Operation Paperclip

            Operation Paperclip, was a secret program carried out as World War II began coming to a close. It was enacted by U.S. intelligence in an attempt to recover some of the genius minds behind Nazi Germany. The operation offered German scientists, technicians, and engineers the chance to start fresh working for the United States of America. Nearly 700 Germans worked for the United States through Operation Paperclip (Rudolph). The United States only found out about all these scientists purely by happenstance, a ripped-up piece of paper in a Polish Laboratory was found and taken in by Britain before being transferred to U.S. Intelligence, this list was known as the Osenberg List (Huzel). It contained the names of thousands of Germany's best scientists, technicians, and engineers (Huzel). These Germans, however, were not just geniuses, they were also the designers and creators of some of the most devastating weapons in the history of mankind. This is where many people begin to question if Operation Paperclip had impacts beyond that of scientific development. Did the Nazis influence the United State government throughout the Cold War? Did U.S. intelligence agencies cover up and destroy incriminating evidence about Paperclip scientists? The answers to these questions are imperative to unveiling the truth about Operation Paperclip, and finding out what effects this nearly 80-year-old operation had on the United States of America. 
            Of the many controversies and conspiracies relating to Operation Paperclip, the first of these theories is that due to Operation Paperclip the U.S. Government was influenced by Nazis coming from Germany and working for the government. We know that many people involved in making Operation Paperclip, including President Truman, were unsure of bringing these people to work with the United States. Truman stated many years later that “this had to be done and was done” showing his lack of regrets with going through with the program, and given the historical context this makes perfectly good sense (Lasby). Each of the allied forces were in a race to acquire the brightest minds to give them an edge in what would eventually become the Cold War. Yet, in terms or influence, it is highly unlikely they could have had any significant idealistic impact on any part of the government. So despite many ex-Nazis working for the U.S. Government, there is no historical evidence of a Nazi or National Socialist shift within The United States of America. 
            The Second Question we must ask ourselves is whether or not the United States Intelligence Agencies covered up incriminating evidence for Operation Paperclip Scientist. We now know of several cases of incriminating evidence that have surfaced many years following WWII. Michael J. Neufeld says in “Von Braun: Dreamer of Space Engineer of War,” “Von Braun was fortunate that his SS membership did not become public during the 1947 flap, and he and several others were equally fortunate. (Neufeld)” How then were these things kept secret for so long? In her book “Operation Paperclip” Annie Jacobsen tells of the many ways that the U.S. Government attempted to “whitewash” the past of these Paperclip scientists. She says “The U.S. government was determined to keep the scientists’ Nazi pasts secret. Intelligence agencies and the military concealed or falsified the backgrounds of the scientists in order to protect the paperclip program. (Jacobsen)”  Through this the United States was able to keep many of these scientists to themselves. They believed this would eventually give them a leg up in the impending Cold War. Because of these cover ups however, several people who carried out horrific experiments, and practices were allowed to freely work in the U.S. with little to no repercussions. However, some of these scientists eventually contributed to society in great ways. The best example of this is Wernher Von Braun in his work with the Apollo space program. Nevertheless, we can determine that the United States did indeed cover up incriminating evidence for the Paperclip Scientist, but whether or not this was for the greater good is still up for debate. 
             Operation Paperclip is still one of the most controversial and disputed programs in American history. It will forever be truly unclear if the Nazis had any influence on the United States Government. Although, what is clear is that U.S. Intelligence covered up vast amounts of incriminating evidence about many former Nazi scientists. This ultimately led to many crucial developments in the fields of both weapons and aeronautics.