Of Paperclips and Rockets: The Race For Nazi Scientists in Post-War Germany
The Second World War was larger than any conflict that preceded it, both in terms of impact and the degree of competition involved between the warring states. Political manoeuvres and diplomatic strategies achieved unprecedented sharpness. After the Axis powers surrendered, there were steady attempts by the Allied powers and the USA to take control of territory and resources. However, among the race for arms and gold, there was one race which is drastically underrated in history. A competition broke out between USSR and the US to acquire the best of the Nazi scientific minds to strengthen their domestic scientific programmes. Nazi Germany housed the best scientific minds of the time and were a valuable asset to any side that would acquire them. It would not only enhance their own military capacity but would also deny the other side, in the foreseeable bipolar future , a chance to employ these scientists. Hence started the earliest indicator of the coming contestations during the Cold War. The US effort to recruit the Nazi scientist was called Operation Paperclip, while its Soviet counterpart was called Operation Osoaviakhim. Britain was also involved in the race but was eventually muscled out. In many aspects of international politics, US had come to recognize the declining power of the Union Jack.
Since early 1943, Germany started recalling a number of scientists, engineers and technicians from combat line. Most of them were returning from politically volatile zones, where they had engaged with different groups of people. Thus, they had to be cleared in order to be reinstated for scientific work. Werner Osenberg, who lead the Military Research Association was entrusted with the task of recording men who were cleared politically to rejoin scientific work. This compilation came to be known as the Osenberg List. This list later became the database for the US to strategize the capture and recruitment of Nazi scientists.
What was the most attractive achievement of the Nazi scientists? They had mastered two efficient war-machinery. These were the jet-powered V1 cruise missile and the rocket-powered V2 ballistic missile. In 1943, Major General Leslie Groves created Operation Alsos to look for evidence of a German Atomic Bomb.
The Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) which carried out the whole mission, recruited and brought to US, at least 1600 scientists. US Army Major Robert B. Staver was sent the List by a Polish lab technician, which he used to compile the list of scientists to be targeted. A Combined Intelligence Objectives Subcommittee (CIOS) was set up, which worked to figure out the locations of the installations. The project was in close tandem with Operation Safehaven, which was a mission by the US and the British to steer away Nazi economic resources from Germany to prevent resurgence.
Paperclip started off as Operation Overcast. German scientists, particularly those involved in the development of V-2 rockets were captured and kept at Camp Overcast. The US emphasis was on the regions of Saxony and Thuringia due to the fact that it would, within a short span of stipulated time, come under Soviet occupation. Over 1800 technicians and scientists were evacuated to the US. It is at this point, that the project acquired the name of Operation Paperclip . To conceal their involvement in Nazi war crimes, and inhuman experiments, the US authorities removed their background information papers from the emigration documents. The only remnant of the background information and the emigration documents was the mark of the paperclip which attached the two pieces of paper. The scientists were given new profiles, job security and documents required for work. In September, 1945, the first group, consisting of seven rocket-scientists arrived at Fort Strong, Massachusetts. Among them was the legendary Werner von Braun. During 1950, the legal residency of Nazi scientists were confirmed via US consulates in Latin America and Mexico.
Initially, however, most scientists were transported to rural areas without any work . They were kept under strict surveillance. They were provided stipends and had to report twice in a week to police headquarters. Werner von Braun, was kept at P.O. Box 1142 which was in Fort Hunt, Virginia and was a secret military intelligence prison, existing in violation of Geneva Convention (1929). The US offered the evacuated scientists, 69.5 million Reichsmarks(RM) in settlements.
The scientists contributed significantly to US science and engineering. They were involved heavily in the project to launch Apollo. For many years, the the US civilians did not know that they resided next door to Nazis, until the US government declassified the records concerning the project.
The Soviet efforts were much better protracted and would produce much better results if not for a misstep which greatly harmed the project. Operation Osoaviakhim also focused on the regions of Saxony and Thuringia, from where they aimed to transport large aviation, rocketry and other weapons research and production facilities to the USSR.
The major German physical research institutes were located in Berlin, which the Russians could not access before April 25, 1945. However, Soviet foothold in Vienna offered interesting possibilities. Vladimir Shevchenko, Igor Golovin and their teams were sent to Radium Institute, Austria, Vienna Academy of Science and the Second Physical Institute of Vienna University to evaluate the Uranium project. In May 1945, Nikolai Dollezhal was assigned the rank of colonel in the Russian Alsos and was sent to Germany, to collect archives from the existing chemical machine building industry. On reaching the Kaiser Wilhem Institute of Physics, the Russians got the documents but most equipment had already been transferred to US via South Germany. However, from the district of Dalhelm, the Soviets captured significant number of scientists from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes for Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry and Anthroplogy.
The primary competition for the Soviet was coming from Britain’s Operation Surgeon. However, the Soviets initially offered much more lucrative conditions for the German scientists. Salaries in USSR for scientists ranged from RM 800–8000 per month, whereas in Britain, the average offer was of RM 400 per month. Moreover, Britain offered no long-term employment options. The USSR provided double rations which were small parcels of chocolates or cigarettes. These conditions kept the balance tilted in favour of the Soviet Union, until the second half of 1946, where they acted rashly as a response to strained relationship with other Allied powers.
The final act in Operation Osoaviakhim, was executed on 22nd October, 1946. By the 2nd half of 1946, the Soviet Union had started extensive deportation of German scientists to Soviet Union proper. On 22nd October, around 2550 German scientists were transported by train to 31 different industrial institutions across the USSR. The primary emphasis was on a group of German rocketeers working for USSR at a missile factory near Nordhausen. This mistake tarnished the image of Soviet Union to the scientists and made the more likely to work for the US or the UK. The Soviet Union, had much more intensified interest in Germany. Due to its close proximity, USSR wanted to create pro-Soviet scientific organizations in a pro-Soviet German state.
This race was crucial for how the Cold War played out in the coming years.
