New book examines educating children of Nazi scientists in El Paso schools

[TexasTowelie]

The new book by Jonna Perrillo, “Educating the Enemy: teaching Nazis and Mexicans in the Cold War Borderlands examines” a little-known period of history. It was just after World War II and Nazi scientists, at the invitation of the U.S. government, relocated to El Paso with their families. The book compares the privileged educational experience of the German children of Nazi scientists to that of disadvantaged local Mexican-American students.

Perrillo, an education historian and associate professor of English at the University of Texas at El Paso talked to KTEP ‘s Angela Kocherga about her research and the book. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: How did you got the idea for this book?

Jonna Perrillo: I saw a picture in a local history book of the children of German scientists at Crockett Elementary in 1946. And it didn’t say anything more than that. But I was fascinated. For one thing, I live blocks from Crockett, so it feels like really local history to me. But also even though I had heard about Operation Paperclip, as some people have. It hadn’t occurred to me that those scientists had families and that those families were part of the El Paso community.

What was Operation Paperclip?

Operation Paperclip was a military program designed by the War Department that brought several different groups of German scientists to the United States. And the group that I write about and really the most famous group were the V2 scientists, so the men who designed and created the V2 missile for the Third Reich. And they were sent to Fort Bliss. They were the largest group and the most well-known because their leader was Werner von Braun, who became sort of a popular culture icon once they went to develop NASA.

Read more: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/new-book-examines-educating-children-of-nazi-scientists-in-el-paso-schools/

[applegrove]

1. What a frightening thought.

[murielm99]

2. I remember Asimov

writing about von Braun et al. Asimov was very resentful of these men being brought into our country and NASA. I don't blame him. He was an American Jew. He was a wonderful writer as well.