I remember film clips of him just after his capture, and he was sneering at the camera like a typical arrogant Nazi. I guess he had a change of heart soon after, or maybe was told he might be traded to the Russians. Anyway, his attitude sure improved. :o)
Interesting statement. Completely accurate as far as I can tell.
I guess the good news is that there is hope for human redemption.
For what it's worth ... Back in the mid-70s my mother was working as a stewardess for some fancy private East coast airline (the name of which escapes me at the moment), during which time she frequently served von Braun. They became friendly aquantainces. She remembers him as being one of the kindest men she's ever met. She was especially impressed by the lack of arrogance and pretention in the man.
That's her view of von Braun, anyway. I never met the man and know nothing else of his personality or character. Perhaps he was just a charming smoothee making the moves on a good looking stewardess.
I understand the scientists went to the West while the technicians went to Russia. Therefore Russia had hardware first, but we had the brains.
Asked what he expected to find on the moon when America landed, Werner told Congress, "The Russians." He got the funding he wanted.
He was a great man, a real hero in space exploration. It says a lot about America that he worked for the other side and was considered our own scientist later, even with his accent and name.
I heard a story that he became a Presbyterian because it was not right for the leader of the team to go to the same church as the underlings. That may not be correct. It was just a story from a Lutheran church leader.
While I haven't seen the video you mention, and I don't know the context of it; He could very well have been sneering at the Russians that didn't get him. I don't believe Von Braun was really a Nazi, and he WANTED to go with the Americans, and brought his brain trust with him.
He just wanted to build rockets and explore space, that's all he ever wanted to do, and the Nazi's knew he was the best they had. While I don't think he really had a choice - to walk away from them - his desire to build rockets probably overwhelemed the moral compass a bit. Of course, considering his expertise, I wonder if the V1, V2 programs weren't hindered in some areas.