Selects: The Time Nazis Invaded Florida

# Stuff You Should Know Episode Summary

This classic episode dives into one of World War II's most bizarre and bungled operations: when Nazi Germany sent saboteurs to infiltrate and attack the United States in 1942. Hitler had long fantasized about destroying American cities like New York, so he organized Operation Pastorius, dispatching two teams of German agents via submarine to blow up strategic targets like aluminum plants, hydroelectric facilities, and railroad infrastructure. What makes this story absolutely wild is that the mission was almost immediately compromised when the saboteurs were spotted on a Long Island beach by a coast guard officer—and then things only got more chaotic from there, as the supposedly trained operatives proved to be spectacularly incompetent and half-hearted about their mission from the very start.