The Nazi Spy Ring in America: The Third Reich's Agents, the FBI, and the Case That Stirred the Nation

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2020

⏱️ 52 minutes

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Summary

In the mid-1930s, just as the United States was embarking on a policy of neutrality, Nazi Germany embarked on a program of espionage against the unwary nation. Hitler’s attempts to interfere in American affairs by spreading anti-Semitic propaganda, stealing military technology, and mapping US defenses.

Today’s guest is Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, author of the book “The Nazi Spy Ring in America.” Using recently declassified material, he shows how Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the Abwehr, was able to steal top secret US technology such as a prototype codebreaking machine and data about the latest fighter planes.

Enlisting the services of German-American fascists and anti-Semites, they resorted to ruthless methods to achieve their goals, including murdering the wife and daughter of an American industrialist. When the spy ring was busted in 1938 by FBI agent Leon Turrou, the ensuing trial caused a national sensation and played a significant role in shifting public opinion against Germany, awakening many Americans to the looming Nazi threat.

This story provides essential insight into the role of espionage in shaping American perceptions of Germany in the years leading up to US entry into World War II and sheds light on a now-forgotten but significant episode in the history of international relations.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States,
0:09.4	Canada, and Mexico from their deep origins to our present epoch.
0:13.9	Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time, focusing on the compelling,
0:20.7	wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants, heroes, villains, leaders,
0:27.1	environment, and geography.
0:29.5	I invite you to come along for the ride.
0:44.5	History is in just a bunch of names and dates and facts.
0:47.7	It's the collection of all the stories throughout human history that explain how and why we got here.
0:53.1	Welcome to the History and Plug podcast, where we look at the forgotten, neglected, strange,
0:58.0	and even counterfactual stories that made our world what it is.
1:02.1	I'm your host, Scott Rank.
1:12.9	The years leading up to World War II, saw major espionage operations going on by all major nations involved.
1:19.5	Russia had spies embedded at the highest levels of Nazi Germany.
1:22.9	For example, the German journalist Richard Sorge, who was in Japan, was good friends with German diplomats in Tokyo,
1:29.6	and was able to warn Russia about Operation Barbarossa.
1:34.0	George Koval was born in America, but he agreed to spy also on behalf of the Soviet Union and was deeply embedded in the Manhattan Project.
1:41.6	But did you know that there were a number of Nazi spies in the United States in the mid-1930s?
1:47.2	Just as the United States was embarking on a policy of neutrality, Nazi Germany embarked on a program of espionage
1:52.6	against the nation.
1:54.1	Today's guest is emeritus professor, Rody Jeffey-Drones, and he's the author of the book The Nazi Spiring in America,
2:00.4	Hitler's agents, the FBI, and the case that stirred the nation.
2:04.2	We're going to look at Hitler's attempts to interfere in American affairs by spreading anti-Semitic propaganda,
	...

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