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Wernher von Braun He Built Hitler’s Rockets. Then Helped America Reach the Moon.
Wernher von Braun designed the V-2, the world's first long-range ballistic missile. He joined the Nazi Party in 1937 and the SS in 1940. From September 1944 more than 3,000 V-2s were fired at London, Antwerp and other cities, killing around 9,000 people. The rockets were built underground in the Mittelwerk tunnels by prisoners of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, where at least 12,000 died (some estimates are far higher). In May 1945 von Braun surrendered to the Americans, who brought him to the United States instead of putting him on trial. He built the rocket that launched America's first satellite in 1958 and led the team behind the Saturn V that carried Apollo 11 to the Moon in 1969. He died in 1977 and never faced a trial.
The facts behind this file
What the record shows
- Von Braun applied to join the Nazi Party in 1937 and was a member of the SS from 1940 to 1945.
- More than 3,000 V-2s were fired at London, Antwerp and other cities from September 1944, killing about 9,000 people.
- The rockets were built by prisoners of the Mittelbau-Dora camp; by the lowest count, around 12,000 died.
- In May 1945 his brother Magnus surrendered to the Americans on a bicycle. Von Braun was brought to the US and never tried. He built the rocket that launched Explorer 1 (1958) and led the team behind the Saturn V that carried Apollo 11 to the Moon (1969). He died on 16 June 1977.
Legends, disputes & careful wording
- Both death tolls are estimates; the Mittelbau-Dora memorial foundation gives more than 20,000 dead for the whole camp.
- He visited the underground factory many times; whether he visited the camp itself is disputed.
- A V-2 crossed the edge of space on 20 June 1944, but only by the later 100 km definition.
- Some of the V-2 film in the episode shows post-war US tests (1946–47), not wartime launches.
Main sources
- Michael J. Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War (2007)
- Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Foundation
Spotted a mistake or know a better source? Tell us.
Further reading
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Image & film credits
- Photos: Bundesarchiv (CC BY-SA 3.0 de): Bild 141-1879 (V-2 after launch), Bild 141-1880 (V-2 launch, Peenemünde, 21 June 1943), Bild 146-1978-Anh.024-03 (Peenemünde, 21 March 1941). KZ Mittelbau-Dora – Stollen (CC BY-SA 3.0 de, 2008). Public domain: NASA (von Braun 1964 and 1970, S-IC engines, Apollo 11 launch, Walt Disney and von Braun 1954, Explorer 1, Juno I), U.S. Army (surrender photos 2–3 May 1945, Mittelwerk tunnel and factory 1945), Imperial War Museum (London April 1945 CH 15111; V-2 damage HU 88803; Peenemünde reconnaissance 1943), NARA (Camberwell Road rocket damage), the Raketenflugplatz group (1930), a prisoner's postcard from KZ Mittelbau-Dora.
- Film (public domain): "V-2 Rocket Assembling and Launching" (US, 1947); White Sands V-2 film with the first pictures of Earth from a V-2 (1946); NASA Apollo 11 launch and lunar footage (1969).
- Thumbnail: also the Moon, NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University (LRO), public domain.
- Narration: ElevenLabs (voice "George"). Music made for this video.
