagen”, Werner Heisenberg is confronted with a terrifying dilemma: develop a nuclear weapon for Nazi Germany, or risk annihilation if the Allies develop one first. Heisenberg desperately wants to protect Germany and the people he loves, but is not sympathetic to the Nazi cause nor is he a member of the party. In order to carry on the research in Germany and still control the flow of information on the nuclear project, he at...

In “Copenhagen”, Werner Heisenberg is confronted with a terrifying dilemma: develop a nuclear weapon for Nazi Germany, or risk annihilation if the Allies develop one first. Heisenberg desperately wants to protect Germany and the people he loves, but is not sympathetic to the Nazi cause nor is he a member of the party. In order to carry on the research in Germany and still control the flow of information on the nuclear project, he at least has to pay lip service to his Nazi supervisors. He believes that by conforming to the Nazi party line, at least outwardly, he can perhaps have it both ways: develop the weapon but still keep the Nazis from learning precisely how it works. His strategy is deeply nerve-wracking but successful: although his colleague Bohr is horrified by what he sees as Heisenberg’s complicity with an evil regime, and although the Nazis still view Heisenberg with slight suspicion at his refusal to join the party, he manages to be allowed to carry on his research. His conformity makes him able to work both for and against the Nazis, while keeping his true priorities…uncertain.