Operation Paperclip - The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists To America

Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America (2014) by Annie Jacobsen
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 9780316277440
Condition: Good
Sold by: Crappy Old Books

Winning the Second World War was a tremendous achievement, but as the Americans rapidly discovered, victory presented a rather awkward administrative problem. What exactly should one do with all those German scientists who had spent the previous few years developing rockets, chemical weapons and assorted technological innovations for one of history’s most appalling regimes? Prosecute them? Imprison them? Or offer them employment, a comfortable house and the opportunity to contribute to America’s bright new technological future?

Naturally, the answer was complicated. Particularly when the Soviet Union was equally enthusiastic about acquiring a few German geniuses of its own.

In Operation Paperclip, investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen exposes the extraordinary and deeply uncomfortable story of the secret American intelligence programme that recruited German scientists, engineers and technical specialists following the collapse of Nazi Germany. Some were brilliant researchers whose expertise would prove enormously valuable to the emerging Cold War superpower. Others had considerably more troubling personal histories, including associations with Nazi organisations, forced labour and programmes responsible for horrific human suffering.

Unfortunately, when national security becomes the overriding priority, moral principles have an unfortunate tendency to disappear beneath an impressive mountain of classified paperwork.

Jacobsen traces the origins and development of Operation Paperclip, examining the intelligence officers, military authorities and government agencies involved in bringing German specialists to the United States. Among the most famous beneficiaries was Wernher von Braun, whose rocket expertise would eventually help propel America’s space programme towards the Moon. His earlier involvement in the Nazi V-2 programme, however, raised questions considerably less suitable for patriotic television documentaries.

The book also investigates figures connected with chemical warfare, aviation medicine and other areas of military research, revealing the disturbing compromises made by officials determined to prevent valuable scientific knowledge from falling into Soviet hands. Backgrounds were scrutinised, inconvenient information was sometimes minimised, and the distinction between useful scientist and compromised participant in Nazi crimes became alarmingly negotiable.

One of the book’s great strengths is its demonstration that history rarely conforms to the tidy moral narratives preferred by governments. The same nation that had fought to defeat Nazi Germany subsequently found itself employing men whose wartime activities might otherwise have made them candidates for prosecution. Evidently, the journey from enemy specialist to valuable government employee could be considerably shorter than anyone cared to advertise.

Drawing on extensive documentary research and interviews, Jacobsen constructs a compelling account of espionage, scientific ambition, political expediency and ethical compromise. It is a story in which technological progress comes accompanied by some extraordinarily unpleasant baggage.

This 2014 Little, Brown edition is in Good condition and offered by Crappy Old Books, where we believe that history should be examined rather than conveniently sanitised.

An engrossing and unsettling work of historical investigation, particularly recommended for anyone who has ever wondered how yesterday’s enemy could become tomorrow’s indispensable employee, provided his security clearance was handled with sufficient imagination.

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