On that night when the car races across the Swiss border, the barrier on the German side is not closed. The kidnapping of journalist Friedrich Benjamin is carried out on behalf of German authorities. It is part of a campaign by the Nazis against the émigré press. A tug-of-war begins between the Nazi party headquarters and the exiles living in Paris over the life of Benjamin and the existence of the newspaper "Pariser Nachrichten." Private interests intertwine with political ones. The commitment for or against Benjamin, for or against the editorial team has repercussions on the fates of the émigrés and their Nazi opponents. Feuchtwanger wrote this novel with a deep understanding of the fragmented German emigration, this "pitiful flea circus," which crushed many, made some small and miserable, hardened a few, and helped some.