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Operation Paperclip: How America Recruited Hitler's Scientists

The postwar program that brought German scientists and engineers to the United States, and what it left out of their files.

Quick answer

What was Operation Paperclip?

Operation Paperclip was a secret US program after World War II that brought more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers and technicians to the United States, many of whom had worked on Nazi weapons programs. The best known, rocket engineer Wernher von Braun, later led development of the Saturn V rocket that took Americans to the Moon. Officials played down or left out recruits' Nazi Party and SS records.

Timeline

  1. 1945As the war in Europe ends, US teams locate German scientists, documents and V-2 rocket hardware.
  2. 1946President Truman approves the program, officially excluding active Nazis. The Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency runs it.
  3. 1950sPaperclip scientists work on missiles, aviation medicine and chemistry for the military.
  4. 1960sVon Braun's team at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center develops the Saturn V.
  5. 1984Engineer Arthur Rudolph leaves the US rather than contest Justice Department findings about forced labor at a V-2 factory.

What is documented, and what is not

On the record

  • Paperclip was an official US government program whose records are held at the National Archives.
  • Several recruits had been members of the Nazi Party or SS.
  • Paperclip scientists made major contributions to US rocketry and space flight.

Disputed or unproven

  • How much US officials knew about individual recruits' wartime roles, and when, varies case by case.

Common questions

How many scientists came through Operation Paperclip?

More than 1,600 German scientists, engineers and technicians, along with family members, came to the US under Paperclip and related programs.

Was Wernher von Braun a Nazi?

Yes. He joined the Nazi Party and held an honorary SS rank, and the V-2 rockets he developed were built with forced labor.

Where are the Paperclip records?

Records of the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency are held by the US National Archives in Record Group 330.

Read the record yourself

Links go to official archives, museums, agencies and published research. Search links open the archive's own search for this topic.

THE FICTION BUILT ON THIS RECORD · FILE 062 · VOLUME XIAmerica Hired Hitler's Rocket Men. One Brought a Notebook That Answers.Every answer in it was paid for. Not by him.Read the first pages free →

Last reviewed 2026-10-13. This page covers the public record only. Archive files are dramatized and always marked as files.

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