Operation Paper Clip Revisited

The fact that the Russians were so far ahead of the USA in rocket technology in 1957 continues to bother me. The top German Rocket Scientist and considered genius Werner Von Braun defected immediately after WW 2. He recruited 1,600 of the best German scientists in what was essentially a German space program. In contrast Russia’s program was essentially home grown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_space_program

There is no question that Russia was far behind Germany in rocket technology in 1945. In 12 years, they made terrific strides leading up to the launch of Sputnik 1. It is true that they were able to use the assistance of a few German scientists and had access to V-2 technology. The German team assembled in the USA it was more than impressive. My question is what were they doing for 12 years? Does anyone know?

I don’t even have a theory but the lack of rocket technology progress after WW 2 is alarming. As the saying goes: “There is something rotten in Denmark”.