…could normally only mean failure, but for Curt Herzstark, it was an engineering masterpiece.

The story goes that Curt had begun designing his portable calculator before World War II started. He was captured and then placed in a concentration camp where to keep his mind occupied, he started back working on his invention. The Nazis found out what he was creating and decided to keep him alive so that he could complete his work. His calculator would be a gift to Hitler when the war was over. Well, we all know how that went, so instead, when Curt was released, he finished developing the calculator and manufactured it until the 1970s.

If you are bored, someone has even created a simulator of this engineering marvel.

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