Braun, Werner von (1912–1977) all around the Führerbunker She married Hitler below ground on April 29, 1945 A day later, she happily took cyanide while he shot himself BRAUN, WERNER VON (1912–1977) German scientist Braun was fascinated by rocketry from his boyhood He founded a Society for Space Travel in 1930 and established an experimental rocket base outside Berlin, and he soon was at work for the Reichswehr Once the Nazis came to power, Braun’s career became a testament to the cold careerism of many German scientists and the mere technical interests of his rocket scientist soul: he moved to Peenemünde in 1936 to direct secret weapons research for Adolf Hitler He headed the team developing the V-weapons program, which built the V-1 and V-2 rockets, as well as Germany’s jet fighters Braun’s main frustration before and during the war was that Hitler did not appreciate the potential of the weapons he designed He was briefly imprisoned on espionage charges in 1944 for refusing to cooperate with an effort by Heinrich Himmler to transfer the V-2 project to Schutzstaffel (SS) control He was released on the personal order of Hitler and returned to Peenemünde Braun was captured along with his research team by the U.S Army at the end of the war His service to the Nazis was overlooked in favor of future service to America under the postwar imperatives of the Cold War: he was made a U.S citizen in 1955 and later headed the U.S Ballistic Missile Agency He was singularly responsible for development of America’s early intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force and oversaw the launch of the first American satellite, Explorer I, in 1958 Braun headed the Marshall Space Flight Center from 1960 to 1970, guiding the “Mercury,” “Gemini,” and “Apollo” launch programs His “Saturn V” rockets carried Apollo astronauts into orbit on their way to the Moon BRAUNSCHWEIG ( JUNE 1942) “Brunswick.” Revised code name for the Wehrmacht summer offensive in the southern Soviet Union during June 1942 See BLAU BRAZIL Under the dictator Getúlio Vargas (1930–1945), Brazil was run as a corporatist state When war broke out it declared formal neutrality, while continuing to assert neutral rights to trade with states in Europe In January 1942, Rio de Janeiro broke off diplomatic relations with Berlin following multiple sinkings of Brazilian ships in the Gulf of Mexico When a single U-boat sank seven more ships off the coast of Brazil, Vargas declared war on Germany on August 22, 1942 He had bent to American and public pressure to declare war, although his personal sympathies leaned toward the Axis Thereafter, Brazil was one terminus of the vital Takoradi air route and greatly benefited economically from the war Unlike most South American countries that declared war on the Axis only to please Washington, Brazil sent troops to fight in Italy in 1944 The last battles fought by the “Brazilian Expeditionary Force,” which served under U.S 5th Army, were over control of the Argenta Gap and through the Adige Line in April 1945 In the last days of the war the Brazilians took nearly 14,000 German prisoners The 186