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Rockets and People
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According to information from our military, they did not find radar on a
single one of your airplanes. And among the captured materials that they
were able to provide us during our troops’ offensive, there was also nothing
of interest.We decided that the Russians had safeguarded this technology so
well that it did not fall into the hands of our military.”
I think that he spoke of “safeguarding” to be polite. In actual fact, they had
surmised that during the war we had virtually no aircraft radar and radar
sights.Wilki said that last year they had been fed very poorly.They got a total
of 250 grams of bread per day and 200 grams of meat in the dining hall.Very
little sugar and fat. At the same time, as a rule, workers were fed better than
engineers. Foreign workers worked at the factory, including Russians and
French. Supposedly (although we did not believe it) the Russians were fed
the same as the Germans. It is true, they did not have the right to live in
private apartments, and they spent the night in a camp. He felt it necessary
to add, “In my opinion, all the atrocities are the result of the SS. They are
animals, not people.”
“Did you hear anything about the extermination camps—Maidanek,
Treblinka, Auschwitz, Buchenwald? About the extermination of
6 million Jews?
“No, I don’t know anything about that.”
“Do you know what a ‘gas wagon’ is?”
“No, I’ve never heard of it.”
As best we could, we explained to the German specialists the design and
purpose of the gas chambers and gas wagons. On their faces we could detect
neither surprise, nor any other emotions.They listened very attentively. Once
again the comment was,“It’s all the SS and Gestapo.”
We wore them out with questions about other firms and studies. Like all
radio and electronics specialists, they were well informed about related firms
and developments and told us that Telefunken and Lorentz were involved
primarily in radar technology for air defense purposes, while Askania and
Siemens were involved in remote control. Over the past six months, many
directors along with staff and laboratories had been moved to Thuringia and
Westphalia.They knew that the secret weapon, the “vengeance rocket,” was
being made in Peenemünde. None of them had ever been there—it was very
secret. But other divisions of Telefunken were building ground-based radars
and stations for the radio control of rockets.
The tube shops were excellently equipped. Here they were making
magnetron tubes with a pulse power of up to 100 kilowatts!
When asked who was considered the most prominent among the specialists
in the field of vacuum tubes, Wilki responded, “Germany is proud of
Professor Manfred von Ardenne.This is a man with big ideas. He was a great
engineer and visionary.”
“Why do you say ‘was’?”