Sergei Policknov was a Soviet physicist who worked on the nuclear program under Igor Kurchatov beginning in the late 1940s. In the interview he traces the early years (1920s and 1930s) of Soviet nuclear research. Soviet scientists, he says, believed a bomb was possible as soon as fission was discovered in the late 1930s. With the German invasion, physics research was interrupted but soon restarted despite the difficulties of wartime conditions. Dr. Policknov describes key moments and attitudes within the field in those days, and speculates on Stalins interest in the possibility of an atomic bomb. He recalls Soviet thinking about nuclear developments in the post-war period and why Moscow pursued a weapon so intently. The personal views of Soviet scientists about working on bomb-related programs are discussed and compared to those of their Western counterparts. Dr. Policknov notes the complexity of assessing concepts such as pacifism during the Stalin era. He then turns to some personal recollections of the war and how he came to work in this field.