Herschel Feibel Grynszpan was born in Hannover. He had been searching futilely for work and lodging since his 14th year. As a Jew, both were denied him. His application to enter Palestine was likewise rejected. In July of 1936, with a Polish passport and a German exit visa, he began a journey to relatives in Paris. When he heard that both the French and Germans were refusing entry to Jews, he entered France illegally via Brussels. Although his uncle guaranteed Herschel’s financial security and housing, he could not obtain a residence permit. On the 11th of August 1938 he was ordered by the French authorities to leave France within 4 days. As both his German visa and Polish passport had expired and could not be extended, he hid himself in a deserted garret, where from then on he had to live surreptitiously as a stateless person.
Then an occurrence in the last days of October led to the act of desperation.
Grynszpan’s parents, sister and brother, who were still living in Hannover were in a raid-style assault dispossessed by the Gestapo and driven from their home. With thousands of other Polish Jews they were transported to the Polish border. But as the Polish authorities still refused entry for Jews, the driven ones had to make camp in the cold, there on the border or in no-man’s-land. Grynszpan was informed of this happening through the Jewish newspaper in Paris. A letter he received from his sister on the 3rd of November unleashed the spontaneous resolve to attempt an assassination. In the letter his sister described the family’s suffering and begged him for financial help. (Details of the letter may be found on the Internet under http://www.roizen.com/ron/grynszpan.htm). Thereupon Grynszpan bought a revolver and went to the German Embassy on 7 November 1938 with the intention of making an assassination attempt on the life of the German Ambassador. This one was not present, however, so the third Secretary of the Embassy, Ernst vom Rath—himself a critic of the regime and under Gestapo observation—became the victim of his attack. Vom Rath succumbed to his injuries two days later, on the 9th of November 1938.
Goebbels gave the appropriate Party functionaries a directive to organize "spontaneous demonstrations." In the directive the procedures to be followed were already laid out in detail. The outrages should be carried on until 5 o’clock in the morning. The perfection in timing with which the destructive actions and the National Socialist press reactions to the assassination occurred gives rise to the suspicion that a pogrom of this magnitude had already been planned before the assassination took place. Across the entire German nation In the night from the 9th to the 10th of November 1938 synagogues were set afire, Jewish shops plundered and reduced to rubble. Nazi gangs forced their way into living quarters and house searches were carried out. Thousands of Jews were arrested (taken into "protective custody") and transported to concentration camps; many were killed. Later, the victims themselves were made responsible for the damage inflicted and required to make reparations amounting to millions. With that the real horror of the Holocaust had begun.
The illustrative content of the event stems from the Internet. I found it on the Home Page of the "ShoaNet-Holocaust Biographien -G-." In it the initial reference to the book Kennzeichen J (Recognition mark "J") with the page-indication "98" determined the use of the motif—a photo of Herschel Grynszpan at the time of his arrest—for the illustrative content. Subsequently the picture was "stolen online" by me and digitally processed in two steps.
1st Step: Replace black and gray with yellow
2nd Step: Set contrast and brightness at +79
(79 is the atomic number of the element Aurum—Gold)
The location of the event should be a private home with some relation to the theme. A small circle of persons will be present. The intimate sphere of the home and the limited number of persons stand in polar contrast with the openness of the Internet and the global significance of the theme.
The title "Kristalltag" (Crystal Day) represents the darkness of the Night of Expulsion of the Past illuminated by the Golden Light of the Future.
Translation David Koblik
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Insights since 14. Oct. 1998