Ndrangheta in East Germany

Axel Hemmerling, Ludwig Kendzia, David Klaubert and Margherita Bettoni spent three years investigating when and how the Calabrian 'ndrangheta arrived in East Germany. They looked into newspaper archives, searched property register files, used FOIAs and talked to several sources in Germany and in Italy. In the process, they came across a major, still publicly unknown police investigation against the 'ndrangheta in East Germany that took place almost 20 years ago. The investigation came to a sudden end under unclear circumstances, no arrest was made. They gained access to thousand of pages connected to the investigation and could read hundreds of wiretapped phone calls made by alleged 'ndrangheta members living in Eastern Germany at the beginning of the 2000s. Including some very interesting calls that suggest a proximity to some institutional members, such as a local judge. The result is the investigative documentary "Mafia colony East Germany. German unity's blind spot", that was aired by the German public broadcaster ARD in 2021 and translated into English by the public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW). Following their investigation, the Parliament of Thuringia created a parliamentary committee of enquiry (the first one in German parliamentary history dealing with the 'ndrangheta) to find an answer to two main question: 1. Why was this investigation closed at such an early stage? 2. Was the 'ndrangheta in contact with institution in Thuringia? Speakers David Klaubert, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Staff writer and investigative journalist, focussing on organized crime Zora Hauser, University of Oxford Margherita Bettoni, An award winning journalist investigating Italian mafia groups in Germany since a decade Axel Hemmerling, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk