-Caveat Lector- Author: von Braun used camp labor to build rockets http://www.salon.com/books/wire/2000/10/13/vonbraun/print.html - - - - - - - - - - - - Oct. 13, 2000 | ATHENS, Ala. (AP) -- A Smithsonian curator and author of a book on German space pioneers said one of the best known in that group, Wernher von Braun, overlooked Nazi crimes while using concentration camp labor to build V-2 rockets. Author Michael Neufeld discussed his book, "The Rocket and the Reich," with students at Athens State University and also met with reporters. Von Braun, who was an officer in Hitler's special police, the SS, fled Germany and led the U.S. space exploration effort from a base in Huntsville, where he remains popular since his death in 1977. "He and the German group made Huntsville what it is today," Neufeld said Wednesday. But Neufeld said he felt "there was a crying need for a new history" look at von Braun. "I'm not saying he was a saint or a villain, a hero or a war criminal. I'm saying that this is a complex issue," Neufeld said. He said the U.S. Army and von Braun hid the fact he was an SS officer and used concentration camp labor to build V-2 rockets to use against the Allies. In his book, he writes about the German missile program, which employed thousands of slave laborers at its facility, Peenemunde, and later at the underground facility, Mittelwerk. Neufeld, a curator in the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, said he found a document von Braun wrote to a camp commander, asking for French scientists and workers. "He saw the camps, and here is a record that he requested slave labor," Neufeld said. "What would have happened if he spoke out against it? How far did his role go? That's open to debate." Neufeld said German scientists buried "14 tons of documents" in a mine to use as a bargaining tool with the Americans, after their capture. Some of those documents are on microfilm at the museum, which is where he found von Braun's request. The author said he receives negative comments on his book in north Alabama and in parts of the country with links to the space industry. His book, also published in German, is more criticized in von Braun's home country. "He was seen as the Columbus of space here," Neufeld said. "But he compromised himself because he was so devoted to rocketry, and he overlooked moral issues. He didn't show much of a bad conscience later on. I have a sense it didn't deeply bother him." Neufeld said Nazi connections regarding von Braun and his inner circle weren't discussed in the United States in the 1950s, because America was concentrating on the Cold War and being first to the moon. In the 1960s, camp survivors in Belgium and France began complaining to their news media about von Braun being made into a hero in the United States. East Germans also had a propaganda campaign against von Braun and his group, Neufeld said. "It took 10 to 15 years to percolate to the surface, and minorities began to criticize him," he said. "But it wasn't until the 1980s and 1990s that it became widespread." <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
