CMK F72283 Werner von Braun with his inspection team watching an A4/V2 rocket launch test (3 figures)

Werner von Braun (actually: Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun) was born in March 1912 and died in June 1977. He was an outstanding German scientist, one of the leading specialists in the field of rocket technology from the Second World War, and a member of the SS and NSDAP. Werner von Braun was interested in astronomy and physics in his youth. In the years 1930-1931 he studied at the Institute of Technology in Berlin and Zurich, and in 1933 he obtained a pilot's license. In 1934, at the age of 22, he earned his doctorate from the University of Berlin. Two years later, he joined the Luftwaffe almost immediately becoming the technical director of the missile research center on the island of Peenemünde. In 1936, he also joined the Nazi Party. During World War II, he devoted himself to work on German ballistic missiles and was in fact the chief engineer of the A-4 rocket (known more widely under the designation V-2). At that time, he also became a member of the SS and did not hesitate to use the backbreaking labor of concentration camp prisoners in the implementation of the V-2 project. In May 1945, he capitulated to the American troops, counting on the possibility of continuing his research. His calculations turned out to be correct - he was taken to the USA, where he worked on the Redstone ballistic missile, and from 1958 he worked at NASA. While working for this agency, he was instrumental in developing the Saturn V launch rocket, which allowed NASA to send humans to the moon. For this achievement, in 1969 he was awarded the American Distinguished Service Medal. In 1972, he joined Fairchild Aircraft. He died of cancer in June 1977. He had to spend the last years of his life explaining his Nazi past and using the work of concentration camp prisoners.