Episode 5: Coming Home

Francis Parker Yaki was an American fascist whose impact continues to reverberate through the lens of far-right ideology and Holocaust denial.

Francis Yaki's Early Influence and "Imperium"

Yaki fled the U.S. after World War II, with ties to the German American Bund and the Silver Shirts, groups whose leadership faced sedition charges during the war.

Escape to Europe and Advocacy for Nazi War Criminals

In the late 1940s, Yaki was wanted for questioning about his relationship with a Nazi saboteur executed in the United States during World War II. He went AWOL from the US Army, where he was listed as a Nazi sympathizer, and obtained a position as a US government lawyer at the Nazi war crimes trials in Germany. Acting as a mole, he assisted Nazi defendants. US Army counterintelligence files suggest that he tried to recruit German officers and Nazi veterans into a movement against the Allied occupying forces. Yaki managed to evade capture and left Germany to write his book, "Imperium."

Anthony Mostrom and Rachel Maddow have noted Yaki's role in advocating for the expulsion of Jews from Europe through his "European Liberation Front." He also published "Imperium" under the pseudonym Ulic Varange, with "Ulic" being an Irish given name and "Varange" referencing a Viking tribe. "Imperium," a manifesto dedicated to Hitler, called for a fascist empire and expounded upon Holocaust denial, labeling Jewish people as culture distorters.

Return to the U.S. and Link with America First Movement

After writing "Imperium" on the Irish coast, Yaki returned to the U.S. undetected in 1950 and began speaking at rallies organized by Gerald L.K. Smith, an anti-Semitic figure and successor to Father Coghlan's prejudiced legacy.

Yaki's Contribution to American Far-Right Extremism

Controversial Speeches and Holocaust Denial

Yaki's speeches during these rallies echoed his controversial and hateful ideolo ...

Following World War II, despite mounting evidence of Nazi atrocities, figures like Francis Yaki attempted to deny the Holocaust and claim the persecution of Jews was justified.

Even as evidence of the Nazi atrocities mounted after World War II, figures like Francis Yaki attempted to deny the Holocaust and claim the persecution of Jews was justified.

Nazi war criminals on trial attempted to defend their actions by arguing the killings of Jews were necessary to protect Germany from the "communist threat" posed by Jewish people.

In the aftermath of World War II, war crimes trials brought Nazi atrocities to light. However, in an attempt to defend their actions, some Nazi war criminals claimed it was not a crime to kill tens of thousands of civilians, particularly Jews, framing them as inherently communists and posing a threat to Germany. This defense became an overarching argument for Nazism and the perpetration of the Holocaust.

Yaki's book "Imperium" was an early example of Holocaust denial literature that sought to sow doubts about the scale and nature of the Nazi's extermination of Jews and other minorities.

Yaki's manifesto, seen as an attempt to revive Nazism after World War II, faced the challenge of explaining the high body count. "Imperium" is described as a very anti-Semitic hate book and is considered an early example of Holocaust denial literature and a fascist manifesto. In it, Yaki makes the weak argument that democracy is a sham and asserts that America’s global influence was another method for Jews to control the world. He admired Russia not for its communism but for its an ...

In the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy found himself in alignment with, and amplification of, the far-right and anti-Semitic views of figures such as Francis Yaki and Gerald L.K. Smith. This intersection began to show McCarthy's increasingly radical tactics and associations within his political career.

Senator Joseph McCarthy, a rising political figure in the early 1950s, began aligning himself with and amplifying the far-right, anti-Semitic views of figures like Francis Yaki and Gerald L.K. Smith.

McCarthy hired Yaki, a fugitive fascist wanted by authorities, to write a speech for him to deliver at a rally in Yorkville, New York, organized by the pro-Nazi National Renaissance Party.

Anthony Mostrom highlighted the potential career damage that could be done to McCarthy if his connection to Francis Yaki were revealed by anti-McCarthy journalists. McCarthy employed Yaki, who was on the run from authorities for assisting Nazis during war crimes trials and pioneering American Holocaust denial, to write a speech for a gathering in Yorkville, New York. This event was chaired by a member of the National Renaissance Party, which was well known for its pro-Nazi stance. However, after the nature of the event and the individuals involved were exposed, McCarthy's office cited a scheduling conflict, preventing him from delivering Yaki's speech.

Moreover, McCarthy also worked with other far-right figures. He accepted an invitation to speak at an American-German friendship rally organized by the chairman of the National Renaissance Party, even tapping Eustace Mullins, another member of the Party, as a researcher. His willingness to join hands with such groups underlined the dangerous direction his political maneuvering was taking.

While McCarthy ultimately did not deliver the speech written by Yaki, his willingness to associate with such extremist figures and give them a platform demonstrated his increasingly reckless and divisive tactics.

McCarthy's tactics of making unsubstantiated accusations, smearing opponents, and cozying up to anti-Semitic groups helped him build a large popular following, but also raised concerns about the dangerous direction of American politics.

McCarthy teamed up with Gerald L.K. Smith, notorious for his anti-Semitic smears, to oppose the nomi ...