| Original caption: “Major General Walther Dornberger, Commander of the V-2 laboratory at Peenemünde; Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Axter; Professor Wernher von Braun, inventor of the V-2 rocket; and Hans Lindenberg, after they surrendered to United States troops in Austria.” The Peenemünde staff surrendered to the United States 44th Infantry Division in Reutte, Austria; Professor Wernher Freiherr von Braun had been injured in a motorcycle accident, and his arm was in a cast. Oberstleutnant Wolfgang Weber (???? – ????), Kommandant, Lehr- und Versuchsbatterie 444 (“Training and Experimental Battery 444”), fired V-2 rockets into Antwerp and London. Generalmajor Walter Dornberger (September 6, 1895 – June 27, 1980), Kommandeur der Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde (“Commander, Peenemünde Army Experimental Institute”), directed design, production, slave labor, and forced prostitution at the Vergeltungswaffe 1 (V-1, “Vengeance Weapon 1”), and Vergeltungswaffe 2 (V-2, “Vengeance Weapon 2”) design and testing facility. Oberstleutnant Herbert Axster (November 3, 1899 – May 25, 1991), Stabchef der Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde (“Chief of Staff, Peenemünde Army Experimental Institute”), was the accounting officer and a “notorious supporter and beneficiary of the Nazi regime.” SS-Sturmbannführer Professor Wernher Freiherr von Braun (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) was appointed the Scientific Director of Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde at age 25 in 1937. After a massive British air raid on Peenemünde in August 1943, Führer und Reichskanzler (“Leader and Reichchancellor”) Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945), and Himmler decided to concentrate manufacturing in an underground plant, leading to the founding of the Mittelwerk and the Dora camp. Von Braun had been removed from the decision-making chain regarding camp laborers. Still, the new situation brought him directly into contact with them and into decisions on how to deploy them. He admitted to the West German court in 1969 that he had seen terrible conditions underground. However, he never admitted seeing dead bodies or receiving sabotage reports that led to prisoner hangings. In the summer of 1944, he tried to help a French physicist prisoner, Charles Sadron. Still, he also talked to the commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp about transferring skilled prisoners to Mittelbau-Dora for a laboratory that he hoped Sadron would lead (Sadron refused). Some men were apparently transferred, which could further implicate him in crimes against humanity. Magnus “Mac” Freiherr von Braun (May 10, 1919 – June 21, 2003) arranged for the surrender of the Peenemünde staff. He spoke English and rode a bicycle with only a white cloth attached to the handlebars. Magnus secured safe conduct passes from the 44th Infantry Division. More people died building the V-2 rockets than were killed by it as a weapon. Trainloads of prisoners soon arrived at the Mountain site from Buchenwald and started widening and extending the mine’s tunnel. As more trainloads arrived, bunks were added to the cave, which lacked both ventilation and sanitation. Prisoners drank what water they could find on the floor and ate the meager food that barely kept them alive. Disease ran rampant, and death was frequent; during the winter of 1943 into 1944, an average of 20 prisoners died every day. The camp supplying the labour was named Dora, and 1 survivor said years later that Dora made Auschwitz look easy. When Dora became overcrowded, a 2nd camp, known as Nordhausen, was established. 4 A-4s were built at Mittelwerk before the end of 1943, and it was immediately apparent that forced labour by unskilled workers produced a flawed product. The A-4s coming out of Mittelwerk couldn’t fly; they were so poorly made and, more often than not, sabotaged. The prisoners didn’t know what they were building, but they knew that urinating on an electric component could damage it without leaving visible signs. Verified total deaths at Mittelbau reached 12,500, but 20,000 is probably a more accurate number. Some 50 percent occurred in the last 6 months of the camp’s operation. Dornberger, von Braun, and several of their associates relocated to Oberjoch, Bavaria, a small village situated high in the mountains, and took residence in Haus Ingeburg, still closely, although indirectly, guarded by SS personnel. It was there that the news of Hitler’s suicide reached them on April 30. The most visible immediate effect of this event was the quiet disappearance of the SS men, 1 by 1. On the morning of May 2, von Braun announced to his associates: “My brother Magnus, who speaks English well, has just left by bicycle to establish contact with the American forces at Reutte. We cannot wait here forever.” Magnus met American troops near the town of Schattwald; they belonged to the Antitank Company of the 324th Infantry Regiment, 44th United States Infantry Division. The dramatic, at times even comical, story of this historic event has been told repeatedly. Private 1st Class Frederick P. Schneikert (May 12, 1910 – December 27, 1985) from Wisconsin made the 1st contact. “Komm vorwärts mit den Händen hoch!”-“Come forward with your hands up,” he ordered. Soon afterward, the little group of rocketeers was firmly in Allied hands. Von Braun, Dornberger, and all their companions were taken to the nearby town of Reutte in Austria for preliminary interrogation by personnel of the Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC). Shortly thereafter, they were transferred to Peiting in Germany and, finally, to Garmisch-Partenkirchen for questioning by several technically trained Allied specialists. Von Braun arrived in New York on November 16, 1945, aboard the SS Argentina and was soon at work at Fort Bliss, Texas, and later at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. He is considered a hero in Alabama, and the Von Braun Center in Huntsville is named in his honor. His connection to slave labor and forced prostitution in Mittelwerk has been a shadow in his reputation since World War II. Photograph by Technician 5th Class Louis Weintraub (1922 – September 13, 1991) of the 162nd Signal Photographic Company. After landing on Utah Beach, Weintraub followed the United States 3rd Army across Europe. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0952.jpg |
| Image Size | 451.24 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1900 x 1298 |
| Photographer | Louis Weintraub |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 3, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Reutte |
| State or Province | Tyrol |
| Country | Austria |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-231809 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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