Abstracts Category : Other

Veil of Protection: Operation Paperclip and the ContrastingFates of Wernher von Braun and Arthur Rudolph

by Allison Eldridge-Nelson

Toward the end of World War II, the United Statesgovernment initiated Operation Paperclip which set out to secretlysecure the top rocket scientists from Nazi Germany. To accomplishthis, officials manipulated policy procedures, covered theirtracks, and years later misrepresented their knowledge of theprojects details. The resulting problematic immigration policyenabled the government to allow former Nazi scientists to travel tothe U.S. and be employed by the military well ahead of executiveapproval, and amidst strong dissent. This thesis will take thesearguments a step further by contextualizing it within two personalnarratives of participants of Operation Paperclip. The two examinedscientists, Wernher von Braun and his colleague Arthur L. Rudolph,became highly regarded in their field and were bestowed with publicpraise, titles, and awards, yet their fates were drasticallydifferent. As this thesis tracks the constantly shiftingimmigration policy that was shaped by Americas national interestsin the immediate post-WWII era, it will explain the unchecked andunstable procedures that resulted in skewed perceptions of vonBraun and Rudolph. Although von Braun worked alongside Rudolph, andheld powerful positions of authority, his prominence and importanceto the U.S. space program allowed for his Nazi past to berehabilitated. Moreover, while he remained alive this protectionalso extended to those close to him, including Rudolph. When hepassed, however, this veil of protection was lifted, exposing hiscolleagues to a different fate. This thesis does not question thecontributions that von Braun and Rudolph made to the U.S. spaceprogram and development of NASA. Instead, it calls to question howmuch officials manipulated policy to grant von Braun, andsubsequently Rudolph and his team, wide ranging liberties afterescorting them out of Nazi Germany. This immigration policy is whatfirst began the crafting of von Brauns veil of protection, andthe mindset to let it continue. The disjointed immigration policy,formed by the circumstances and without a timely evaluation, setthe guidelines for future congruent policy procedures until amonumental shift in the sociopolitical environment made it possibleto revisit this structure.Advisors/Committee Members: Grunden, Walter (Advisor).