Wernher von Braun and the Myth of the Non-Political Scientist

The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Wernher von Braun with an exhibition - Von Braun: His American Journey:

This exhibition covers Dr. von Braun’s American experience, beginning with his surrender to U.S. forces and continuing on through his passing in 1977. Learn about his many technical achievements, not only with NASA, but with the Army and private industry as well. Explore his vision through artifacts, models of various spacecraft (both real and conceptual), breathtaking photographs and artwork, and multimedia displays featuring his speeches, interviews with him, and about him.
In addition to covering the history of Dr. von Braun’s time in the U.S., the exhibit also features a unique look at some of the more personal aspects of his life, including his hobbies, his family, his celebrity status, and his daring visions of the future.

I haven't been to the exhibition, but my guess is that it doesn't dwell on von Braun's career as a Nazi war criminal.  Wernher von Braun's second life as the hero of the NASA space program is another example of how Cold War considerations swept inconvenient historical truths under the rug in both Germany and United States. 

Die Zeit has a good piece on this:  Ein Mann der Gegensätze (A Man of Contradictions)):

1937 übernahm er die Leitung der neu gegründeten Heeresversuchsanstalt in Peenemünde. Seine wichtigste Aufgabe war die Entwicklung von Raketen, die im Luftkrieg eingesetzt werden konnten. Mit zum Teil utopischen Versprechungen bemühte er sich um die Gunst Hitlers. Seit 1941 trat die Serienproduktion raketengetriebener Waffen neben die Forschung. Bald mangelte es an Arbeitskräften aufgrund des Krieges. Die SS verschaffte ihm ein riesiges Heer an Zwangsarbeitern.

(In 1937 he took over the management of the newly-formed Military Test Institiute in Pennemuende. Hi most important job was to develop rockets that could be deployed in aerial warfare. His utopian promises made him one of Hitler's favorites. The serial production of rocket-propelled weapons began in 1941, but soon the war drained the availability of production workers. The SS secured von Braun a huge army of forced loborers.)

Von Braun contriubted to the senseless prolongation of combat with his promise to Hitler of delivering the Wunderwaffe (Miracle Weapon) which would change fhe course of the war back to the advantage of Germany: 

Nachdem ein britischer Bombenangriff 1943 Peenemünde getroffen hatte, wurde die Hauptproduktion in einen riesigen Bergstollen verlagert: in das Raketenwerk Mittelbau Dora, in der Nähe von Nordhausen im Harz. Dort kamen beim Bau der V-2-Rakete etwa 20.000 Häftlinge ums Leben – weit mehr Menschen, als beim Einsatz der Rakete getötet wurden. Deren Zahl beträgt etwa 8.000.

(After British bombers attacked Peenemuende in 1943 production of the rockets was shifted to a gigantic mountain tunnel close to Nordhausen in the Harz region.  It was there that more than 20,000 prisoners died while building the V-2 Rockets - far more than those actually killed by the rockets.  These are estimated at 8.000.)

Wernher von Braun should have been tried before the War Crimes Court at Nuremberg.  Instead we celebrate him today as the savior of the US space program, who helped America win the space race against the Soviet Union in the 1960's.

 

Comments

[Strahler 70]

Albert Speer got away with crimes against humanity by claiming to be responsible without knowledge. That was clearly a lie and he had much less to offer than von Braun. Indeed, von Braun was subordinate to Speer, who put all the blame to the Fritz Sauckel of the SS. I suppose the U.S., in person of their weak prosecutor Jackson, already paved the way for operation paper clip at the Nuremberg trials.

[Zyme]

The irony is that von Braun's weapons could easily have had a crucial impact on the war.

Due to Germany's advantage in the literal rocket science and its well established chemical industry, it was in the unique position of being able to focus on remote and long range delivery of lethal gas barrages on industrial levels.

But as Hitler refrained from pursuing this path, von Braun's rockets didn't influence the course of the war significantly.

However David I think that von Braun should be remembered for his strict pursuit of research and progress.
I think his career is the perfect example that war - may it be hot or cold - always propels science. All resources are pooled to make possible the one goal, to cross the boundary where no one has gone before.

And to succeed in a harsh environment, harsh individuals are required :-)

[David]

@Zyme,

If it is true that wars lead to advances in technology, then I would just prefer to do without the technology.

[Zyme]

Now keep in mind the seemingly endless amount of solar systems in our and further galaxies.

Should on one or many of the planets surrounding those stars life prevail, inevitably one day mankind (or its successors) will get in touch with it.

Wouldn't it create an ethical dilemma for you to have slowed down progress for peace's sake so that you can be easily overwhelmed at the aforementioned point of time?

[Strahler 70]

Zyme, that's nonsense. With extremous arguments you can justify or dismiss any point of view.
By the way, you think size matters? Like a trillion apes given a trillion years to type will sooner or later write a phrase of Shakespeare? That's nonsense, too, because along with that phrase they also should reproduce any sentence ever written by any human being, even the telephone book of Chicago should be possible then. Could be the same with the universe, we might be alone and yet there is no evidence for or against that.

[Zyme]

It is exactly my point that size is not what matters the most - level of development is the most crucial aspect.