Ex-Nazi Removed From Space Hall of Fame

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. – A former Nazi who was linked to experiments on prisoners in the infamous Dachau concentration camp in Germany has been ousted from the International Space Hall of Fame.

The New Mexico Museum of Space History's commission voted unanimously last week to remove German-born Hubertus Strughold from the hall. His name was removed Tuesday from a plaque near the museum's front door and will be removed from various areas throughout the museum by the end of the week, said spokeswoman Cathy Harper.

Strughold, who died in 1987, had been brought to the United States by the military after World War II to work on aerospace projects.

The museum had honored him in 1978 for his work in developing the spacesuit, space capsule and his contributions to space medicine.

Last fall, a museum visitor noticed Strughold's name in the hall of fame and brought it to the attention of the New Mexico Anti-Defamation League, said Susan Seligman, regional director for the league.

The league uncovered records of Strughold's past and presented them to the commission last January. Strughold was linked to experiments on concentration camp prisoners in the 1940s as the Nazi director of medical research for aviation, Seligman said.

Seligman said to her knowledge, Strughold did not personally conduct experiments.

The museum's commission has created a task force to look at a future exhibit about how the United States used former Nazi scientists during the Cold War against the Russians in the space race, Harper said.

Seligman said such an exhibit would be of more benefit to visitors than simply removing a name because it would help people understand the space program's darker history.

Strughold's name was removed from Brooks Air Force Base's aero-medical library in 1995 and his picture was removed from a mural, "The World History of Medicine" at Ohio State University in 1993, the Anti-Defamation League said.