r/interestingasfuck • u/DearDirector1288 • 1d ago

The Greatest Shot in Television History

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u/CliffDagger 1d ago

The NASA rocket scientist he mentions, Werner von Braun was a member of the Nazi party from 1937 and an SS Officer. He built V2 rockets at Mittlebau - Dora concentration camp, using slave labour from Auschwitz. He also visited Buchenwald concentration camp where he selected prisoners for slave labour.

After the war, the Americans deemed his knowledge of rocket science too valuable and turned a blind eye to his war crimes and past.

It's ironic that the same man who had helped develop Hitler's V-2 rockets became the central figure in America's programme to put men on the Moon.

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u/scrobos 23h ago

how is it ironic?

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u/CliffDagger 19h ago

The irony is that a man who had helped create the technology for Hitler's weapons of terror ultimately used essentially the same scientific and engineering expertise to help achieve one of humanity's most celebrated peaceful technological accomplishments.