Tom Lehrer - Wernher Von Braun

This guy is simply amazing. He's a natural performer. It's really too bad he just didn't find it entertaining anymore and quit.

hey, tom lehrer is a genius...without question, he had it all... tom lehrer for president!!!!!! if you're reading this tom, we love you...totally and completely...what an unequalled gift and contribution to mankind.

Why Did you Capitalize unsessesary Words?

While I don't think that Von Braun is a good man - quite the opposite, in fact, he did resign from his government post when the nazis came into power, and if he had denied but a single word coming from hitlers mouth, he would have been dubbed a political enemy. still, not every nazi was evil - just the majority :)

Highly Offensive to me.

So why not criticize the USA, which made use of the creep without a conscience who had used concentration camp slaves to build rockets before.

Einstein was jewish! So leaving Germany was a matter of survival!

The fact is that he built rockets which were intended to kill indiscriminately, civilians. Those men, women and children were British.
He then went to America where he worked on the ICBM programme which, if used, would have been used to kill indiscriminately, civilians. Those men, women and children would have included Germans.
I don't "blame Wernher" he was obviously amoral, perhaps even psycopathic.

So you're saying that if you have a dream, it doesn't matter who you get into bed with and how many people you kill to achieve your dream?

He worked for Hitler willingly, yes, but there's a good reason. He believed that Hitler provided the best chance for von Braun's dreams to come true: to have a space program. Hitler WAS interested in it, and promoted the sciences widely despite his shortcoming of being evil. You can't blame Wernher.

Jasonstarwalker is incredibly naive.
Of course Werner von Braun could have been forced to work by Hitler but he couldn't have been forced to be quite as successful as he was, could he? WvB obviously put his best efforts into his work and then, when Germany was defeated, he gave his best efforts to his erstwhile enemies. Lehrer hits the nail right on the head "Once the rockets go up, who cares where they come down, that's not my department says Werner von Braun".

Interestingly enough, one of the most informative books on the V-2 program is not by Von Braun, but by Gen. Dornberger

Thanks 6funswede for the great Lehrer Videos!

Very clever, Tom, and very entertaining also!

No, not necessary. This was the first Tom Lehrer video published on "the channel" and I was a bit too enthusiastic :-) Sorry.

To oppose Stalin was akin to committing suicide. I agree that all people ought to have rectitude; however, we should not be too fast to judge other people when we haven't lived their lives. It is easy to judge people when one's life is comfortable. Pass judgement when you have experienced the S**t you use to accuse others. But I reiterate : Tom Lehrer rocks!

Think about Stalin's Russia. Stalin killed people who were actually loyal to him.

I really enjoy Tom Lehrer's songs. And there is some truth to it. But imagine if you or I were in von Braun's place; could we have refused to follow the orders of a brutal dictator. If von Braun is guilty than all Germans are guilty because every family in Germany had begun to put faith in Hitler or was afraid to oppose him. People who hated Hitler thought it was better to follow him then to die in vain.(contd...)

Btw, I think I noticed him quoting the melody of the Austrian song "Oh du lieber Augustin" twice in his song. :-)

Was the fifteen seconds of no song at the beginning really necessary?

Is this from TW3?

you forgot pakistan

you forgot pakistan

Nazi, Schmazi. Who else would dare that line but Tom Lehrer, a Lutheran Protestant cf. Hannukah in Santa Monica no don't go there

You what?

Nice xD