Posted on 07/27/2023 12:18:38 PM PDT by Jan_Sobieski
Wernher von Braun (1912-1977), one of Nazi Germany’s leading rocket scientists, became a pioneer in America’s space program following World War II. But it was von Braun’s conversion to Christ that captured the attention of Assemblies of God radio preacher C. M. Ward. Ward interviewed the scientist in 1966, during which von Braun described the relationship between his newfound faith and his lifework in science.
Von Braun’s interest in rocket science had been sparked by a desire to explore space, but he came to regret that his work was being used to cause tremendous destruction of human life. He had developed the V-1 and V-2 rockets, which allowed Germany to pummel Allied targets up to 500 miles away during World War II. The rockets, manufactured by slave labor, indiscriminately killed thousands of people.
Sensing disloyalty, the Gestapo arrested von Braun in 1944 and charged him with espionage. Von Braun’s work was deemed essential to the success of the war effort, so Nazi leader Albert Speer intervened and ordered the release of the scientist. When American soldiers marched into central Germany in May 1945, they found that von Braun had organized the surrender of 500 of his top scientists, along with plans and test vehicles.
Von Braun and his German scientists were relocated to the United States, where they became indispensable to the development of American military and space programs. Von Braun’s life had changed drastically within the course of a year. But it was in a little church in El Paso, Texas, that von Braun experienced a spiritual transformation that would change him from the inside out…
(Excerpt) Read more at ifphc.wordpress.com ...
No, others here have the same opinion.
I do know he did more for the US than you ever did.
Enjoy your pompous evening, man judging backwards in history.
Yes, it was. If you were insulted or your feelings hurt, that as not my intentions and I apologize.
There were former Nazis all over the US because the USGOV had some use for them. One was a school superintendent in a district in the next state. Died in the eighties.
His rocket motor design is still used for heavy lift, liquid fueled rockets.
At Rocketdyne in West Palm Beach FLA, he’s still a minor god.
Thank God we didn’t have cancel culture in the 50s like now. We’d probably not gotten to the moon.
You’re wrong. He was a Nazi. And a member of the SS.
My Wife’s Grandfather was mayor of a small town in Bavaria.
He claimed that when the Nazi party came calling, it was prudent to join if asked.
My Mother-in-law’s birth certificate has a swastika in each corner.
She had some terrifying stories of life during and after the war.
Wow. I just pointed out you made an error. I didn’t indict the man, or you, for war crimes.
Life must be very difficult for you.
No, he was indeed a NAZI. He joined in in 1937 so that the German military would fund his research. Later on he was railroaded into joining the SS. In spite of that, he was arrested by the Gestapo for saying his target should be the moon rather than England. Hitler intervened personally to get him released. Von Braun was not a particularly happy NAZI, but it was the only way to stay in that research program.
Michael J. Neufeld, an author of aerospace history and chief of the Space History Division at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, wrote that ten years after von Braun obtained his Nazi Party membership, he signed an affidavit for the U.S. Army, though he stated the incorrect year
In 1939, I was officially demanded to join the National Socialist Party. At this time I was already Technical Director at the Army Rocket Center at Peenemünde (Baltic Sea). The technical work carried out there had, in the meantime, attracted more and more attention in higher levels. Thus, my refusal to join the party would have meant that I would have to abandon the work of my life. Therefore, I decided to join. My membership in the party did not involve any political activity.
It has not been ascertained whether von Braun's error with regard to the year was deliberate or a simple mistake.[30]: 96 Neufeld wrote:
Von Braun, like other Peenemünders, was assigned to the local group in Karlshagen; there is no evidence that he did more than send in his monthly dues. But he is seen in some photographs with the party's swastika pin in his lapel – it was politically useful to demonstrate his membership.
Check Wikipedia. He was a party member. He altered the date when the Americans questioned him to make it look like he had been forced, but he wasn’t. He was also in the SS.
Of course he knew, but he did not control that aspect of the project, the SS did. People were very compartmentalized in those programs lest they be shot.
Or you, I presume. I never had slave laborers either, but maybe you have.
The CIA in Europe was fully staffed by ex-Abwehr men. (NAZI military intelligence.)
“Our Germans are better than their Germans.”
Neither did Von Braun. He was in reserach and development, not manufacturing. The SS had complete control over that. Von Braun made no decisions in that regard.
Don’t say that he’s hypocritical,
Say rather that he’s apolitical.
“Once the rockets are up,
Who cares where they come down?
That’s not my department,”
Says Wernher von Braun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDEsGZLbio&t=1s
Looks like you got dumped on. Sorry I pitched in.
Yeah. I loved Tom Lehrer when I was young.
What’s your deal?
Virtue signaling?
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