Werner von Braun, the V-2 Rocket, and the Dark Beginnings of the Race .
Braun. Von Braun and the SS In April and May of 1940, Von Braun was urged to join the Schutzstaffel (SS) by a Colonel of the SS on Usedom - the island on which Peenemunde was located. More than likely, this was at the insistence of Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler who was, even at this early date, looking to consolidate power as