Operation Osoaviakhim was the Soviet counterpart of Operation Paperclip. Both missions were designed to scoop up German scientific know-how following WWII. In October 1946, the Soviets ordered at gun point selected German rocket scientists onto 92 trains bound for the USSR. The men were to assist with their missile production and design.
Soviet Scientists move to Occupied Germany
Following WWII, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin moved hundreds of Soviet rocket specialists to soviet-occupied Germany to work side by side with their German colleagues in order to gain experience in rocket development. Rocket science was virtually nonexistent in the USSR at the time. Soon, Soviet authorities became uncomfortable, however, with the idea that the Germans might find out too much about the status of Soviet efforts. Their second concern was that the Western allies might accuse them of noncompliance with the Allied Control Council agreements. Therefore, the Soviet and the German rocket scientists were relocated to Russia.
Operation Osoaviakhim
Relocation of rocket scientists and their equipment took place simultaneously across the Soviet occupation zone. Personnel to be moved included 2,200 specialists in aviation, nuclear technology, rocketry, electronics, radar technology and chemistry. Counting family members, the total number of people expatriated ranged between 6,000 and 7,000. Close to 100 special trains stood ready in various locations. In the early morning hours, soldiers ordered the selected specialists out of their beds and onto trains to the USSR. Wives of the scientists could choose to stay in Germany, providing their husbands agreed. Unmarried couples were allowed to choose to travel together rather than being separated. Soldiers loaded furniture and personal belongings onto separate trains.
Helmut Groettrup heads German Scientists in Russia
Helmut Groettrup, a German physicist and rocket scientist, was at the top of the Soviet list to be relocated. He had been one of the managers of Wernher von Braun’s V-2 rocket program. Groettrup gladly agreed to work for the Soviets because he hoped to become the leader of the Soviet program and did not want to have to play second fiddle to Wernher von Braun on the American team. Initially, the Soviet government settled Groettrup and his cohorts in mansions and vacation homes outside Moscow. However, the condition of the research facilities they were to work in was deplorable. Due to lack of storage space, the scientific equipment that had been confiscated and shipped from Germany was left lying beside the railway lines and quickly turned to scrap metal. Numerous documents and blueprints from the German facility were also lost in transit. Over time, the scientists were moved to different locations. Groettrup remained in charge of the more than 170 Germans from 1946 to 1953.
Operation Osoaviakhim was the Soviet counterpart of Operation Paperclip. Both missions were designed to scoop up German scientific know-how following WWII. www.walled-in-berlin.com
End of Operation Osoaviakhim
Beginning in the mid-1948, the group of German scientists was no longer actively involved in the development of next generation rockets. They were still receiving assignments but were no longer privy to the “big picture.” By the end of 1950, most of the Germans were sent back to Germany. Groettup remained in Russia until 1953.
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
Tags: Allied Control Council, German rocket scientists, Helmut Groettrup, Joseph Stalin, Operation Osoaviakhim, Operation Paperclip, Wernher von Braun, World War II
