The Nazis recruited to win the Cold War - Brian Crim

翻译人员: nancy 郭 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

In May of 1945, the Third Reich was in chaos.

1945 年 5 月， 纳粹德国正处于混乱之中。

Adolf Hitler was dead, German surrender was imminent,

阿道夫·希特勒已去世， 德国的投降迫在眉睫。

and Allied troops had already begun divvying up German territory.

盟军已经迫不及待开始瓜分德国领土。

But high-ranking Nazi engineer Wernher von Braun wasn’t worried.

话虽如此，纳粹高级工程师华纳·冯·布朗 （Wernher von Braun）却不为所动。

In fact, he approached the US government directly—

实际上，他直接联系了美国政府，告知了 他们自己所在的位置，

informing them of his location and waiting calmly for their arrival.

并冷静地等待着他们的到来。

As the brain behind the world’s first long-range ballistic missile,

作为世界远程弹道导弹之父，

von Braun knew his expertise made him a highly valuable military asset.

华纳深知自己精湛的技术会让他 成为军事重地的宝贵财产。

And sure enough, his so-called captors gave him a decidedly warm welcome.

果不其然，他所谓的“绑架者” 对他表示了热烈的欢迎。

Von Braun wasn't the only Nazi scientist receiving this treatment.

华纳并不是唯一受到此待遇的 纳粹科学家。

While World War II was almost over, a new war was brewing.

虽然第二次世界大战即将结束， 但是一场新的斗争正在酝酿之中。

And the US was eager to recruit the smartest minds in Germany

在苏联抓住机会之前，美国迫切的

before the Soviets got the chance.

想雇佣德国一些最聪明的科学家。

This became known as Operation Paperclip—

此次行动以 “回形针行动” 为人熟知，

a clandestine campaign that brought over 1,500 German scientists to the US

这个秘密行动在1945年到1962年之间，

between 1945 and 1962.

将1500名以上的德国科学家带到了美国。

The program was named for the paperclips attached to the files of early recruits—

该计划以早期新兵档案中 附带的回形针命名，

indicating that incriminating information like Nazi affiliations

这表明科学家们和纳粹的隶属关系

or suspected war crimes could be disregarded.

或涉嫌战争罪等问题可以被忽视。

Von Braun, for example, had overseen an SS project

就拿华纳来举例，他监督的SS项目 是依靠几千位来自集中营的囚犯

that relied on forced labor from thousands of concentration camp prisoners.

在被强迫的条件下完成的。

While von Braun approached the US directly,

虽然华纳直接联系了美国，

other scientists had to be identified and located.

但是其他科学家还需要被识别和定位。

One important asset in this effort

这项任务得以突破的重要原因是，

was a Nazi-compiled list of Germany’s top scientists,

纳粹编制的德国顶尖科学家名单， 虽然有人曾试图

which someone had unsuccessfully tried to dispose of by flushing down a toilet.

将其冲到厕所中销毁，但未成功。

But the US was just one player in this scramble.

值得注意的是， 美国只是这场战斗中的一位玩家。

The Soviets were also competing to seize German brainpower,

此时的苏联也在想方设法 获取德国最强大的“大脑”，

resorting to bribery and forced relocation.

为此，他们采取贿赂 和强迫迁移等措施。

The French and British lacked the money to lure the best German brains,

即使是资金条件不足以吸引 德国优秀科学家的法国和英国，

but that didn't stop them from kidnapping the occasional scientist.

也试图绑架他们所能遇到的科学家。

They also stole patents and dismantled factories to learn what they could.

他们还窃取了专利， 并拆除了工厂以尽其所能地学习。

The US approach, however, featured a different and particularly tempting

与此不同的，美国使用了一种独具特色的

brand of coercion:

诱惑胁迫法：

the promise to relocate entire German families and grant them citizenship.

美国承诺将重新安置整个德国家庭 并给予他们公民身份。

This controversial offer was one of the reasons

这个有争议的承诺也是

Paperclip was initially shrouded in secrecy.

回形针计划最初被保密的原因之一。

But the project became difficult to hide when Germans started popping up

但是，当德国人在美国各处出现时，

all over the US.

这个秘密便变得难以掩盖了。

The military tried to get ahead of any controversy

于是，1946年晚期，抢在舆论爆发前，

by revealing the operation to the press in late 1946.

军方向出版社透露了本次的行动。

But the news immediately attracted criticism from many prominent voices,

这个消息立即引发了许多知名人士的批评，

including Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the NAACP,

其中包括阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦，爱莲娜·罗斯福， 美国全国有色人种协进会，

as well as many veteran’s organizations.

以及许多退役兵组织。

These parties opposed granting German scientists citizenship

这些政党反对授予德国科学家 公民身份，

while millions of displaced persons, including survivors of Nazi atrocities,

因为此时还有上亿， 包括纳粹暴行后的幸存者，

had no chance of coming to America.

流离失所的人没有机会来到美国。

Most Americans were also against employing former Nazis

大多数美国人还反对雇用 前纳粹分子

in sensitive national security positions.

担任敏感的国家安全职位。

But as the Cold War ramped up,

但是随着冷战的加剧，

the military argument for keeping these scientists out of Soviet hands

军方为了不让这些科学家 落入苏联手中的观点

overpowered popular objections.

压倒了民众的反对意见。

With his Nazi past largely hidden from the public,

在华纳对公众隐瞒自己过去为纳粹的条件下，

von Braun became one of the US’s most important engineers

在太空竞赛的高峰期，他成为了

at the height of the Space Race.

美国最重要的工程师之一。

In 1958, his team responded to the Soviet launch of Sputnik

1958年，他的团队 以美国自己研发的人造卫星

with the US’s own successful satellite launch.

对苏联发射的人造卫星做出了回应。

And in the 60s, he was the chief architect of Saturn V,

在60年代，他是将美国人送上月球的

the rocket that brought Americans to the moon.

火箭土星五号的首席架构师。

Other Paperclip recruits contributed to the development of chemical weapons

其他回形针计划的成员为橙剂 （Agent Orange）

such as Agent Orange, pharmaceutical research,

等化学武器的发展、药物研究

and the development of modern airplanes.

和现代飞机的开发做出了贡献。

These contributions helped the US government present Paperclip as a success.

这些杰出的贡献使得回形针计划 成为美国政府的骄傲。

But, in hindsight, it’s hard to gauge how helpful the program really was.

但是，事后看来， 很难衡量该计划到底有多有用。

While von Braun saved the US years of rocketry experimentation,

尽管华纳帮助美国节省了 多年火箭实验的时间，

there's no reason to think American scientists couldn't have developed

但是我们没有理由认为美国的 科学家没了华纳

the same technology without him.

就没办法研究出同样的成果。

Furthermore, very few Paperclippers were as exceptional as von Braun.

此外，回形针计划中的其他成员 极少有像华纳这么出类拔萃的，

Many were average scientists who either completed their contracts

大多数都是普通的科学家， 他们要不在完成合约之后

and returned to Germany,

返回德国。

or took jobs alongside Americans with equivalent expertise.

要不就是与具有同样专业知识的美国人共事。

But ultimately, the issue of Paperclip’s success

但归根结底， 回形针计划是否成功的问题，

is just one of many questions raised by its contentious approach

只是由此计划对于美国科学，伦理，

to science, ethics, and national security.

以及国防的持续影响所引发的疑问之一。

Can scientists working on military technology be apolitical,

研究军事科技的科学家们是否能做到 无心政治？

or are they responsible for their creations?

或者他们是否可以对自己的研究负责？

Can pressing political and military concerns justify overlooking war crimes?

紧迫的政治和军事局面是否可以让我们 忽视他人的战争罪行？

In many ways, von Braun’s obituary sums up the operation’s murkiness:

从各方面考量，华纳的讣告总结了 本次计划的模糊点：

“A kind of Faustian shadow may be discerned in [...] the fascinating career

“华纳的职业生涯是灿烂的，

of Wernher von Braun:

但貌似可以察觉到一点浮士德的影子，

a man so possessed of [...] intellectual hunger,

他对知识的如饥似渴似乎可以

that any accommodation may be justified.”

让一切调整看似正确。“