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Rockets and People
In addition, and Gröttrup said this frankly, German physics and science as a
whole had been severely weakened as early as 1937. More than forty percent of
the professors had been removed from their university positions for disloyalty
to the regime or for non-Aryan bloodlines. In this regard, German science was
not well served, the persecution of scientists cost Germany dearly. But everything
having to do with rocket technology was virtually unaffected because, as
surprising as it may seem, Gröttrup could not recall any persecution of the
specialists over the entire period of work at Peenemünde, except for one incident
with the Gestapo.
The dismissive attitude of the military and political leaders of Germany toward
the atomic project contrasted sharply with their close attention to the work
conducted in Peenemünde.This is despite the fact that Wernher Heisenberg, in a
June 1942 conference with Albert Speer, the senior Reich official who to a great
extent determined Germany’s economy, spoke plainly and directly about the military
use of atomic energy and explained how the atomic bomb could be fabricated.
6 For military leaders, evidently, the authority of world-famous physicist
Heisenberg was not sufficient for the atomic project to be given the same priority
as guided missiles and flying bombs.
Heisenberg’s report did not make the proper impression on Field Marshal Erhard
Milch, who was responsible for aircraft armaments. Milch shortly thereafter authorized
series production of the new “vengeance weapon,” the V-1 flying bomb, while
not giving Heisenberg the support he needed.The well-known “General’s skepticism”
emerged with regard to the new incomprehensible sciences.The V-1 was the
brainchild of aviation and the V-2 was the weapon of the infantry troops.This was
clear, intelligible, and obvious—you could look at it, put your hands on it. But
converting mass into energy—this was abstraction. Better to wait!
But serious technical problems continued to occur even in work that had been
conducted at Peenemünde on a broad scale. I have already mentioned that the first
launch that could be described as a success took place on 3 October 1942. In order
of construction, this was the fourth A-4 rocket. Oberth himself, who was in
Peenemünde at that time, congratulated von Braun and the other rocket developers.The
engine and the control system worked comparatively normally for the first
time. On the occasion of the long-awaited success, a banquet was held at the
Schwabes Hotel. A huge boulder with the inscription “On 3 October 1942, this
stone fell from my heart—Wernher von Braun” was placed near the launch pad.
(We had heard this story, but none of us paid any attention to the stone when we
were visiting Peenemünde).A series of failures followed afterward, however.There
were explosions during launch, explosions in the air, and failures of control surface
actuators, gyroscopes, propellant and oxidant line valves, and the onboard electrical
power circuits.
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6. Speer was the Nazi Minister of Armaments and War Production in 1942-45.