Today is Friday, July 9th, 2021.

On this day in 1979, a bomb targeting Nazi hunters Biaada and Serge Klaersfeld exploded beneath

their Paris home. Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parcast.

Due to the graphic nature of these crimes, listener discretion is advised.

This episode includes discussions of assault that some people may find offensive.

We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Today, we're covering the

attempted murders of two fearless Nazi hunters. Now let's go back to July 9, 1979, to Paris, France.

The Clarsfelds were well aware of their enemies.

They had a habit of confronting them face to face.

Ever since the couple met in the mid-60s, they'd shared a passion for social justice, particularly

the plight of European Jews.

Too many Nazis, guilty of some of the worst crimes in history, had fled Germany

to escape punishment. Serge and Biazza weren't going to let them get away with it. Hunting

these people down and forcing them to acknowledge their crimes was not always popular, but

enemies were inevitable when fighting for justice, and none of them

slowed the Klaersfelds down. They knew their cause was righteous and were more than capable

of handling threats. And in July of 1979, there was no shortage of threats. The couple had

received numerous letters from a group claiming to be Odessa.

Odessa is actually an American codename used to describe coordinated escape attempts by SS officers

after the fall of the Nazi regime. Since the war, Odessa had become a boogeyman. The rumor of an organization of former Nazis was popular in spy novels.

At present, it is believed that no such group ever truly existed.

But someone was certainly using the name to scare the Klaersfelds.

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