Originally Posted by perseus

Yes the V2 industry was moved from Peenemunde to a vast underground complex near Mittlewerk in central Germany around February 1945. Interestingly this was to be within the Soviet sphere, but the Americans temporarily controlled this area until the 20th June 1945 so it was quite a rush to get the rocket assemblies and scientists moved out of East Germany.

Since Hitler decreed that German industry should be destroyed rather than surrendered to the allies (although Speer never really carried out this order) Von Braun had the blueprints hidden. An American Major had the job of finding these and shipping everything out of the Soviet sphere. The SS took Von Braun and most of the top Scientists to Bavaria were they finally surrendered to the Americans.

Perseus,

This last point is important. Braun and some of his boys, like thousands of other German scientists, were illegally shuffled off to the United States to continue their work in military R&D. The Soviets (hardly surprising) forced Germans to relocate at gun-point while the Americans offered such hard-to-get commodities such as food. An American-Soviet saying emerged: "Our Germans are better than yours". The continuation of German military research was of course declared illegal by the Allied Countrol Council in Berlin. Like virtually every aspect of the German occupation, the victors promulgated laws that they had no intention of following. Potsdam was a testament to the hypocrisy of international law. This drain on German scientific talent constituted another "hidden reparation".

Originally Posted by Ollie Garchy

The continuation of German military research was of course declared illegal by the Allied Countrol Council in Berlin. Like virtually every aspect of the German occupation, the victors promulgated laws that they had no intention of following. Potsdam was a testament to the hypocrisy of international law. This drain on German scientific talent constituted another "hidden reparation".

I am interested in your thought on this issue. Do you feel that the removal of German scienitists was wrong and why? You must remember the context of the time, with the different societies of the western and eastern allies. German scientists held by the west could go back to germany, a lot quicker than from the east.

The ultimate question is: was it right to punish and re-educate germany? What would you have done differently?

Originally Posted by Reiben

I am interested in your thought on this issue. Do you feel that the removal of German scienitists was wrong and why? You must remember the context of the time, with the different societies of the western and eastern allies. German scientists held by the west could go back to germany, a lot quicker than from the east.

The ultimate question is: was it right to punish and re-educate germany? What would you have done differently?

A tough question to answer. It should be addressed in another thread. Here is a quick answer:

(1) No Collective Guilt: Postdam declared Germans were not collectively guilty. This means that a scientist working in aerodynamics for the aircraft industry was not guilty of crime unless such a thing could be proven. Random executions or imprisonment (ie. the Soviet or French method) had little to do with modern concepts of law.

(2) Reparations: The Allies set an overall sum of $20 billion in reparations. This ultimately meant that reparations had to be accounted for. The Allies could not just take whatever they wanted. Random seizures had little to do with modern concepts of law. The Allied Control Council in Berlin tried to set up a workable system. It failed.

(3) State Punishment: Because the German people were not considered collectively guilty, punishing "Germany" was a non-starter. The concept is actually dependent on a system of values that have nothing to do with democratic or even socialist thinking. It was only possible (and rightfully so) to punish those people involved in actual crimes.

(4) German Scientists: The movement of German scientists to the United States (or outside of Germany) was illegal. The American military did so under the noses of Congress...and Congress freaked out when the information was leaked. Nor did this policy constitute demilitarization because the German specialists continued their work on modern armaments systems.

(5) Soviet Methods were Nazi Methods: Soviet troops raped over 3 million German women, killed around 3 to 5 million Germans, rounded up millions for slave labour, etc. Does this sound like justice? Sure, if an eye for an eye is written into our legal code. The American/ British military in Germany found Soviet behaviour disgusting. It was also against international law. Was international law only a tool to punish the vanquished? If so, what does that tell us about our society and our noble legal systems?

Sorry, do not have much time today. Tell me what you think, and I will try to find some time to deal with this issue. But, it does not have much to do with strategic/tactical bombing...so we should start another thread.