Herschel Grynszpan

Herschel Grynszpan on his arrest
in Paris in 1938

This fellow, Herschel Grynszpan, shot a German official, Ernst Vom Rom inside the German embassy in Paris.  The act took place about 75 years and a few days ago (11/7/1938).  The Germans seized on and  inflated this incident into a plot by all German Jews against the government and it resulted in "Kristallnacht" (The night of the breaking glass) when German thugs were set loose on the Jewish population; not that they weren't set loose before -but this time it was a more formal operation.

You can read more in a pretty good Wiki article (here).

On this bright Saturday morning, events in the late 30s dealing with the Nazis and the Jewish population seem out of mind and sight.  I for one knew about Kristallnacht.  Herschel Grynszpan escaped my knowledge. I have trouble forgiving Germany for following a lunatic, seemingly to the end of civilized thought and behavior, and the purposeful horror of their Jewish persecution.  Mostly I am becoming a bit more understanding of those who keep the memory of the holocaust alive because clearly it is such a dark place that one would rather forget.

More to the point, it seems that there is so much more to learn and in the nuances of Herschel Grynszpan and all that surrounded him, there are lessons applicable. (The music below is from Michael Tippet's "A Child in Our Time" - about Grynszpan).