Day X, Part 4: Franco A.

We meet Franco A., an officer in the German military who lived a double life as a Syrian refugee and stands accused of plotting an act of terrorism to bring down the German government. 

Franco A. visited the workplaces of two of his alleged targets. We meet both targets to hear the stories of two Germanies: One a beacon of liberal democracy that has worked to overcome its Nazi past, the other a place where that past is attracting new recruits. Today, we explore ... Show More

In August 1944 President Franklin D Roosevelt agreed to allow nearly one thousand Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe to come to America. They were allowed entry only as "guests", so as not to breach strict US immigration quotas in place during the whole of WW2. The refu ... Show More

Franco A. is not the only far-right extremist in Germany discovered by chance. For over a decade, 10 murders in the country, including nine victims who were immigrants, went unsolved. The neo-Nazi group responsible was discovered only when a bank robbery went wrong. In this episo ... Show More

In this episode, we get answers on just how bad the problem of far-right infiltration in the German military and police really is — and how Germany is trying to address it. We learn about Germany's "defensive democracy," which was designed after World War II to protect the countr ... Show More

The Second World War caused many people to seek refuge from the conflict in Germany. Immigration was often the only option. Four people who escaped from Germany and Brittany in France to Ireland traces a story of flight from persecution, as well as former military officers leavin ... Show More

This week, authorities in Germany arrested more than two dozen suspected far-right extremists over a plot to violently overthrow the government. The plotters were reportedly inspired by QAnon conspiracy theories. NPR's Rob Schmitz walks us through the latest. And German historian ... Show More

The case against a young airman gets even weirder when the government pulls in two fresh investigators. Part 2: A bride, an FBI agent, and a polygraph machine. To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spoti ... Show More

In April 1945, with the Allies closing in, the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, with his German bodyguards, decided to flee Milan. The convoy was later joined by a Luftwaffe column retreating toward Germany, making a powerful force. In this episode, we're going to be looking a ... Show More