US soldiers and congress delegation with unfinished V2 rocket, 1945 (b/w photo)

As a result of the bombing of the Peenemuende Army Research Center, the construction and development of the Vergeltungswaffe (retaliatory weapon) "V2" ( technical name Aggregat 4) and other armament projects were moved to a subcamp of Buchenwald Concentration Camp, the Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp near Nordhausen in the Harz Mountains, and other locations.To protect against further air raids, the work at these specially selected sites was carried out following the relocation of parts of the defence industry underground, in converted galleries. The Kohnstein gallery was part of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp and accommodated not only the V2 but also the V1 production as well as projects by Junkers Ju and Heinkel. The V2 is regarded as the basis for later US-American and Soviet space projects.