Is it right to use Nazi research if it can save lives?
Frank Swain
Seeking a local angle on the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings this week, Washington DC news station WTOP published a glowing biography of the “brilliant†rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who was laid to rest in nearby Alexandria in 1977. The article caused uproar, however, and was swiftly retracted. The reason? It had failed to mention that von Braun was a Nazi.
There are few corners of scientific progress that are not tainted at some point in their history by immoral or unethical behaviour. Physics, biology, zoology, medicine, psychology, vaccine science, anthropology, genetics, nutrition, engineering: all are rife with discoveries made in circumstances that can be described as unethical, even illegal. How should we feel about making use of that knowledge? Especially when it could be of great service to civilisation and even save lives?
Von Braun’s presence on the Apollo programme was no outlier. More than 120 German scientists and engineers joined him there, including fellow SS officer Kurt Debus (who became director of Nasa's Launch Operations Center) and Bernhard Tessmann (designer of the colossal Vertical Assembly Building at what is now Kennedy Space Center).
Read more at: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190723-the-ethics-of-using-nazi-science
AOC I believe said she admired Evita Person, that's all well and good, I don't think it was covered here but the press pointed out to AOC, Evita had Nazi gold, meaning gold that they took in sinister ways, also, that husband Juan supported the Nazis... this is history, one would have to look it up. The Peronists are even around today it is my understanding and it's not a simple question of saying they were "Right" or "Left"... sidetrack.
