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Israel Worried over Rocket Developed by Nasser; Built by Germans

November 7, 1961
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Israeli circles expressed grave concern today over reports that Egypt, with the help of a West German scientist at Stuttgart, has developed a rocket similar to the Nazi V-2 rocket which Hitler used to “buzz-bomb” London near the end of World War II.

Egypt, according to the reports, has already constructed a new V-2 model rocket with a 250-mile range, capable of reaching almost any part of Israel. Israelis fear this new Egyptian rocket program may lead to a renewed arms race in the Middle East region.

According to reports reaching Israel, Nazi technicians, who worked in secret German plants producing the V-2 rocket under Hitler’s regime, proposed to United Arab Republic President Gamal Abdel Nasser that they produce a similar rocket for him. When Nasser supported the proposal, the Nazis approached Prof. Eugen Saenger, head of the Jet Propulsion Research institute at Stuttgart, West Germany, who provided them with the necessary technical and scientific data.

West German authorities, learning of Prof. Saenger’s aid to the Nazis working for Nasser, have suspended the professor from his post, according to information reaching here.

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