Greenwood Publishing Group : The Day the Holocaust Began

Description

On November 7, 1938, Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year old Polish-German Jew, walked into the German Embassy in Paris and shot Third Secretary, Ernst vom Rath who died shortly after. Vom Rath's death triggered the destruction and mahem which became known as Kristallnacht, or The Night of Broken Glass and the beginning of the Holocaust. Examining German documents never before revealed, including a startling coded "confession," Gerald Schwab probes the background of Herschel Grynszpan. The book describes in considerable detail, Grynszpan's experiences in French and German hands and challenges some commonly held ideas about the cause of the shooting. The Day the Holocaust Began describes the life of a mixed-up, emotionally immature teenager who developed into one of the most amazing and unlikely heroes of modern history, demonstrating the power of the human spirit against overwhelming odds.

Reviews:

-The day the Holocaust began was November 7, 1938, when Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old Polish-German Jew, shot and killed Eduard vom Rath, an officer in the German embassy in Paris. Grynszpan proclaimed that he wanted `to avenge the great wrong which had been visited on his fellow Jews in general and on his family in particular.' What followed was the Kristallnacht, in which 265 synagogues were destroyed, 7,500 Jewish businesses looted, and 30,000 Jews sent to concentration camps--the first step in the Holocaust. Schwab's father was one of those sent to the camps. Schwab became interested in the Grynszpan case and eventually met an embassy clerk who had been a key witness at Grynszpan's trial, as well as Grynszpan's defense lawyer. Schwab describes Grynszpan's experiences while in French and German custody and gives a detailed background of the assassin-hero. The author asserts that in the final analysis, Grynszpan performed a valuable service for European Jews--for although his dee —Booklist

Endorsement From Simon Wiesenthal

The Day the Holocaust Began gives a detailed picture of the planning and preparations the Nazis undertook in order to stage a show trial--with Herschel Grynszpan as the representative of World Jewry...The extensive chronology in this book is impressive and should prove quite useful for historians...it fills a void in historiography, and I am sure it will be read by a vast and appreciative audience.

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ISBN	Title	Price
0-275-93576-0 978-0-275-93576-4	The Day the Holocaust Began	$117.95
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