http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4443934.stm
Sixty years ago the US hired Nazi scientists to lead pioneering projects,
such as the race to conquer space. These men provided the US with
cutting-edge technology which still leads the way today, but at a cost.
The end of World War II saw an intense scramble for Nazi Germany's many
technological secrets. The Allies vied to plunder as much equipment and
expertise as possible from the rubble of the Thousand Year Reich for
themselves, while preventing others from doing the same.
The range of Germany's technical achievement astounded Allied scientific
intelligence experts accompanying the invading forces in 1945.