British conscripted German scientists

LONDON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Newly discovered files reveal the British sometimes didn’t say “please” when hustling scientists out of Germany at the end of World War II.

Foreign Office archives revealed that some Germans were actually picked up in the middle of the night by British intelligence agents and spirited off to England where they were put to work for the government and even private companies.

The British newspaper The Guardian said some of the technicians and scientists were, in fact, held in order to pry out trade secrets that were given to British companies.

The newspaper said the material indicated that many Germans were forced to go to work for the allies and were not volunteers, as has been the popular public perception.

One memo cited by The Guardian came from a British occupation official who expressed concern that the practice mirrored the methods of the feared German Gestapo.