Wernher von Braun

1912 – 1977

Wernher von Braun was a German-American aerospace engineer who joined the Nazi Party in 1937 and the Allgemeine SS in 1940, and who led the development of the V-2 ballistic missile—the first long-range guided weapon to enter service. The V-2 was assembled at the Mittelwerk underground factory by concentration-camp slave labor from Mittelbau-Dora, where an estimated 20,000 prisoners died of starvation, exposure, and execution—more than the missile itself killed in combat. Brought to the United States in 1945 under Operation Paperclip, he became the principal designer of the Saturn V rocket that carried Apollo 11 to the Moon in 1969.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM