The Nazi Rocketeers

Book excerpt: Explores the development of the V-2 rocket A sobering testimony to the consequences of corrupted genius Wernher von Braun is known to many as the brilliant pioneer of rocketry who left Germany after World War II to lead the United States' space program. Until now, few have realized the bloody legacy he left behind in the ruins of the Third Reich. The Nazi Rocketeers tells the story of how von Braun and his fellow rocket scientists postponed their initial dreams of space travel to create weapons of terror and mass destruction. Not only were they ambitious members of the Nazi movement, but they also, Piszkiewicz argues, collaborated with the SS in exploiting slave labor to build the V-2 rocket.