Declassified

Operation Paperclip

Established

Confirmed as fact in the official record

The claim

The United States was said to have brought German military scientists home after the Second World War and put them to work on its own programmes.

Where it started

The programme began in 1945 and its name and scale stayed out of view for decades. Investigative reporting and record releases in the 1980s and 1990s filled in the picture.

Where it stands

The US National Archives released a large body of records through the Nazi War Crimes Interagency Working Group. Those records establish the recruitment programme and show that some individuals' wartime records were played down to allow entry to the United States.

Primary sources

  • 미국 국립기록관리청, 나치 전쟁범죄 기록 관계기관 워킹그룹archives.govOfficial source

checked 2026-09-07

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