According to the American Film Institute: "The film was greeted with demonstrations against von Braun at showings in Europe and New York, according to various news stories. Prior to the world premiere in Munich, von Braun and Jurgens held a press conference during which members of the Communist and British press hounded von Braun with charges that the film whitewashed his war work. The press conference prompted von Braun to issue the following statement: 'I have very deep and sincere regrets for the victims of the V-2 rockets, but there were victims on both sides. A war is a war, and when my country is at war, my duty is to help win that war.' Later, a crowd of protesters mobbed the theater where the premiere was held. Demonstrators in London dropped anti-Nazi pamphlets onto theatergoers from a balcony. In New York, the film was picketed by an anti-Fascist youth organization. The film was previewed in Washington at the Senate Office auditorium, and its Oct 1960 opening in Washington was attended by First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The film was chosen to open the Edinburgh Film Festival, where it received a special diploma of merit."
