Take a deep breath.
replySorry you had to import nazis to get into orbit :shrug:
replyThat's just what the countries that defeated Germany did.
replyThe Americans had Paperclip, the soviets had Operation Osoaviakhim: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Osoaviakhim
Not to mention the initial dash to get to technology and scientists before the others.
If you can't see those points, you need to take several deep breaths.
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replyThe Russians conscripted more German rocket scientists than the Americans got through Operation Paperclip, both programs were bootstrapped with German expertise. Americans got ~1,600, Russians more like 6,000.
replyWith fairness to the Soviets, the USSR's reputation for rocket artillery was nearly as impressive as Germany's in WWII. The Allies had less experience scaling and deploying the technology, so they had more to gain by taking in the Peenemünde researchers.
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