As the US kidnapped the best minds – BBC

As Americans recruited Nazi scientists, is why the USSR did not resist it, and who won in the confrontation, says science department “Gazety.Ru».

Many people from among the best minds in Germany in 1941, went to the front on a par with ordinary Nazis. By 1943, when the Stalingrad cauldron isolated, and Marshal Paulus surrendered, the leadership of the Third Reich, it became clear that the time has come to change something. And it happened: many German scientists have returned home, they tried to develop a technology that would help turn the tide of war is not victorious.

We returned from the war mainly “geeks” – “humanitarians” left to rot in the trenches. In addition, it was formed so-called list Osenberg, which included the names of the researchers, whom the Nazis considered trustworthy and ideologically literate.

In March 1945, in one of the toilets of the University of Bonn were found lists with this list. Soon the information was in the US and UK intelligence agencies, that are identified from a list of names of the best.

As of May 1945, the Americans have formulated a plan for the operation, “hopeless”, which implied transfer of the US leading German scientists rocket scientists who worked on “V-2″ under the direction of Wernher von Braun. The main objective of the operation was formulated quite simple: do not let the Soviet Union get their hands on German scientists, as far as possible and bring them to the United States.

In this case, the operation itself is a violation of not only the Geneva Convention, but also informal arrangements to that Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt came to the Yalta and Potsdam conferences later. In particular, they talked about the fact that many German scientists captured by the Americans, including Wernher von Braun, a time spent in the dungeons of the secret prisons. Particularly actively Americans showed themselves in territories that by July-August 1945, were to become the Soviet occupation zone. Initially, many researchers even just to move to the land occupied by the Allies.

Total were evacuated about 1800 scientists. Of these, about 1,500 were shipped to the US, although the laws of this country forbid entry to members of the Nazi Party, and with which many researchers were.

Indeed, many of those who had been recruited by the Americans, had a reputation for gently speaking, quite controversial. For example, Kurt Blome, infects prisoners of concentration camps plague and tuberculosis, began to develop biological weapons even for the United States. This Nuremberg trial for him ended in acquittal. And Wernher von Braun, who became the father of the American space program, had never shied away from actively employ prisoners of Buchenwald.

However, we can not say that the Soviet Union was left with nothing: the same Peenemunde where Wernher von Braun developed the “V-2″ was sent Sergei Korolev, who managed to recover part of the German developments and even create based on these technologies missile “R-1″. He was assisted in this Helmut Grettruppe – right hand Wernher von Braun. This scientist, and his colleagues first came to the Americans, but was re-abducted by Soviet soldiers already.

Then the Germans went to the island Gorodomlya in the Tver region, where he worked until Stalin’s death.

Create a full-blown alternative to surgery ” hopeless “, which by that time had called” Clip “, the Soviet Union tried to until the end of 1946, when it became apparent that working in the Soviet occupation zone of missile troops could be kidnapped Americans. However, it was too late: the majority of experts of other profiles, the Americans have taken, which, however, did not prevent the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space and man.