Arthur Rudolph

Arthur Rudolph
Rudolph showing a model of the Saturn V
Born	Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph November 9, 1906 (1906-11-09) Stepfershausen, Meiningen, Saxe-Meiningen, German Empire
Died	January 1, 1996 (1996-02) (aged 89) Hamburg, Germany
Nationality	German Empire  Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany  United States  Germany
Alma mater	Technische Universität Berlin
Occupation	Rocket engineer
Known for	V-2, Saturn V
Spouse	Martha Therese Kohls ​ ​ (m. 1935)​
Children	1
Awards	Honorary Doctor of Science Department of the Army Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service NASA Exceptional Service Medal NASA Distinguished Service Medal

Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph (November 9, 1906 – January 1, 1996) was a German rocket engineer who was a leader of the effort to develop the

Rudolph was born in Stepfershausen, Meiningen, Germany, in 1906. His family were farmers, with a long tradition in the area. His father Gustav died in 1915 while serving in World War I. Arthur and his younger brother Walter were raised by their mother, Ida. When Ida noticed young Arthur had a mechanical gift, she decided he should attend technical training. Walter inherited the family farm. From 1921 on, Rudolph attended the technical school^{[Note 1]} in Schmalkalden for three years. In 1924 he found employment at a silver goods factory in Bremen.

In August 1927 Rudolph accepted a job at Stock & Co. in Berlin. After a few months, he became a toolmaker at Fritz Werner. In 1928 he attended the Technische Hochschule Berlin— now Technische Universität Berlin —graduating in 1930 with the equivalent of a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. On May 1, 1930, Rudolph began working for the Heylandt Works in Berlin where he met rocketry pioneer Max Valier.^{[2]: 54 [Note 2]} Valier had use of the factory grounds for his experiments in rocketry and Rudolph became interested, working with Valier in his spare time along with Walter Riedel. Rudolph already had some interest in rocketry, having read Wege zur Raumschiffahrt (Ways to Spaceflight) by Hermann Oberth and having seen the 1929 film Woman in the Moon.

On May 17, an experimental engine exploded and killed Valier. Dr. Paulus Heylandt forbade further rocket research, but Rudolph continued secretly with Riedel and Alfons Pietsch. Rudolph then developed an improved and safer version of Valier's engine while Pietsch designed a rocket car. Dr. Heylandt conceded to back the project, and the "Heylandt Rocket Car" was born and was exhibited at Tempelhof Aerodrome. While it was a technical success, the fuel costs were greater than the admissions received and performances were discontinued. Rudolph joined the Nazi Party in 1931, then later the SA.^[3]: 38

Rudolph first met Wernher von Braun when he visited a meeting of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR, the "Spaceflight Society"). In May 1932 Rudolph was laid off and looking for work when he encountered Pietsch. After forming a partnership Rudolph began design on a new engine, while Pietsch looked for a backer. Pietsch met with Walter Dornberger, who had been tasked by the German Ordnance Department to develop a rocket weapons system and had become interested in the VfR.

After demonstrating the new engine to Dornberger, Rudolph moved to the proving grounds at

In August 1943, as Rudolph was ready to begin production of the V-2, the British bombed Peenemünde. After Peenemünde was bombed, the V-2 production facility was moved to the Mittelwerk facility, which was near Nordhausen and underground.

Mittelwerk was originally a gypsum mine that was being used as a storage facility and was being excavated for production facilities. The labor force consisted of prisoners who were eventually housed at the

In 1944, Himmler convinced Hitler to put the V-2 project directly under SS control, and in August replaced Dornberger with SS General Hans Kammler as its director.^[6]

In January 1945 the SS ordered all of the civilians and prisoners, including Rudolph and his team, to attend a public hanging of six to twelve prisoners accused of sabotage. By March 1945, production had stopped due to a lack of parts and Rudolph and his staff were moved to Oberammergau where they met von Braun and others from Peenemünde. They finally surrendered to the U.S. Army and were transported to Garmisch.

Rudolph was transferred to the British to participate in

After a brief interrogation at Fort Strong, the team was sent to White Sands Proving Grounds to work on further V-2 engineering in January 1946. In January 1947 Rudolph was moved to the Ordnance Research and Development Division at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, where his family finally joined him in April. Since he had been brought into the US without a visa, he and others were sent to Juárez, Mexico, where he obtained a visa and officially immigrated to the U.S. on April 14, 1949. During his time at Fort Bliss, he acted as a liaison to the Solar Aircraft Company,^{[Note 3]} and spent much of 1947 and 1949 in San Diego, California.

During a 1949 inquiry by the FBI, Rudolph made the following statement on his participation in the Nazi party:

Until 1930 I sympathized with the Social Democratic party, voted for it and was a member of a Social Democratic union (Bund Techn. Agst. u. Beamt.) After 1930 the economic situation became so serious that it appeared to me to be headed for catastrophe. (I really became unemployed in 1932.) The great amount of unemployment caused the expansion of National Socialist and Communist parties. Frightened that the latter one would become the government I joined the NSDAP (a legally reg. entity) to help, I believed in the preservation of western culture.^[7]

On June 25, 1950, Rudolph was transferred to

On November 28, 1983, Rudolph, purportedly, according to his attorneys, under duress and fearful for the welfare of his wife and daughter, signed an agreement with the OSI stating that he would leave the United States and renounce his United States citizenship. Under the agreement, Rudolph would not be prosecuted, the citizenship of his wife and daughter was not in danger of revocation and Rudolph's retirement and Social Security benefits were left intact. In March 1984 Arthur and Martha Rudolph departed for West Germany where Rudolph renounced his citizenship as agreed. West Germany protested to the United States Department of State, as Rudolph now had no citizenship in any country. In July, West Germany requested documentation from the OSI to determine if Rudolph should be prosecuted or granted citizenship. The World Jewish Congress placed articles in newspapers in January 1985 on behalf of the Department of Justice, searching for survivors of the Mittelwerk.^[13]

After receiving documentation in April 1985, the case was investigated by Harald Duhn, the Attorney General of Hamburg. In March 1987, the investigation concluded after questioning a number of witnesses and determining no basis for prosecution, since the only crime which had not passed the statute of limitations was murder. Rudolph was granted West German citizenship.^[14]

Meanwhile, a great deal of controversy occurred back in the United States. Rudolph had not told his friends of the investigation, but the OSI issued a press release after his departure.^[15] Several groups and individuals were calling for an investigation into the OSI's activities regarding Rudolph. These included retired Major General John Medaris (former commander of ABMA), officials of the city of Huntsville, the American Legion and former associates at NASA. Thomas Franklin interviewed Rudolph and wrote a series of articles in the now-defunct Huntsville News that questioned the OSI investigation– these were later used as the basis for An American in Exile: The Story of Arthur Rudolph.^{[3][Note 4][16][17]}

In 1985,

Rudolph married Martha Therese Kohls (July 5, 1905 – January 3, 1999) on October 3, 1935, in Berlin.^[citation needed] Soon after moving back to Germany, he had a heart attack and a triple bypass. Arthur Rudolph died in Hamburg on January 1, 1996, from heart failure.^[29][30]

The character of Hans Udet in the novel Voyage by Stephen Baxter is based on Rudolph.^[31] Udet is described as a senior member of von Braun's V-2 team at the Mittelwerk and as the director of the Saturn V project. Near the end of the novel Udet faces charges on war crimes, renounces his citizenship and returns to Germany.

Rudolph's name is linked to several conspiracy theories, particularly UFOs and Area 51.^[32]