THE DAY
Title says it all. Until I finish with all this weaving and knitting and tucking and slicing/dicing, it’ll be hard to pinpoint an exact word count. So I’ll be guesstimating for awhile. Suffice to say that it was a full day of work–made a promise to myself NOT to look at Facebook until noon-ish–broken only by calls of nature and one delivery (an early and lovely Valentine from the husband).
Gymned, then spent a wonderful hour sharing tea and a brownie with a very gracious, very smart guy who’s got more knowledge in his little finger than most do in their entire brain. Then home where I did some work on the bloody taxes (how I hate them).
Also read an interesting article in The New Yorker from back in 1951: a story on von Braun. I’m trying to be objective and I know the guy and his team of engineers are revered here as gods and people say, well, you know he was forced into joining the Nazi Party (no, actually, he voluntarily joined in 1937 but either lied or misrepresented the year in a later affidavit when he said he was forced to join in 1939; and of course, being forced explains why he voluntarily joined the SS and constantly wore the Knight’s Cross Hitler had given him in 1944), or point out that he was put into prison for a couple of weeks (basically a holding cell because Himmler was having a pissing match with von Braun’s boss, Dornberger) and blah, blah . . . but basically, the guy comes across as a breezy, amoral opportunist. Let’s face it: there were plenty of people who were appalled about what was going on and tried to do something about it. Von Braun wasn’t one of them. Yeah, yeah, he got religion later on–how convenient that he had some kind of conversion experience in El Paso–but the easy way he talked to Lang about how he bet some of his former team members in Russia had no problem with manpower because all they had to do was ask for more prisoners from the labor camps . . . the subtext speaks volumes. If this guy hadn’t been a rocket engineer the U.S. decided it needed, he’d have been sent to Nuremberg as a war criminal; read the history and just about the only time he showed any concern for a concentration camp prisoner–and Pennemünde used plenty from Dora, numbering in the thousands–was for a French chemist he wanted to have work for him in perfecting his V-2s. Von Braun personally asked for more prisoners from Dora when V-2 production faltered. He knew what was going on, and in the interview, he’s pretty upfront about knowing that all he had to do was wait for the Americans to find him so he could surrender because he figured the Americans would treat him better than the Russians. While he waited, the guy stayed at a fancy hotel for weeks where he said the service was excellent. (Go read the article if you don’t believe me.)
What also comes through: these guys were given a total pass by just about everyone. Even soldiers treated them well, though I assume was because they were under orders to do so. More head-scratching is why regular townspeople weren’t more suspicious or angry. It’s impossible to know how people really thought because I’ll bet most kept mum and all the history books only repeat one another (although several express some surprise at how welcoming people were). On the other hand, I guess people willingly overlook all kinds of things for the sake of expediency and personal gain.
Oh, and the other thing that gets to me a bit? This whole thing about rocket “scientists.” Sorry, but these guys were engineers. Completely different. I think, though, that the Army figured that if they called them “scientists,” it was all so much grander than what these guys were after when they worked for Hitler: their job was to build rockets that would kill as many people as possible. Sure, I get that von Braun joined up with the German army in 1932 because he wanted to build rockets and go into space; and, yes, Hitler hadn’t come to power quite yet. But von Braun had plenty of opportunities to get out well before and in the buildup to war. After all, other Germans chose to leave and still others chose to resist. He simply chose neither because it wasn’t in his interests to do so.
And the reason he was called “Professor?” Because, in 1944, he was given an honorary degree as Professor of Research–by Hitler.
WRITING OUT LOUD
Dark Side of the Moon
Day 1: 4326 Day 11: 2500 Day 21: 1800 Day 31: 745
Day 2: 2085 Day 12: 500 Day 22: 0 Day 32: 0
Day 3: 3011 Day 13: 1000 Day 23: 2700 Day 33: 4000
Day 4: 2652. Day 14: 3700 Day 24: 3500 Day 34: 2800
Day 5: 3210 Day 15: 5630 Day 25: 1500 Day 35: 4500
Day 6: 3450 Day 16: 1060 Day 26: 0 Day 36: 4800
Day 7: 0 Day 17: 130 Day 27: 0 Day 37: 0
Day 8: 2756 Day 18: 0 Day 28: 380 Day 38: 450
Day 9: 4580 Day 19: 3000 Day 29: 390 Day 39: 1000
Day 10: 2670 Day 20: 2600 Day 30: 380 Day 40: 2500
Day 41: 2600 Day 51: 1000 Day 63: 4800
*Day 42: 830 Day 52: 1600 Day 64: 3300
Day 43: 3600 Day 53: 2600 Day 65: 2500
Day 44: 5000 Day 54: 3600 Day 66: 1200 (edit)
Day 45: 2600 Day 55: 3200 Day 67: 1000 (edit)
Day 46: 3000 Day 56: 4000 Day 68: 3000 (edit)
Day 47: 2800 Day 57: 1200 Day 69: 1000 (edit)
Day 48: 2500 Day 58-60: 0 Day 70: 1000 (edit)
Day 49: 1000 Day 61: 3500 Day 71: 1500 (edit)
Day 50: 4600 Day 62: 3000
Blog Post: 940
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What I’m Watching:
Shades of Blue: Jennifer Lopez is completely unconvincing, and I don’t care about any other character except Woz (Ray Liotta). Liotta’s the only reason to watch this. (OTOH, Spader’s the only reason to tune into The Blacklist, so I guess we’re even.)
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What I’m Reading:
The same.
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What I’m Listening to:
Rocket Boys, though I don’t know for how much longer. It’s kind of treacly and I already know what happens because of the movie. (Spoiler: It flies.) Good narrator, though.
