28th October, 1946
8:00 am
They came. I knew it all along yet I was too afraid to run. We lost. All the Hitler small talk was nothing. First the Americans came. I should have known. Taking Werner von Braun along with some others. The factory is a trash deposit now. Everything is destroyed yet the Russians still come to tidy up the scraps. They loaded all the rest of us into the back of their trains. All one-hundred and seventy of us including blueprints and parts. A cloud of doubt hangs over my head. There is nowhere to run. I am scared what they'll do to us. I saw Germany for the last time yesterday. I was told by my sister that we were going to work under a man named Korolev. The heat is taking its toll and it has already been two days. This is an all new setting. And I vow to prove myself worthy so we can go home. Yesterday I told you it was freezing cold. I take that back. It is exhausting. In three hours I will be there. For breakfast we had dried crackers and preserved berries. I traded my berries for another few crackers. Through the only window the train has, I saw the second truck stop and unload equipment at a factory while I was eating. My clothes are worn out and look more like rags from sitting down. It has been tough for the past few days slipping in and out of consciousness do to motion sickness. I hope this will be the apex of my weary self. The weather is killing me in Russia. One day it's scorching, but most days it is ice cold.
12:00
I have not been writing to you. Everything is busy. I met with Korolev at the steps of the factory. The room I live in is right next door to my sisters in an apartment behind the factory we work in. It is just like a room you might have in first class on an airplane except the bed is smaller and there is a toilet and work desk. All the information we were given was that we were here to beat America in a race. The race they talk about excites me and enthralls me to work harder. Germany had two chances to beat America yet they failed. I'm hoping the saying is true that third time is lucky. I cannot describe what I am feeling. It is a mix of bittersweetness, anxiety and excitement all dished together in a washing machine. For now, I will say that much. Lunch was broth and veggies with a few hunks of beef. The most generous meal since the day we left Germany. We'll start working the next day. We will head off to what they call the final destination after lunch. I will tell you more later.
2:00 pm
We are there. It is a factory in a town we are not familiar with. There is not a sign of civilian life and only military vehicles line the streets. My room is suite T-14. My family occupy half this level. We share it with another family whom I have no connections with whatsoever. The factory is a few blocks away and I will be working with other engineers to try recreate the V2 rockets we helped von Braun to make. There are computers galore! I never knew the Soviets still had enough cash at hand to buy so many computers and a handful of TVs! The seriousness and the competitiveness in this place has changed me. It has changed how I think, how I act and every other of my moves. It is the switch which turned on my lightbulb. I feel that this really is going to change the tide of my life. Anguish still partly controls me but I will endure.
6:00 pm
Dinner is starting. Bread, pork, cheese. Just like home. This is a new start from failure. It gives off a feeling of hope and a fresh start from a bio ruined by WWII. These times are more welcoming and give off a radiating pulse of friendliness. Times are improving. I have learnt more about Korolev from some Russian scientists who were already working here. We communicated with the little English we knew. Korolev will be our head. He is also an engineer and will be working in the room next to us German engineers. I hope to get to you soon with the work starting tomorrow. Till.
Helmut Gröttrup
How did you create the concept of the smart card?
I created the concept of the card when I was working under the company Giesecke & Devrient. This was in 1968 when I first asked for the patent with Jurgen Dethloff to have full ownership of the title of the card-shared with Jurgen. Yet the government only approved of it in 1982, and we only heard great numbers of use in 1983. G&D was famous for its banking and so I was intrigued to make it even better than it already was. At this time, I saw what had come as the peak of mid technology. So, the first thing that came to my mind was a card. Yet ours would be an encrypted one for banking. And so that led my journey to make the card and still remained the main fossil fuel behind my work. If I had never come to the company, there may never have been the exact smart card.