Reporter Lea Fauth on repurposing factories for Germany’s arms industry

Would you keep your job if it meant switching to producing weapons? That’s the dilemma facing workers in Görlitz and Osnabrück, where factories that for generations proudly built trains and electric vehicles are being repurposed as armament factories.

Considering VW has said it will cut 100,000 jobs in the next years, the German economy is barely growing, and the current regime is committed more than ever to investing further in defense spending - what choice do workers have?

In this episode, HEIST founding editor Peter Matthews is joined by investigative reporter Lea Fauth. They discuss her reporting for Deutschlandfunk Kultur in two German cities where factories, unions, and workers are responding to the Zeitenwende, the new era of German investment in manufacturing arms.

Links & Resources:

• Listen to Lea’s reporting on Deutschlandfunk Kultur here and here
• Keep up with HEIST on Instagram: @heistberlin.
• Support worker-owned Berlin journalism and subscribe to HEIST.

Music and sound by Patrick Nininger.