Eugen Sänger, Werhner von Braun. Reflections on some chronological comparisons concerning events in the biography of Sergei Korolev (1945). A biographical note
Аннотация: Eugen Sänger, Werhner von Braun. Reflections on some chronological comparisons concerning events in the biography of Sergei Korolev (1945). A biographical note.
Eugen Sänger, Werhner von Braun. Reflections on some chronological comparisons concerning events in the biography of Sergei Korolev (1945). A biographical note.
Comparison of information from the books by Boris Chertok "Rockets and People" (book 1) and by Natalia Koroleva "Sergei Korolev. Father" may prompt some readers to think about some chronological parallels in the biography of Sergei Korolev (concerning 1945).
1944, July 27 - Sergei Pavlovich Korolev by the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR [Protocol No. 18] "was released ahead of schedule with the removal of a criminal record."
(Released from what? From custody? From punishment? - these are different things. The idea is somewhat unfinished, incomplete. Such a generally recognized concept as "pardon" (which is understood unambiguously) does not occur in published documents. Was the Decree [special type of document] adopted? A slight ambiguity was remained ...).
However, it was a wartime, and employees of state organizations were not free to dispose of themselves.
In addition, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev strives to deal with rocketry.
After the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Council (1944), he did not return to Moscow, to his family.
Sergei Korolev from August 1944 to August 1945, before leaving for Germany, worked in Kazan at the Design Bureau of rocket (special) engines.
The released Sergei Pavlovich Korolev works in Kazan. The 1945 Victory is approaching.
On May 9, 1945, the war is considered over.
Representatives of Soviet scientific circles are arriving in Germany to obtain information about scientific, including rocket, achievements of Nazi Germany.
In Peenemünde (in the Peenemünde Army Research Center) in May 1945, in a pile of firewood, the document "A Rocket Drive For Long Range Bombers" ["Long-range bomber with a rocket engine"] (the document was published in 1944), - which was a project of a rocket (jet) bomber aircraft, - was found.
The authors of the work were E. Sänger and I. Bredt. For example, the document contained the following words: "The task we have set, which until now has not been resolved by anyone and anywhere, is to fire and bombard targets located at a distance of 1,000 to 20,000 km ... A compound of one hundred missile bombers ... is capable of for several days to subject to the complete destruction of the area, reaching the size of the world's capitals with suburbs, located anywhere on the surface of the globe." [unofficial translation] ("From the characteristics given for the rocket bomber it follows that this is not the development of an improved military craft, which will gradually replace present types, but rather that a problem has been solved for which no solution existed up to now, namely, bombardment and bombing over distances of 1,000 to 20,000 km. With a single rocket bomber point attacks can be made, e.g. from Central Europe, on distant point targets like a warship on the high seas, a canal lock; even a single man in the other hemisphere can be fired upon. With a group of 100 rocket bombers, surfaces of the size of a large city at arbitrary places on the earth's surface can be completely destroyed in a few days. ")
The find was transported to Moscow on a special flight of the Boston bomber, where it was translated from German into Russian and analyzed.
In a statement dated November 10, 1938 (from the Novocherkassk prison), Sergei Korolev wrote, in particular: "One can say that the "crown" or completion of my work on missiles was the creation by me and engineer Glushko (now he is arrested) (in the period from 1935 to 1937) of a rocket aircraft - of a rocket plane ... And the indictment says that in 1935 (!) I blew up a rocket plane (!)." [unofficial translation]
Yes, in the USSR there was a man who was engaged in the development of a rocket plane - Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.
So, in May 1945, the project of the rocket (jet) bomber (aircraft was) found.
1945, June 6 - Sergei Korolev was awarded the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
In the final days of the war, Wernher von Braun is captured by American troops.
It takes some time for information about the surrender of Wernher von Braun to the American troops to reach the Soviet leadership, for the Soviet leadership to take note of this fact, and for it to realize, to some extent, the importance of this fact.
Efforts were fulfilled to relocate Wernher von Braun to Soviet-controlled territory. These efforts (their volume is difficult to assess) did not lead to a positive result.
Some time has passed since May 1945, during which, apparently, the Soviet leadership became aware of the location of Wernher von Braun in the territory controlled by American troops.
Perhaps it became obvious that Wernher von Braun would not work for the USSR, that with Wernher von Braun all the main participants in the missile project of Nazi Germany moved to the territory controlled by the Americans.
Information from Germany about missile achievements came in a significant amount, but it was not of a generalized, systemic nature, and was not accompanied by satisfactory proposals.
Those who were part of the Soviet leadership had a good memory.
It was not difficult for them to recall the creation of the Jet Institute (Research Institute for Jet Propulsion or Reaction-Engine Scientific Research Institute - RNII) [Keldysh Research Center] in 1933 on the initiative of Sergei Korolev (and with the persistent support of Mikhail Tukhachevsky).
1945, September 7 - Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was sent from Kazan to Germany to study captured rocket technology.
1945, September 16 - he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor.
A comparison of the facts gives a reason to reflect on the relationship between some of the actions of Eugen Sänger and Wernher von Braun with certain events in the life of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.
On the published photocopy of an extract from the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (Protocol No. 18 of July 27, 1944) exist a sign: "Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A. Gorkin". Respected A. Gorkin, alone did not have the right to make a decision on "release".
Unfortunately, we did not see the decrees on awarding Sergei Korolev with a medal and an order in the books we read.
So some of the readers may have a question: who returned Sergei Korolev to effective activities in space exploration?
September 10, 2021 04:44
Translation from Russian into English: September 10, 2021 07:25.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский "Эйген Зенгер, Вернер фон Браун. Размышления о некоторых хронологических сопоставлениях, касающихся событий в биографии Сергея Королева (1945 год). Биографическая заметка".