1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,720 Speaker 1: Okay, how does one guy go from creating devastating weapons 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: for the Nazis to creating NASA and the space program 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,880 Speaker 1: for the United States. Werner von Braun was born into 4 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: a noble Prussian family and was later recruited by the 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: Third Reich to build rockets. But after all that, how 6 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:20,600 Speaker 1: did he wind up at the helm of NASA and 7 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: doing space documentaries with Walt Disney. I'm Patty Steele. From 8 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: Nazi collaboration to US space exploration. That's next on the backstory. 9 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: We're back with the backstory. We all have dreams we 10 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: would like to see fulfilled, but we're also handed circumstances 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: we have to deal with to make those dreams come true. Right, Well, 12 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: the question is what are you willing to do to 13 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: get there? Werner von Braun was born in nineteen twelve. 14 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: His father was from an old noble family in Prussia 15 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: and his mother came from European royalty. After she gave 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: him a telescope for his confirmation, he fell in love 17 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: with space and the idea of space travel, and he 18 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: read everything he could about it. By the time he 19 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: was twenty two years old, he had a PhD in physics, 20 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: but he was realizing that the only way to pursue 21 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: spaceflight was with a lot of money and backing. Now 22 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: it's nineteen thirty seven, he's twenty five years old, and 23 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: he decides the Nazi Party, now in power in Germany, 24 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,400 Speaker 1: is his best chance to go after his dream. Von 25 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: Braun was the ultimate opportunist, so he joined the Nazi 26 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: Party so he could work on their rocket program. He 27 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: later said he joined because Hitler had promised to help 28 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: Germany recover from the devastating economic effects of World War One. 29 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: He also knew that if he didn't join, he'd have 30 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: to give up his life's passion. But all his work, 31 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: according to later investigations by the FBI, was in the 32 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: development of rockets. In nineteen forty, he said he was 33 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: strong armed into joining the SS if he wanted to 34 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: continue his rocket work. He claimed he had no political 35 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: involvement in the Nazi Party, but others said he was 36 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: more involved than he admitted. Sounds a bit like making 37 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: a deal with the devil right anyway. Pretty soon after 38 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: he went to work at a secret Nazi facility where 39 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: he spearheaded the development of the V two rocket. It 40 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: was the world's first long range guided ballistic missile, and 41 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: it was an amazing bit of technology, But the V 42 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: two rocket had a devastating human cost. Thousands of forced 43 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: laborers worked under horrific conditions to build these things. On 44 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: top of that, the V two was used to kill 45 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: thousands across Europe, particularly in London and Antwerp. Between the 46 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: workers and the missile attacks, more than twenty thousand people 47 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: were killed. Von Braun was blurring the line between scientist 48 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: and collaborator. Finally, as World War II turned out against Germany, 49 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: von Braun's opportunistic side was facing a critical decision. It 50 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: was clear Germany was losing the war, so von Braun 51 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: and his team decided to surrender to American forces after 52 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: learning the Germans had plans to execute them all if 53 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: it looked like they'd fall into Allied hands. They wanted 54 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: them dead rather than sharing their knowledge. Von Braun and 55 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: his crew were also convinced that their future research and 56 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: safety would be best guaranteed by the US, and that 57 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: decision altered history. As the war wrapped up, the US 58 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: created Operation paper Clip. It was a secret program that 59 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: recruited top Nazi scientists to keep them away from the Soviets. 60 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: Von Braun in about sixteen hundred other German scientists were 61 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: secretly brought to America. The US government covered up their past, 62 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: and officially their war records were downplayed or even completely erased. 63 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: He and his colleagues worked for a short time on 64 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: weapons development in Alabama, but soon began working on the 65 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: space program. For decades, von Brun had talked about sending 66 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: man to the Moon, and now he had the chance. 67 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: It was the nineteen fifties. The Cold War amped up 68 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: the space race between the US and the Soviet Union. 69 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: Von Brun saw a clear path forward for his dreams. 70 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: He was a very good looking guy, a noted ladies 71 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: man with a sparkling personality, and he became a really 72 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: influential public figure, giving passionate lectures on space exploration in person, 73 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: on TV and in newspapers, books, and magazines. He spoke 74 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: about building a space station to facilitate space exploration, as 75 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: well as a base on the Moon. He even had 76 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: detailed plans for eventual manned trips to Mars. All that 77 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: in the early nineteen fifties. By the mid nineteen fifties, 78 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: he was working with Walt Disney nonetheless on a number 79 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,359 Speaker 1: where of space documentaries, all to publicize space travel and 80 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: make it popular among the American public. Von Braun's career 81 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: peaked spectacularly when NASA was formed in nineteen fifty eight. 82 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: He spearheaded the development of the powerful Saturn five rocket, 83 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: which would ultimately carry astronauts to the Moon during the 84 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: Apollo missions. In fact, he was on hand in July 85 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: of nineteen sixty nine when a Saturn five rocket launched 86 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: Apollo eleven for the first manned landing on the Moon. 87 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,160 Speaker 1: Americas celebrated him as a hero, but pretty much overlooked 88 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: his Nazi affiliation. Though even at the height of his success, 89 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: von Braun's past continued to pop up. Survivors of the 90 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: forced labor camps. Historians and activists attacked the US government 91 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: for Operation paper Clip, which of course had recruited all 92 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: those Nazi scientists. Von Braun himself never spoke much about it, 93 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: preferring to concentrate on his contributions to the space race. 94 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: He was content with being able to successfully distance himself 95 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: from his war years, and that's the question. Do we 96 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: vilify him for his Nazi collaboration or celebrate his achievements, 97 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: And thus, by his story that he was only ever 98 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:23,600 Speaker 1: interested in space exploration and was just following orders. It's 99 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: a complicated past, but many still consider him to be 100 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: the father of space exploration. Werner von Braun died in 101 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven at the age of sixty five from 102 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 1: pancreatic cancer. It's clear that major advancements can sometimes be 103 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: built upon disturbing foundations. We have to ask ourselves is 104 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: it morally worth it. Hope you're enjoying The Backstory with 105 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. Please leave a review and follow or subscribe 106 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:57,480 Speaker 1: for free to get new episodes delivered automatically. Also feel 107 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: free to dm me if you have a story you'd 108 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,360 Speaker 1: like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and 109 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories 110 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group 111 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our 112 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 113 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 114 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and 115 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 116 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't 117 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: know you needed to know.