The Day the Holocaust Began: The Odyssey of Herschel Grynszpan

(Hardback)

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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 mayhem and destruction which became known as "Kristallnacht", or "the Night of Broken Glass", the razing of 265 synagogues and 200 houses, the demolition and looting of 7500 business establishments and the incarceration of 30,000 Jewish males in various concentration camps. Herschel Grynszpan was immediately arrested. France's foremost criminal lawyer took over his defense. On June 8, 1940, two days before the French Government evacuated Paris in advance of the German onslaught, Herschel Grynszpan was indicted for murder. A month later he was in Nazi hands, being interrogated by the Gestapo in anticipation of a major trial show. Examining German documents never before revealed, including a startling coded "confession", Gerald Schwab probes the background of this extraordinary young man. 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 youngster who developed into one of the most amazing and unlikely heroes of modern history, demonstrating the power of the human spirit against overwhelming odds. Anyone interested in modern European history, the Nazi Government, the persecution of the European Jews, as well as students of the Holocaust and its many ramifications, will find "The Day the Holocaust Began" interesting reading.

Reviews

"Gerald Schwab has written a compelling story about the aftermath of one of the most important events to take place on the path to the Holocaust. Using primarily official German documents, Schwab has written a fascinating, exhaustively researched book which is sure to become a standard work on this subject. He is to be congratulated for producing a work which maintains the reader's interest throughout while maintaining the highest levels of scholarship."-Senator Rudy Boschwitz
"Gerald Schwab's The Day the Holocaust Began is fascinating reading. It is an extremely valuable account of the story of Herschel Grynszpan, the expulsion of Polish Jews from Germany, the November 1938 pogrom (Crystal Night), and of Grynszpan's subsequent fate as a prisoner of the Nazis. This vivid and dramatic story is both biographical and historical and fills a critical gap in our understanding of the Holocaust."-Sybil Milton, Resident Historian U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
"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."-Simon Wiesenthal
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
This history, a footnote to that of the Holocaust, tells the story of the trial and eventual liquidation of Grynzspan as completely as it ever will be known.-Washington Post Book World
"This history, a footnote to that of the Holocaust, tells the story of the trial and eventual liquidation of Grynzspan as completely as it ever will be known."-Washington Post Book World
"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

Author Bio

GERALD SCHWAB was born and raised in Germany. After the events of Kristallnacht he and his family emigrated to the United States. In 1946 he served as translator/interpreter at the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg followed by a career in the State Department.