GERMAN rocket genius Wernher von Braun‘s reputation underwent an enduring rehabilitation in the decades that followed the second world war. The consensus arose that he was as much an unwilling victim of the Nazi war machine as those killed by his V2 rockets. His cause was obviously aided when, after the war, he was headhunted by the “right side”, avoiding retribution in Europe by being deployed on the US’s space programme.
So it’s fascinating to read ‘s deconstruction of this aura of acceptability. This is a man, the author points out, who was the son of a Prussian aristocrat, a prime candidate for the SS of which he was a member, and happy for slave labour to be used in his Nazi missile programme. Significantly, he never displayed public regret for his actions. Readers will draw their own conclusions, but any rose-tinted spectacles worn these past six decades will likely slip.
W. W. Norton