Pushkin. This is the final episode of a three part series. You could appreciate it on a standalone basis, but if you've not heard episodes one and two, you might prefer to listen to them first. And please be aware that this episode of Cautionary Tales contains some upsetting descriptions of a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. As the men from the US Third Armored Division approached the prison camp at Nordhausen in central Germany, they knew that something terrible awaited them. They could smell it rotting flesh, they could hear it, the strange groaning, rising and falling. But nothing could truly have prepared them for what they would see that April day in nineteen forty five.

Pushkin. This is the final episode of a three part series. You could appreciate it on a standalone basis, but if you've not heard episodes one and two, you might prefer to listen to them first. And please be aware that this episode of Cautionary Tales contains some upsetting descriptions of a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. As the men from the US Third Armored Division approached the prison camp at Nordhausen in central Germany, they knew that something terrible awaited them. They could smell it rotting flesh, they could hear it, the strange groaning, rising and falling. But nothing could truly have prepared them for what they would see that April day in nineteen forty five.

Emaciated, ragged shaped souse fever bright eyes waited passively, even in the same beds with their dead and dying comrades, too weak to move. The combined cries of these unfortunates was a fabric of moans and whimpers, of delirium and outright madness. Here and there a single shape tuttered about, walking slowly like a man dreaming.

Emaciated, ragged shaped souse fever bright eyes waited passively, even in the same beds with their dead and dying comrades, too weak to move. The combined cries of these unfortunates was a fabric of moans and whimpers, of delirium and outright madness. Here and there a single shape tuttered about, walking slowly like a man dreaming.

There was no sign of the guards, just a pile of smoldering corpses and a few, very few survivors. As the scale of the atrocity began to dawn on the American soldiers, the division commander radioed for medical assistance and gave orders for the photographers to gather as much evidence as they could of the hellish scene and evidence of something else too, because next to the concentration camp, the American soldiers found a network of large tunnels full of tools and partially assembled rockets. The soldiers had discovered the evil heart of the V two manufacturing program. Enslaved laborers worked to death or left to staff. Werner von Brown's rockets, as we've heard over the course of this series, were the culmination of a decade long mega project for Hitler's new German army. The rocket program had sucked an ever greater share of Germany's scarce resources into the effort. It was the largest weapons project of the Nazi regime. Technologically, the V two rocket was a miracle. Economically and militarily it was a disaster, a hugely expensive way to deliver one ton of explosive at a time. Usually missing military targets had often missing any target at all. The V two bombings killed about five thousand civilians. Housewives queuing for a sauce pern at a Woolworth store in London, movie lovers watching a film at the Rex Cinema in Antwerp. Revelers at an engagement party in an Islington pub. It was a cruel, spiteful weapon which actually hurt Germany's chances in the war. But there's a striking claim about the V two. Indeed, hearing this statistic is the reason I started researching this story. It's that far fewer people died in V two attacks than died building the rocket in the first place. I'm Tim Harford, and you're listening to cautionary tales. The original base for building the V two rocket, pain and Munda, founded in nineteen thirty seven, had been a worker's paradise with modern family homes, sports facilities, leisure clubs, well kept paths through the nearby forest and a beach resort. Pay was excellent. When the German war effort began, the normal stringency didn't apply to the pain and Munda workers. They were sent home for Christmas and New Year. In February nineteen forty three, when the Nazi regime announced total war and decreed that German industrial working hours would run from six am to six pm. Painna Munda's scientific director, Werner von Brown, ignored them. One Paina Munda engineer recalls von Brown's response, Painamunda would run on shorter shifts.

There was no sign of the guards, just a pile of smoldering corpses and a few, very few survivors. As the scale of the atrocity began to dawn on the American soldiers, the division commander radioed for medical assistance and gave orders for the photographers to gather as much evidence as they could of the hellish scene and evidence of something else too, because next to the concentration camp, the American soldiers found a network of large tunnels full of tools and partially assembled rockets. The soldiers had discovered the evil heart of the V two manufacturing program. Enslaved laborers worked to death or left to staff. Werner von Brown's rockets, as we've heard over the course of this series, were the culmination of a decade long mega project for Hitler's new German army. The rocket program had sucked an ever greater share of Germany's scarce resources into the effort. It was the largest weapons project of the Nazi regime. Technologically, the V two rocket was a miracle. Economically and militarily it was a disaster, a hugely expensive way to deliver one ton of explosive at a time. Usually missing military targets had often missing any target at all. The V two bombings killed about five thousand civilians. Housewives queuing for a sauce pern at a Woolworth store in London, movie lovers watching a film at the Rex Cinema in Antwerp. Revelers at an engagement party in an Islington pub. It was a cruel, spiteful weapon which actually hurt Germany's chances in the war. But there's a striking claim about the V two. Indeed, hearing this statistic is the reason I started researching this story. It's that far fewer people died in V two attacks than died building the rocket in the first place. I'm Tim Harford, and you're listening to cautionary tales. The original base for building the V two rocket, pain and Munda, founded in nineteen thirty seven, had been a worker's paradise with modern family homes, sports facilities, leisure clubs, well kept paths through the nearby forest and a beach resort. Pay was excellent. When the German war effort began, the normal stringency didn't apply to the pain and Munda workers. They were sent home for Christmas and New Year. In February nineteen forty three, when the Nazi regime announced total war and decreed that German industrial working hours would run from six am to six pm. Painna Munda's scientific director, Werner von Brown, ignored them. One Paina Munda engineer recalls von Brown's response, Painamunda would run on shorter shifts.

We are involved with research, not mass production.

We are involved with research, not mass production.

Von Brown sounds like the kind of enlightened boss anyone would want. But his declaration was totally disingenuous. Painna Munda was a research center, but it was also home to the single largest factory yet built in Europe. Of course, they were involved with mass production. So how did the V two manufacturing system change from the utopia of Painamunda to the hell of the concentration camp the US Army found near Naudhausen. The British bombed Painamunda in August nineteen forty three. After that, the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, got involved. The SS was Nazi Germany's paramilitary organization, with a leading role in the regime's reign of terror and the Nazi genocide, and Himmler hoped to bring the V two program under his control. He proposed that V two manufacturing be moved somewhere safer from attack. Payna Mundo was a coastal facility, a good place to test rockets and a very pleasant place for von Brown's scientists to spend their time, but vulnerable to more bombing raids. Himmler's alternative was the opposite, an underground site near Naordhausen, right in the center of Germany. This new site came to be called Mittelwack or Central Works. It was an old gypsum mine dramatically expanded by the addition of two huge tunnels, each big enough to a would eate twin railway tracks right through the mountain, and the workers in this secret underground lair slave labor prisoners from the Dora Mittelbaugh concentration camp nearby, the camp that the Third Armoured Division would eventually liberate. In the previous episodes, I described the extraordinary cost of the V two program in money, fuel, liquid, oxygen, aluminium, and other scarce resources. But let me quote for a moment the historian Michael Neufeld in his book The Rocket and the Reich. The real cost must be measured in human lives and suffering. By October nineteen forty three, there were four thousand prisoners in the tunnel, all male and predominantly Russian, Polish and French. By the end of November, there were perhaps eight thousand prisoners living up underground. The supervisor of the Mittelvik construction was a monstrous SS officer named Hans Kamler. He was the man who'd built the gas chambers at Auschwitz, in which more than a million Jews had been murdered. Now Kamler was in charge of blasting the tunnels to build an underground rocket factory. He blocked the construction of accommodation barracks for these enslaved men.

Von Brown sounds like the kind of enlightened boss anyone would want. But his declaration was totally disingenuous. Painna Munda was a research center, but it was also home to the single largest factory yet built in Europe. Of course, they were involved with mass production. So how did the V two manufacturing system change from the utopia of Painamunda to the hell of the concentration camp the US Army found near Naudhausen. The British bombed Painamunda in August nineteen forty three. After that, the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, got involved. The SS was Nazi Germany's paramilitary organization, with a leading role in the regime's reign of terror and the Nazi genocide, and Himmler hoped to bring the V two program under his control. He proposed that V two manufacturing be moved somewhere safer from attack. Payna Mundo was a coastal facility, a good place to test rockets and a very pleasant place for von Brown's scientists to spend their time, but vulnerable to more bombing raids. Himmler's alternative was the opposite, an underground site near Naordhausen, right in the center of Germany. This new site came to be called Mittelwack or Central Works. It was an old gypsum mine dramatically expanded by the addition of two huge tunnels, each big enough to a would eate twin railway tracks right through the mountain, and the workers in this secret underground lair slave labor prisoners from the Dora Mittelbaugh concentration camp nearby, the camp that the Third Armoured Division would eventually liberate. In the previous episodes, I described the extraordinary cost of the V two program in money, fuel, liquid, oxygen, aluminium, and other scarce resources. But let me quote for a moment the historian Michael Neufeld in his book The Rocket and the Reich. The real cost must be measured in human lives and suffering. By October nineteen forty three, there were four thousand prisoners in the tunnel, all male and predominantly Russian, Polish and French. By the end of November, there were perhaps eight thousand prisoners living up underground. The supervisor of the Mittelvik construction was a monstrous SS officer named Hans Kamler. He was the man who'd built the gas chambers at Auschwitz, in which more than a million Jews had been murdered. Now Kamler was in charge of blasting the tunnels to build an underground rocket factory. He blocked the construction of accommodation barracks for these enslaved men.

Pay no attention to the human cost.

Pay no attention to the human cost.

Kamla told his staff the work must go ahead, and in the shortest possible time, French resistance leader Jean Michel was imprisoned at Dora Mittelbaugh and put to work in the tunnels. Jean Michel later described the vicious abuse and the beatings that the terrified prisoners suffered at the hands of their guards, and he recalled the deafening sound of the underground factory. The noise bores into the brain and shears the nerves. That demented rhythm lasts for fifteen hours. Arriving at the dormitory, we collapse onto the rocks, onto the ground. The capos press us on those behind, trample over their comrades. Soon, over a thousand despairing men, at the limit of their existence and racked with thirst, lie there, hoping for sleep, which never comes. There were no toilets. The men had to sit instead on planks, resting on half oil drums. Despite the frequent addition of chlorine. As the drums filled up, the spread of disease was inevitable, and the stink was appalling. Before long, twenty to twenty five men were dying each day in the tunnels from exhaustion, disease, cold starvation, or beatings. The chief of Nazi munitions, Albert Spear, visited at the end of nineteen forty three. In his memoirs, he claims to have set everything straight, improving the food and sanitation in order to reduce what he describes as an extraordinarily high mortality rate. But while Spier liked to take credit for making improvements at Mittelwerk at the time, he was quick to write to the murderous Hans Kamler to congratulate him on getting the underground factory running in just two months, which far.

Kamla told his staff the work must go ahead, and in the shortest possible time, French resistance leader Jean Michel was imprisoned at Dora Mittelbaugh and put to work in the tunnels. Jean Michel later described the vicious abuse and the beatings that the terrified prisoners suffered at the hands of their guards, and he recalled the deafening sound of the underground factory. The noise bores into the brain and shears the nerves. That demented rhythm lasts for fifteen hours. Arriving at the dormitory, we collapse onto the rocks, onto the ground. The capos press us on those behind, trample over their comrades. Soon, over a thousand despairing men, at the limit of their existence and racked with thirst, lie there, hoping for sleep, which never comes. There were no toilets. The men had to sit instead on planks, resting on half oil drums. Despite the frequent addition of chlorine. As the drums filled up, the spread of disease was inevitable, and the stink was appalling. Before long, twenty to twenty five men were dying each day in the tunnels from exhaustion, disease, cold starvation, or beatings. The chief of Nazi munitions, Albert Spear, visited at the end of nineteen forty three. In his memoirs, he claims to have set everything straight, improving the food and sanitation in order to reduce what he describes as an extraordinarily high mortality rate. But while Spier liked to take credit for making improvements at Mittelwerk at the time, he was quick to write to the murderous Hans Kamler to congratulate him on getting the underground factory running in just two months, which far.

Exceeds anything ever done in Europe and is unsurpassed even by American standards.

Exceeds anything ever done in Europe and is unsurpassed even by American standards.

The better conditions didn't last anyway. Soon enough, the SS Guards were killing prisoners suspecting rebellion or sabotage. In January nineteen forty five, according to later evidence.

The better conditions didn't last anyway. Soon enough, the SS Guards were killing prisoners suspecting rebellion or sabotage. In January nineteen forty five, according to later evidence.

The mass hangings began. Up to fifty seventy forties a day were hung an electric crane at the tunnel, lifted to twelve prisoners at a time, hands behind their backs, a piece of wood in their mouths. All prisoners had to watch these mass hangings.

The mass hangings began. Up to fifty seventy forties a day were hung an electric crane at the tunnel, lifted to twelve prisoners at a time, hands behind their backs, a piece of wood in their mouths. All prisoners had to watch these mass hangings.

It was a hellish place. By early in nineteen forty five, the number of Jewish prisoners at Dora began to increase. Dead or dying prisoners were being brought in as Auschwitz and other camps further east were closed down. Supplies of food were patchy, and the conditions had deteriorated so badly that the crematorium couldn't keep pace with the death toll. The SS Guards started burning the corpses on outdoor pires. By the time the US third Armoured Division reached the Dora Mittelbough camp in April nineteen forty five, the SS Guards had fled. A fire was still burning, heaped with partially cremated corpses. A final bitter tragedy was that the camp had been hit by an Allied bombing raid, which killed an unknown number of prisoners, possibly hundreds. At least twelve thousand people had died in the camp and even more on forced marches towards or away from it. Only two one hundred and fifty prisoners remained alive. Nearby was the underground factory of Mittelwerk, still full of partially assembled missiles.

It was a hellish place. By early in nineteen forty five, the number of Jewish prisoners at Dora began to increase. Dead or dying prisoners were being brought in as Auschwitz and other camps further east were closed down. Supplies of food were patchy, and the conditions had deteriorated so badly that the crematorium couldn't keep pace with the death toll. The SS Guards started burning the corpses on outdoor pires. By the time the US third Armoured Division reached the Dora Mittelbough camp in April nineteen forty five, the SS Guards had fled. A fire was still burning, heaped with partially cremated corpses. A final bitter tragedy was that the camp had been hit by an Allied bombing raid, which killed an unknown number of prisoners, possibly hundreds. At least twelve thousand people had died in the camp and even more on forced marches towards or away from it. Only two one hundred and fifty prisoners remained alive. Nearby was the underground factory of Mittelwerk, still full of partially assembled missiles.

But where was the.

But where was the.

Scientific director of the V two program? Then A Von Brown cautionary tales will return after the break. At the start of nineteen forty five, Von Brown had still been based at Paina Munda, far from the underground factory and the concentration camp. But as the Soviets closed in from the east and the Americans, British and French from the west, that would change. He would later say.

Scientific director of the V two program? Then A Von Brown cautionary tales will return after the break. At the start of nineteen forty five, Von Brown had still been based at Paina Munda, far from the underground factory and the concentration camp. But as the Soviets closed in from the east and the Americans, British and French from the west, that would change. He would later say.

Ten orders lay on my desk. Five threatened me with immediate execution if we moved ourselves from that spot. Five stated that I would be shot if we did not move.

Ten orders lay on my desk. Five threatened me with immediate execution if we moved ourselves from that spot. Five stated that I would be shot if we did not move.

Von Brown liked to tell this story of escaping under cover of contradictory orders, but the truth was that Hans Kamler, now one of the most powerful men in the Third Reich, instructed him to relocate to the underground factory at mittelveak. Von Brown obeyed. Von Brown also liked to weave a tale of daring, bluffs and intrigue as he and his team smuggled equipment and secret documents away from Painamunda and to a hidden location. He said much less about how that maneuver was accomplished. The shipment was a come by documents on SS headed stationery signed by a senior SS officer namely Werner von Brown. Professor von Brown also bore the title of Major von Brown of the SS, and wearing his SS uniform, he wielded his full authority as an officer of one of history's most murderous organizations. On arrival at the mittelvec Major von Brown took lodgings in a beautiful house ten miles southwest of the underground factory. The house had previously been the home of a Jewish factory owner. Von Brown crisscrossed the region, searching for and confiscating workshops and factories and even schools to accommodate a last push in the manufacture of the V two. On the twelfth of March nineteen forty five, the pressure of work caught up with him and his chauffeur.

Von Brown liked to tell this story of escaping under cover of contradictory orders, but the truth was that Hans Kamler, now one of the most powerful men in the Third Reich, instructed him to relocate to the underground factory at mittelveak. Von Brown obeyed. Von Brown also liked to weave a tale of daring, bluffs and intrigue as he and his team smuggled equipment and secret documents away from Painamunda and to a hidden location. He said much less about how that maneuver was accomplished. The shipment was a come by documents on SS headed stationery signed by a senior SS officer namely Werner von Brown. Professor von Brown also bore the title of Major von Brown of the SS, and wearing his SS uniform, he wielded his full authority as an officer of one of history's most murderous organizations. On arrival at the mittelvec Major von Brown took lodgings in a beautiful house ten miles southwest of the underground factory. The house had previously been the home of a Jewish factory owner. Von Brown crisscrossed the region, searching for and confiscating workshops and factories and even schools to accommodate a last push in the manufacture of the V two. On the twelfth of March nineteen forty five, the pressure of work caught up with him and his chauffeur.

The driver, out of exhaustion after having driven through two nights, fell asleep at the wheel. At the speed of about one hundred kilometers an hour, the car flew through the air and landed after about a forty meter flight. I was sleeping and awoke only during the flight because the tire noise suddenly stopped.

The driver, out of exhaustion after having driven through two nights, fell asleep at the wheel. At the speed of about one hundred kilometers an hour, the car flew through the air and landed after about a forty meter flight. I was sleeping and awoke only during the flight because the tire noise suddenly stopped.

Von Brown broke his arm in two places and shattered his shoulder. The wreck was spotted by a passing car, which, by sheer coincidence, contained two colleagues from Payna Munda. Von Brown and his chauffeur were rushed to hospital, where Von Brown remained for several weeks before returning to the middelvac By now the American Army was closing in. Von Brown and his army boss fell to Dornberger received orders from Hans Kamler to evacuate again. The ess showed up to enforce the order, and Von Brown door Waornberger and the rest left the Middleveck and the concentration camp behind them a week before it was liberated by the third Armoured Division. The top five hundred people from the V two project were to rush south to the beautiful and remote little town of Oberamagau and the Bavarian Alps, ostensibly to keep them safe from the American forces. But von Brown and Dornberger realized that Kamler might have something else in mind. If he murdered the top five hundred scientists, managers, and engineers who'd worked on the V two, the rocket's technological secrets would be forever hidden from the Americans and the Soviets. After the V two leadership arrived at the scenic mountain town, their fears only grew. They were housed in a barracks surrounded by barbed wire and SS guards, but Kamler himself soon dashed off on some mission, leaving Von Brown to work his charm on Kamler's deputy.

Von Brown broke his arm in two places and shattered his shoulder. The wreck was spotted by a passing car, which, by sheer coincidence, contained two colleagues from Payna Munda. Von Brown and his chauffeur were rushed to hospital, where Von Brown remained for several weeks before returning to the middelvac By now the American Army was closing in. Von Brown and his army boss fell to Dornberger received orders from Hans Kamler to evacuate again. The ess showed up to enforce the order, and Von Brown door Waornberger and the rest left the Middleveck and the concentration camp behind them a week before it was liberated by the third Armoured Division. The top five hundred people from the V two project were to rush south to the beautiful and remote little town of Oberamagau and the Bavarian Alps, ostensibly to keep them safe from the American forces. But von Brown and Dornberger realized that Kamler might have something else in mind. If he murdered the top five hundred scientists, managers, and engineers who'd worked on the V two, the rocket's technological secrets would be forever hidden from the Americans and the Soviets. After the V two leadership arrived at the scenic mountain town, their fears only grew. They were housed in a barracks surrounded by barbed wire and SS guards, but Kamler himself soon dashed off on some mission, leaving Von Brown to work his charm on Kamler's deputy.

Are you not worried, Storm Banfura, that these barracks are an easy target for the American bombers?

Are you not worried, Storm Banfura, that these barracks are an easy target for the American bombers?

What do you mean, Professor?

What do you mean, Professor?

Just imagine it is clearly a military target and the Luftwaffe is no longer able to protect us. One or two bombs in the right place could kill us all and end a Furi's dream of a super weapon. Indeed, you don't want to be the man in charge when the Fura's dreams are frustrated, do you surely not? It might be cleverer if we were to disperse to nearby homes. There is plenty of accommodation in ETL Fagrant and Garmash Patent Kirschen, and when Obergrupen fiohor Kamler returns, we can all be ready for duty with an hour's notice. Much safer, don't you think.

Just imagine it is clearly a military target and the Luftwaffe is no longer able to protect us. One or two bombs in the right place could kill us all and end a Furi's dream of a super weapon. Indeed, you don't want to be the man in charge when the Fura's dreams are frustrated, do you surely not? It might be cleverer if we were to disperse to nearby homes. There is plenty of accommodation in ETL Fagrant and Garmash Patent Kirschen, and when Obergrupen fiohor Kamler returns, we can all be ready for duty with an hour's notice. Much safer, don't you think.

The hapless deputy hesitated for a long moment, and then, as if sent by Von Brown's guardian angel, a group of American fighters roared low over ober Ammergau. That swung it. He nodded, and the scientists were given permission to disperse, wearing civilian clothes. They didn't come back. Von Brown, Drnberger, and a few hand picked colleagues gathered discreetly at House Ingeborg, a hotel still operating high in the German Alps and a safe distance from Kamler, from the oncoming allies and from the chaos of the collapsing Nazi regime. In Berlin. Von Brown was still in considerable pain from his broken shoulder, but was otherwise well satisfied.

The hapless deputy hesitated for a long moment, and then, as if sent by Von Brown's guardian angel, a group of American fighters roared low over ober Ammergau. That swung it. He nodded, and the scientists were given permission to disperse, wearing civilian clothes. They didn't come back. Von Brown, Drnberger, and a few hand picked colleagues gathered discreetly at House Ingeborg, a hotel still operating high in the German Alps and a safe distance from Kamler, from the oncoming allies and from the chaos of the collapsing Nazi regime. In Berlin. Von Brown was still in considerable pain from his broken shoulder, but was otherwise well satisfied.

I was living royally and a ski hotel on a mountain plateau. The French below us to the west, and the Americans to the south. But no one, of course, suspected we were there, so nothing happens. The most momentous events were being broadcast over the radio. Hitler was dead, and the hotel service was excellent.

I was living royally and a ski hotel on a mountain plateau. The French below us to the west, and the Americans to the south. But no one, of course, suspected we were there, so nothing happens. The most momentous events were being broadcast over the radio. Hitler was dead, and the hotel service was excellent.

Back at the Dora Mittelbaugh concentration camp, local German civilians were ordered by American soldiers to bury the dead piles of emaciated corpses men who had simply starved as they tried to work house Ingeborg had a superb wine seller and a gifted chef. In fact, Von Brown had only one thing to worry about. How would he persuade the Americans to let him switch sides. Ferner's younger brother, Magnus von Brown, was sent out on a bicycle to find some Americans and surrender on behalf of the group. Magnus spoke a little English, and the hope was that as a lone cyclist, it'd be sufficiently unintimidating to have time to talk. Ferner felt a, Dornberger and the others waited nervously for Magnus to return had he been taken prisoner shot. But after a few hours, Magnus arrived with a set of safe conduct passes and an invitation to head over and surrender. In delight, Ferner, Dornberger, and the rest jumped into a trio of BMW's and drove down to meet the Americans. Von Brown was confident that they'd get a warm welcome rather than be prosecuted for war crimes. As he later told an American interviewer.

Back at the Dora Mittelbaugh concentration camp, local German civilians were ordered by American soldiers to bury the dead piles of emaciated corpses men who had simply starved as they tried to work house Ingeborg had a superb wine seller and a gifted chef. In fact, Von Brown had only one thing to worry about. How would he persuade the Americans to let him switch sides. Ferner's younger brother, Magnus von Brown, was sent out on a bicycle to find some Americans and surrender on behalf of the group. Magnus spoke a little English, and the hope was that as a lone cyclist, it'd be sufficiently unintimidating to have time to talk. Ferner felt a, Dornberger and the others waited nervously for Magnus to return had he been taken prisoner shot. But after a few hours, Magnus arrived with a set of safe conduct passes and an invitation to head over and surrender. In delight, Ferner, Dornberger, and the rest jumped into a trio of BMW's and drove down to meet the Americans. Von Brown was confident that they'd get a warm welcome rather than be prosecuted for war crimes. As he later told an American interviewer.

No, it all made sense. The veto was something we had and new Americans didn't have. Naturally, you wanted to know all about.

No, it all made sense. The veto was something we had and new Americans didn't have. Naturally, you wanted to know all about.

It, and he was right.

It, and he was right.

The US Army soon realized what a prize they had and laid out another fine spread for von Brown and his colleagues to enjoy. The newspapers breathlessly reported the story. As the leadership of the V two program were questioned about their rocket technology. A bold future awaited who cared about the past. Just weeks before Van Brown surrendered to the US Army, the third Armored Division had reached the doorra Mittelbough Concentration camp and radioed for help.

The US Army soon realized what a prize they had and laid out another fine spread for von Brown and his colleagues to enjoy. The newspapers breathlessly reported the story. As the leadership of the V two program were questioned about their rocket technology. A bold future awaited who cared about the past. Just weeks before Van Brown surrendered to the US Army, the third Armored Division had reached the doorra Mittelbough Concentration camp and radioed for help.

I saw rows upon rows of skin covered skeletons. Men lay as they had starved, discolored and lying in indescribable human filth. Their striped coats and prison numbers hung to their frames as a last token or symbol of those who enslaved and killed them. I noticed one girl I would say she was about seventeen years old. She lay where she had fallen, gangreened and naked. I choked up and quite understand how and why anyone could do these things.

I saw rows upon rows of skin covered skeletons. Men lay as they had starved, discolored and lying in indescribable human filth. Their striped coats and prison numbers hung to their frames as a last token or symbol of those who enslaved and killed them. I noticed one girl I would say she was about seventeen years old. She lay where she had fallen, gangreened and naked. I choked up and quite understand how and why anyone could do these things.

Two hundred and fifty people are rushed to emergence hospitals that it was clear that many of the camp inmates were so badly starved as to be beyond help. Enraged, the Americans rounded up the men of Nordhausen to dig graves on a plot of ground overlooking the town, carry the dead up the hill, and bury them. The locals claimed they had no knowledge of the camp.

Two hundred and fifty people are rushed to emergence hospitals that it was clear that many of the camp inmates were so badly starved as to be beyond help. Enraged, the Americans rounded up the men of Nordhausen to dig graves on a plot of ground overlooking the town, carry the dead up the hill, and bury them. The locals claimed they had no knowledge of the camp.

They always said, well, we didn't.

They always said, well, we didn't.

Know, said one American soldier.

Know, said one American soldier.

And I'd say, you could smell it.

And I'd say, you could smell it.

Couldn't you. So what did Werner von Brown know? We can dismiss immediately the idea that he was unaware of the use of slave labor or the conditions at Mittelveck. Even at Paina Munda, the scientist's playground, slave labor was used. Von Brown wrote letters discussing the administration of slave labor, but not just at Paina Munda, but at MITTELVEK too. Towards the end of von Brown's life, he gave an interview about the underground minds.

Couldn't you. So what did Werner von Brown know? We can dismiss immediately the idea that he was unaware of the use of slave labor or the conditions at Mittelveck. Even at Paina Munda, the scientist's playground, slave labor was used. Von Brown wrote letters discussing the administration of slave labor, but not just at Paina Munda, but at MITTELVEK too. Towards the end of von Brown's life, he gave an interview about the underground minds.

Their working conditions. There were absolutely horrible. I saw the mital work several times, once while these prisoners were blasting new tunnels in there, and it was a pretty hellish environment.

Their working conditions. There were absolutely horrible. I saw the mital work several times, once while these prisoners were blasting new tunnels in there, and it was a pretty hellish environment.

So yes, he knew, But how culpable was he? Cautionary tales will return in a moment. If von Brown were alive today and trying to defend his reputation, here's what he might say. He only ever wanted to go to the moon, and his plan all along was to exploit the German army's gullibility. His V two rocket was technologically brilliant, but far too complex to be a useful weapon in the nineteen forties. It actively damaged the German war effort by diverting resources away from more efficient weapons. He couldn't have done anything much to oppose the Nazi atrocities and never forget Von Brown was once arrested by the Gestapo and accused of treason, but this case for the defense is full of holes. The idea that von Brown viewed the German Army merely as an expense account is tempting, but the main source for that claim is vn Brown himself. Von Brown understandably liked to talk about his Gestapo interrogation as backing up his account. As we heard in the previous episode, he had ostensibly been arrested after an indiscretion at a drunken party.

So yes, he knew, But how culpable was he? Cautionary tales will return in a moment. If von Brown were alive today and trying to defend his reputation, here's what he might say. He only ever wanted to go to the moon, and his plan all along was to exploit the German army's gullibility. His V two rocket was technologically brilliant, but far too complex to be a useful weapon in the nineteen forties. It actively damaged the German war effort by diverting resources away from more efficient weapons. He couldn't have done anything much to oppose the Nazi atrocities and never forget Von Brown was once arrested by the Gestapo and accused of treason, but this case for the defense is full of holes. The idea that von Brown viewed the German Army merely as an expense account is tempting, but the main source for that claim is vn Brown himself. Von Brown understandably liked to talk about his Gestapo interrogation as backing up his account. As we heard in the previous episode, he had ostensibly been arrested after an indiscretion at a drunken party.

My feeling about the weapon is that it is aimed at the wrong planet. Rockets are not designed to conquer Britain or Russia. They are designed to conquer space.

My feeling about the weapon is that it is aimed at the wrong planet. Rockets are not designed to conquer Britain or Russia. They are designed to conquer space.

After the fall of the Nazis that brush with the Gestapo we must have felt like such a blessing in disguise, But serious scholars of the Nazi regime know that he was arrested as part of a power grab, not because any treason had been proven. Michael Neufeld, von Brown's biographer, says that the Gestapo arrest proved to be one of the most fortunate things that ever happened to him. In the Third Reich after the war, his defenders were able to credit him with an anti Nazi record that he never had. Let's be clear, Von Brown was a high ranking SS officer who worked tirelessly to make a deadly weapon that he knew could only be intended to obliterate large targets, namely civilian populations. He was intimately involved in the use of slave labor, and in correspondence he discussed the ratio of concentration camp laborers to German specialists. In a letter written in nineteen forty four, Von Brown describes visiting the Buchenwald concentration camp to hunt for skilled workers he could transfer to the Mittelwack. Vron Brown's biographer, Michael Neufeld, says that we'd simply cannot know quite how sympathetic he was to the Nazi regime. There's little evidence of genuine enthusiasm, but little evidence of reluctance either. What we see instead is complicity. Von Brown writes. Neufeld was a very specific type of opportunist. He was a patriotic opportunist, willing to accept the necessity of joining various Nazi organizations if it would advance his career. As Neufeld explains, there were thousands of these opportunists. Von Brown was just one of the most senior and the most famous. No, it wasn't that von Brown was a passionate believer in firing missiles at civilians, or using slave labor, or any of the grotesque crimes of the SS. It was that he didn't seem to mind much either way. He never wanted to hurt anybody. He just didn't care how many people were hurt. He wanted to reach the moon. The hellish environment of the Mittelvac and the smoking corpses at the Dora Mittelbough concentration camp they were atrocities he was willing to ignore, and after the war he found others willing to ignore those atrocities as well. Within months of his VIP surrender to the Americans, a new chapter in Verna von Brown's life began. He traveled to the United States, not as a prisoner of war, but to take up the offer of a job with the US Army. He wasn't the only German scientist to be recruited. He was simply one of the most prominent in a cohort of sixteen hundred as the war in Europe came to an end. US Army ordnance officers interviewed scientists like von Brown, and as a story, it's widely told and impossible to verify that if the American officers decided that they wanted to recruit a scientist, they'd attach a paper clip to his file. This was the coded signal to investigators that any inquiries into the expert's background should be brief and should reach a favorable conclusion. Ignoring uncomfortable facts was baked into that practice from the start, And if the paperclip story is true, then someone had a dark sense of humor because the recruitment operation was eventually formalized and named Project paper Clip. When President Truman approved Project Paperclip, he explicitly excluded anyone who was a member of the Nazi Party and more than a nominal participant in its activities, or an active supporter of Nazi militarism. It's hard to see how von Brown clears that hurdle. He was a high ranking SS officer and the designer of Germany's most expensive weapon, one targeted almost exclusively at civilians. But like Vron Brown himself, the paper Clip team clearly decided it would be better to look the other way. Fron Brown was asked about his SS membership. First he denied it, then he admitted it, and then the subject was dropped. Months earlier, fron Brown had been held by the Gestapo, pampered, briefly interrogated, and then released to get on with his rocketry. Thanks to friends in high places. History was repeating itself. Some of von Brown's American interviewers wanted to get at the truth, but higher powers decided that his expertise were simply too valuable, and this soft touch approach wasn't uncommon. Project paper Clip was always controversial in America, both within and outside the US government. We're hiring Nazis, We're giving them a path to citizenship, We're involving them in cutting edge military projects. There were plenty of people raising concerns, but the rising threat from the Soviet Union was soon seen as more important. After all, if the Americans didn't recruit these men, wouldn't the Soviets do so instead. The atrocities at Dora Mittelbaugh were well known. They featured in propaganda at the time, but over the years people began to lose interest in the dreadful crimes of the past, and it wasn't widely known until much later just how closely some of these newly Americanized scientists were involved in monstrous crimes, not only the concentration camp at Dora Mittelbaugh, but in developing chemical and biological weapons or participating in grotesque human experiments with those dark truths buried deep the conventional wisdom was summarized in a nineteen forty eight article by the US Senator Harry Bird.

After the fall of the Nazis that brush with the Gestapo we must have felt like such a blessing in disguise, But serious scholars of the Nazi regime know that he was arrested as part of a power grab, not because any treason had been proven. Michael Neufeld, von Brown's biographer, says that the Gestapo arrest proved to be one of the most fortunate things that ever happened to him. In the Third Reich after the war, his defenders were able to credit him with an anti Nazi record that he never had. Let's be clear, Von Brown was a high ranking SS officer who worked tirelessly to make a deadly weapon that he knew could only be intended to obliterate large targets, namely civilian populations. He was intimately involved in the use of slave labor, and in correspondence he discussed the ratio of concentration camp laborers to German specialists. In a letter written in nineteen forty four, Von Brown describes visiting the Buchenwald concentration camp to hunt for skilled workers he could transfer to the Mittelwack. Vron Brown's biographer, Michael Neufeld, says that we'd simply cannot know quite how sympathetic he was to the Nazi regime. There's little evidence of genuine enthusiasm, but little evidence of reluctance either. What we see instead is complicity. Von Brown writes. Neufeld was a very specific type of opportunist. He was a patriotic opportunist, willing to accept the necessity of joining various Nazi organizations if it would advance his career. As Neufeld explains, there were thousands of these opportunists. Von Brown was just one of the most senior and the most famous. No, it wasn't that von Brown was a passionate believer in firing missiles at civilians, or using slave labor, or any of the grotesque crimes of the SS. It was that he didn't seem to mind much either way. He never wanted to hurt anybody. He just didn't care how many people were hurt. He wanted to reach the moon. The hellish environment of the Mittelvac and the smoking corpses at the Dora Mittelbough concentration camp they were atrocities he was willing to ignore, and after the war he found others willing to ignore those atrocities as well. Within months of his VIP surrender to the Americans, a new chapter in Verna von Brown's life began. He traveled to the United States, not as a prisoner of war, but to take up the offer of a job with the US Army. He wasn't the only German scientist to be recruited. He was simply one of the most prominent in a cohort of sixteen hundred as the war in Europe came to an end. US Army ordnance officers interviewed scientists like von Brown, and as a story, it's widely told and impossible to verify that if the American officers decided that they wanted to recruit a scientist, they'd attach a paper clip to his file. This was the coded signal to investigators that any inquiries into the expert's background should be brief and should reach a favorable conclusion. Ignoring uncomfortable facts was baked into that practice from the start, And if the paperclip story is true, then someone had a dark sense of humor because the recruitment operation was eventually formalized and named Project paper Clip. When President Truman approved Project Paperclip, he explicitly excluded anyone who was a member of the Nazi Party and more than a nominal participant in its activities, or an active supporter of Nazi militarism. It's hard to see how von Brown clears that hurdle. He was a high ranking SS officer and the designer of Germany's most expensive weapon, one targeted almost exclusively at civilians. But like Vron Brown himself, the paper Clip team clearly decided it would be better to look the other way. Fron Brown was asked about his SS membership. First he denied it, then he admitted it, and then the subject was dropped. Months earlier, fron Brown had been held by the Gestapo, pampered, briefly interrogated, and then released to get on with his rocketry. Thanks to friends in high places. History was repeating itself. Some of von Brown's American interviewers wanted to get at the truth, but higher powers decided that his expertise were simply too valuable, and this soft touch approach wasn't uncommon. Project paper Clip was always controversial in America, both within and outside the US government. We're hiring Nazis, We're giving them a path to citizenship, We're involving them in cutting edge military projects. There were plenty of people raising concerns, but the rising threat from the Soviet Union was soon seen as more important. After all, if the Americans didn't recruit these men, wouldn't the Soviets do so instead. The atrocities at Dora Mittelbaugh were well known. They featured in propaganda at the time, but over the years people began to lose interest in the dreadful crimes of the past, and it wasn't widely known until much later just how closely some of these newly Americanized scientists were involved in monstrous crimes, not only the concentration camp at Dora Mittelbaugh, but in developing chemical and biological weapons or participating in grotesque human experiments with those dark truths buried deep the conventional wisdom was summarized in a nineteen forty eight article by the US Senator Harry Bird.

The question discussed is not whether we like or hate the Germans. It's a question of what and how much these particular Germans can contribute to our scientific progress and a highly scientific age. In my opinion, we are entitled to exploit these talents to our best possible advantage.

The question discussed is not whether we like or hate the Germans. It's a question of what and how much these particular Germans can contribute to our scientific progress and a highly scientific age. In my opinion, we are entitled to exploit these talents to our best possible advantage.

Or, as Werner von Brown might have put it, it is simply a care of milking the golden cow. Von Brown threw himself into life in America with his typical energy. At first, he was disheartened by how primitive and poorly funded the US rocket program was, but over time it became clear that he finally backed the right horse. The US launched more than sixty V two rockets from white sand New Mexico as they tried to understand and perfect the technology. One high point of this operation was the first ever photographs taken from space. Less successful was the time a misfiring V two struck a cemetery on the outskirts of Juarez, Mexico, much to the outrage of the Mexicans. But von Brown no longer limited himself to military matters. In the nineteen fifties, he worked on a series of articles about space exploration for the popular magazine Colliers, which reached an audience of millions that in turn reached the attention of Walt Disney, who had already hired the one time head of the German Society for Spaceship Travel, Philly Ley, the man whom Von Brown had impressed back in nineteen twenty nine with his rendition of the moonlight Sonata Lay called Von Brown, and soon enough a deal was on. Von Brown presented a series of educational Disney films about space travel, which reached tens of millions when they were broadcast on television.

Or, as Werner von Brown might have put it, it is simply a care of milking the golden cow. Von Brown threw himself into life in America with his typical energy. At first, he was disheartened by how primitive and poorly funded the US rocket program was, but over time it became clear that he finally backed the right horse. The US launched more than sixty V two rockets from white sand New Mexico as they tried to understand and perfect the technology. One high point of this operation was the first ever photographs taken from space. Less successful was the time a misfiring V two struck a cemetery on the outskirts of Juarez, Mexico, much to the outrage of the Mexicans. But von Brown no longer limited himself to military matters. In the nineteen fifties, he worked on a series of articles about space exploration for the popular magazine Colliers, which reached an audience of millions that in turn reached the attention of Walt Disney, who had already hired the one time head of the German Society for Spaceship Travel, Philly Ley, the man whom Von Brown had impressed back in nineteen twenty nine with his rendition of the moonlight Sonata Lay called Von Brown, and soon enough a deal was on. Von Brown presented a series of educational Disney films about space travel, which reached tens of millions when they were broadcast on television.

I believe a practical passenger rocket could be built and tested within ten years.

I believe a practical passenger rocket could be built and tested within ten years.

And he still had the same swashbuckling charm. In nineteen fifty five as it had in nineteen twenty nine. After an exhausting script session with the Disney team, one of the producers recalls.

And he still had the same swashbuckling charm. In nineteen fifty five as it had in nineteen twenty nine. After an exhausting script session with the Disney team, one of the producers recalls.

When he was through, he threw down his and turned around to a piano and for ten minutes played Bach wide open. He just rattled it off flawless. He was a genius. He could do anything.

When he was through, he threw down his and turned around to a piano and for ten minutes played Bach wide open. He just rattled it off flawless. He was a genius. He could do anything.

Indeed, he could, it seemed. Von Brown went on to take a leading role at NASA, as did several of his former colleagues from Payna Munda. Von Brown met President Kennedy several times. One photograph shows them sharing an open top limousine in nineteen sixty two. In another, they stand shoulder to shoulder looking up at the structures of Cape Canaveral, Kennedy wearing dark brown shades while von Brown directs the President's gaze. Sam Phillips, the director of the Apollo program, declared that the US would not have reached the Moon so quickly if not for Werner von Brown. Years later, Phillips changed his mind on reflection. Without Vron Brown, the US would not have reached the Moon at all. Von Brown was a genius, no doubt about it, but his ability to reshape the perceptions of those around him is as remarkable as any of his gifts as an engineer or a technical director. He persuaded the Nazi regime to fall in love with an impossibly sophisticated solution to a simple problem, how to make bombs explode in London. Despite his youth, he controlled the largest mega project in the Nazi wartime economy, and as with all mega projects, delivered well over time and over budget. And despite his senior rank in the ess and his intimate knowledge of the crimes against humanity at the Mittelveck, he ended up paling around with Disney and JFK. After leaving NASA, Von Brown took a well paid corporate job near Washington, d C. He had a swimming pool at his home in Alexandria, a corporate driver, even a backyard observatory. He died of cancer in nineteen seventy seven, at the age of sixty five. A few years later, people finally started to ask serious questions about the Middelverk and about whether Von Brown and his V two team had been complicit in the most appalling crimes. But the biography of Erna von Brown on NASA's website notes simply that his responsibility for the crimes connected to rocket production is controversial. Von Brown had moved beyond justice. A pioneer, a Disney star, a millionaire, a genius, a man who led a charmed life in the twentieth century darkest hours. His gravestone reads, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. It's a nice thought. The divine truths of the universe are plane for everyone to see. But there are some truths which are far from divine, and though they're playing to see, all too often we decide not to look. A key source for this episode was Michael Neufeld's book Vron Brown, Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War. For a full list of our sources, see the show notes at Timharford dot com. Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright. It's produced by Alice Fines with support from Marilyn Rust. The sound design and original music is the work of Pascal Wise. Sarah Nix edited the scripts. It features the voice talents of Ben Crowe, Melanie Guttridge, Stella Harford, Jemmas Saunders, and rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have been possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Ryan Dilly, Greta Cohne, Lital Millard, John Schnaz, Eric's handler, Carrie Brody, and Christina Sullivan. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. It's recorded at Wardoor Studios in London by Tom Berry. If you like the show, please remember to share, rate and review, tell your friends and if you want to hear the show ad free, sign up for Pushkin Plus on the show page in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin dot f M slash plus

Indeed, he could, it seemed. Von Brown went on to take a leading role at NASA, as did several of his former colleagues from Payna Munda. Von Brown met President Kennedy several times. One photograph shows them sharing an open top limousine in nineteen sixty two. In another, they stand shoulder to shoulder looking up at the structures of Cape Canaveral, Kennedy wearing dark brown shades while von Brown directs the President's gaze. Sam Phillips, the director of the Apollo program, declared that the US would not have reached the Moon so quickly if not for Werner von Brown. Years later, Phillips changed his mind on reflection. Without Vron Brown, the US would not have reached the Moon at all. Von Brown was a genius, no doubt about it, but his ability to reshape the perceptions of those around him is as remarkable as any of his gifts as an engineer or a technical director. He persuaded the Nazi regime to fall in love with an impossibly sophisticated solution to a simple problem, how to make bombs explode in London. Despite his youth, he controlled the largest mega project in the Nazi wartime economy, and as with all mega projects, delivered well over time and over budget. And despite his senior rank in the ess and his intimate knowledge of the crimes against humanity at the Mittelveck, he ended up paling around with Disney and JFK. After leaving NASA, Von Brown took a well paid corporate job near Washington, d C. He had a swimming pool at his home in Alexandria, a corporate driver, even a backyard observatory. He died of cancer in nineteen seventy seven, at the age of sixty five. A few years later, people finally started to ask serious questions about the Middelverk and about whether Von Brown and his V two team had been complicit in the most appalling crimes. But the biography of Erna von Brown on NASA's website notes simply that his responsibility for the crimes connected to rocket production is controversial. Von Brown had moved beyond justice. A pioneer, a Disney star, a millionaire, a genius, a man who led a charmed life in the twentieth century darkest hours. His gravestone reads, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. It's a nice thought. The divine truths of the universe are plane for everyone to see. But there are some truths which are far from divine, and though they're playing to see, all too often we decide not to look. A key source for this episode was Michael Neufeld's book Vron Brown, Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War. For a full list of our sources, see the show notes at Timharford dot com. Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright. It's produced by Alice Fines with support from Marilyn Rust. The sound design and original music is the work of Pascal Wise. Sarah Nix edited the scripts. It features the voice talents of Ben Crowe, Melanie Guttridge, Stella Harford, Jemmas Saunders, and rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have been possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Ryan Dilly, Greta Cohne, Lital Millard, John Schnaz, Eric's handler, Carrie Brody, and Christina Sullivan. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. It's recorded at Wardoor Studios in London by Tom Berry. If you like the show, please remember to share, rate and review, tell your friends and if you want to hear the show ad free, sign up for Pushkin Plus on the show page in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin dot f M slash plus