Now, now, Stranger… no need to go far-flung, he can stay inside the borders and read up on the Tuskeegee experiments or about Dr. Rhoads in Puerto Rico in the 30s.
Rocket scientists and those who were not rocket scientists – heck, Dr. Strangelove, anyone?
Not so much a conspiracy theory, but something that was kind of assumed by anyone who knew a thing or two, that these guys were not all necessarily a case of “He? Oh, HE was one of the NICE Germans.”
We hired a LOT of people with dirty hands and got ourselves plenty dirty on our own too, all the while pretending to be the champions of righteous life. It is something worth remembering always.
It may have been in many, I suppose, but finding the first to say it is hard.
Gray Rinehart attributed it to Dan Berlinrut, a fine pairing of saying with name.
Otherwise it seems to entered the language spontaneously and been copied by zillions, approximately the same number who have written about Operation Paperclip in particular and the Space Race in general.
The Iran coup at least had some basis in vested national interest insofar as petroleum was a critical energy commodity, and was mostly instigated by the British; the US actually extended tentative support to the Mosaddegh government but the MI6/CIA joint effort to destabilize the government in response to nationalizing AIOC overtook overt foreign policy. The overthrow in Guatemala, however, was literally over bananas (Secretary of State John Foster Dulles personally negotiated the ‘acquisition’ of land for United Fruit with Jorge Ubico, and both he and his brother Allen Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence, were major shareholders in the company) with the threat of Communism being the fig leaf on which the US would engage in a sustained effort of undermining elected governments, supporting brutal dictatorial regimes, and waging undeclared wars for the next four decades.
I was going to say werner was one of the few that pretty much blackmailed the allies into a deal simply becuase he knew where the rockets were and was willing to make an deal with the side that gave him the best offer and had east and west bidding against each other while he hid out for weeks
What really pissed off the us was supposedly after he made the final deal and got what he wanted they find out there werent even 5 or 6 complete rockets … it all was just parts becuase hitler was so paranoid there were maybe 5 people who knew how to put them together so they couldnt be built fast enough … and reports of a big arsenal were bs …
In the long term, it turned out to be a good bargain I suppose, that we got him and the Russians didn’t. He went on to make valuable contributions to the American space effort.
As Tom Lehrer told us:
Don’t say that he’s hypocritical.
Say rather that he’s a-political.
“Vonce ze rockets are up,
Who cares vhere zey come down?
Zat’s not my department”,
Says Wernher von Braun.
Yes. While the Fanta story is mostly true, it wasn’t because Coca Cola stopped exporting the syrup. The supply was threatened because Goering tried to move Germany to self-sufficiency and curtail imports. Coca Cola’s president actually worked hard to convince Goering to allow the import of Coke syrup, which continued for quite some time. The extent of Coca Cola’s Nazi collaboration was actually quite stunning, all in pursuit of expediency and profit. For example:
[Max Keith, head of Coca Cola Germany] took steps to identify Coke with Nazism, including sending sales teams to mass patriotic events.
“As young men goose-stepped in formation at Hitler Youth rallies,” writes Pendergrast, “Coca-Cola trucks accompanied the marchers, hoping to capture the next generation.”
Keith put Coke at the center — literally — of a 1937 exhibition showcasing Nazi Germany’s industry. He built a working bottling plant in the middle of the fair, where a company photographer snapped Göering enjoying a Coke.
German troops captured Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland region in February of 1938. In March, Hitler annexed Austria. Woodruff and Coke Germany argued over who should get the sales royalties from occupied Austria. Woodruff won.
That month, Keith held a convention for Coke Germany’s 1,500 salesmen and bottlers. Journalist Ralph McGill describes “a giant picture of Hitler that covered the entire back wall — a picture that inspired frequent stiff-armed salutes and shouts of ‘Heil, Hitler!’” Keith, speaking from beneath a huge Coca-Cola banner bearing three enormous swastikas, called for a massive Sieg-Heil! in the Führer’s honor.
I was born in 62, I’ve heard of paperclip for awhile, I heard about German scientists being brought to the US. Ok …I didn’t know they were the reason we, the US space program, the rockets etc were directly related to the Nazis scientists. I was under the impression they were more for Intel, & biological warfare.
For me it tarnishes the space program period. I’m glad I wasn’t in charge. There would be no awards for them. I would have got all the info and left to rot in a hell hole watching a 24/7 loop of the scenes and survivors memories til death. I’m glad we got them maybe… I guess my final thoughts on that will be in few years when I see how and what happens in space exploration later.
Am I right in understanding the nazi scientist’s helped with the A bomb?
I haven’t read everything yet. What I have read and know of the reasons for war, the murders, I am disgusted. The Kennedy thing my op, that was a random thought. I can see how Dulles, Johnson et al would want the Kennedys dead. He had a conscience and morals unlike them. He was young and not yet indoctrinated in political greed, habitual lying or compromising his morals.
You are aware we were at war with the nazis when we made the A-bomb?
Sure, many german scientists worked on the A-bomb. Thye left Germany prior to the war. Mostly for being Jewish, but also because they hated nazism.
Yea he only slept with movie stars and mobster’s girlfriends. He has good morals. No compromise there. And he never lied. Never never never. Well, hardly ever.
No. There was no connection between the American and German atom bomb projects for obvious reasons; the two countries were at war.
There wasn’t any reason to bring captured German scientists into American atom bomb projects after the war either. The reality is that the German atom bomb project was pretty minor and the Americans knew a lot more about building atom bombs than the Germans did.
