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Nazi Terror, the Crystal Night, Serve to Recall
Earlier Acts of Vengeance by Jewish Young Men Who
Assassinated Pogrom Leaders and Nazi Instigators

By Philip
Slomovitz

The Herschel Grynszpan Act of Vengeance and the Ensuant Krystal-Nacht

Zionist sentiments was among the most
tion of 7,500 business establishments, the
gration quotas?' Eighty-three per cent were
Krystal-Nacht is the term that was ap-
courageous fighters against Nazism.
burning of scores of synagogues, the loss
against
such
a
bill
and
8.3
per
cent
did
plied by the Germans themselves to the
(The assassination of Gustloff by David
of
millions
in
crushed
glass,
should
be
per-
not know. Of the 8.7 per cent in favor,
night of horror—Nov. 8-9, 1938, when the
mitted—so that the Nazis can get hold of Frankfurter was so dramatic that Emil
nearly
70
per
cent
were
Jewish.
Nazi beasts ordered and directed the burn-
Ludwig dramatized it in a deeply moving
the funds thus paid to Jews by foreign in-
"At the very time when sympathy for
ing of synagogues throughout their land
book. "The Davos Murder," which was
surance companies.
the
victims
was
at
its
height,
10
Americans
and the destruction of Jewish-owned stores.
published in England in 1937.)
The
authors
of
"Crystal
Night"
recall
out of 11 opposed massive Jewish immigra-
The tons of glass, the millions of dollars
"Crystal Night" by Rita Thalmann and
an incident similar to the assassination of
tion
into
the
United
States.
•
in property losses, induced even the lead-
Emmanuel Feinermann fills a great nee,„:„
Ernst
vom
Rahm
by
Grynszpan—the
act
of
"Some intellectuals, including such writ-
ers of the gangs that caused that damage
It provides an important chapter in the
vengeance. When, on Feb. 4, 1936, David
ers as Eugene O'Neill, John Steinbeck,
to give that name to the night of horror.
literature that endlessly exposes the Nazi
Frankfurter,
a
Yugoslav
Jewish
student,
Pearl Buck, Clifford Octets and Thornton
crimes. It deals with one of the most cruel
It was "the pretext" for the continuing
shot Wilhelm Gustloff, the head of the
Wilder,
tried
to
illustrate
the
immorality
of the Nazi barbarities—one that was used
arrests, murders, rounding up of Jews for
National
Socialist
Organization
of
Germans
of the American attitude: 'Thirty-five years
as a pretext to extend what had already
extermination, after a 17-year-old lad, Her-
residing
in
Switzerland,
in
his
home
in
ago, a horrified America rose in protest
existed: the mass expropriations that so"n
schel Grynszpan, assassinated a German
Davos,
Switzerland.
against the pogrom at Kishinev in Czarist
led to mass extermination of human be
embassy official, Ernst vom Rahm, in
The authors of "Crystal Night" recall
Russia. God have pity on us if we have be-
The Nazi brutalities are portrayed in
Paris.
that
a
leader
in
efforts
to
protect
and
de-
come so insensitive to human suffering that
their inhumanities in this book, which, at
The story of those hours of terror are
we are incapable of protesting today against fend Herschel Grynszpan and to gather a
the same time, condemns the indifference
reconstructed in a deeply moving and well-
defense
fund
for
him
was
Miss
Dorothy
the pogroms in Nazi Germany. We -believe
of the world powers which thus became
Thompson.
It
was
in
the
era
when
the
emi-
chronicled book, "Crystal Night," by Rita
it is profoundly immoral for the Americans
parties to the Nazi crimes.
Thalmann and Emmanuel Feinermann,
nent
columnist
who
later
abandoned
her
to continue to maintain commercial rela-
translated from the French by Gilles Cre-
tions with a country which openly adopts
monesi, and published by Coward, McCann
mass murder to solve its economic prob-
The Avengers of Pogromists . . . Hershel Grynszpan, David Frankfurter,
and Geoghegan.
lems.'
Shalom
Schwartzbard .. Their Anguish and the Terrors They Avenged
Ms. Thalmann is a young Jewish his-
"Isolated voices within the American ad-
torian who is a graduate of the Sorbonne
"In 1918, during the Paris peace palavers,
ministration expressed the same anguish.
No root of hatred, not a blade of there
and the College de France. A specialist
occurred in Ukraine such appalling
One of the most forceful was that of An-
vengeance
..
.
in the World War II period, Ms. Thalmann
pogroms and such a reign of terror that the
thony Drexel Biddle, Jr., the American
now serves as the director of the institute
of Czarist days seemed child's
Ambassador to Warsaw, who sent dispatch
What will they? Why stretch out atrocities
for German studies at the University of
play in comparison. According to Red Cross
after dispatch to his superiors informing
their hands to Me?
Tours, France. Feinermann is preparing
statistcs, no fewer than 50,000 were slain
them that according to reliable sources the
his doctoral thesis on the observance of Nazis were aware that their action had
Has none a fist? And where's a by Petlura's soldiers, and among the vic-
religious practices in the Nazi concentra-
tims were thousands of women and chil-
aroused world-wide indignation but under-
Thunderbolt
tion camps.
dren. In one local affair during the month
stood that no one would lift a finger to
of February-1919, 1,500 persons were put to
Their account is significant not only as
To take revenge for all the
oppose them.
the torture and then murdered."
a record of events that led to Crystal Night
generations,
"This assessment was correct, since the
and the aftermath, as well as the intimate
Petlura was defeated by the Communist
European Affairs Section of the State De-
story of Herschel Grynszpan, but also as
To blast the world and tear the armies and he fled for his life to Paris. For
partment, -which was asked to elaborate the
six years Schwartzbard, tortured by the
an indictment of the major world powers
heavens asunder
American government's position on the mat-
whose failure to come to the rescue of the
knowledge of what had happened in the
ter, merely formulated an official confes-
And wreck the universe. My throne Ukraine to the Jewish people, hoped to find
Jews who were destined for the crematoria
sion of impotence. 'It is easy to put the
is described as a contributing force to the
Petlura and to exact vengeance. Then he
of Glory.
problem aside by declaring that no one
emerging Holocaust.
spotted him. But every time he saw him,
wants more Jews. This is certainly true,
Hayyim Nahman Bialik
Petlura was with his wife and daughter and
The authors take into account all of the
but the problem must nevertheless be solVed
in
"The
City
of
Slaughter"
(1904)
he would not hurt anyone else. Then, one
events related to that frightful night of bru-
and our government has committed it-
written after the Kishinev Pogrom.
day, he saw Petlura entering a Paris res-
talities and destructiveness. They describe self . . . ' "
the sham of the Evian Conference which
"Crystal Night" by Thalmann and Fein- taurant. He took time to send word to his
"Despite the burning synagogues, the
was organized by President Franklin D.
ermann understandably refers to the as- wife of his intentions and then returned
terror of the 'Crystal Night' and the deS-
with a pistol he had acquired and he shot
Roosevelt and at which it became apparent perate appeals for help from Jewish groups,
sassination of Wilhelm Gustloff, the Nazi
the Ukrainian murderer.
that none of the world powers was willing
leader
in
Switzerland,
by
David
Frankfur-
the countries which could help followed the
either to provide refuge for the victims of lead of the -three great western powers.
Schwartzbard was freed by a French court
ter. The earlier act of vengeance, which
the Hitler terror or to encourage any help They continued the pointless charade, be-
at the time was described as an act by that understood the sentiments of a man
for them.
anguished by the sufferings of his people
the "First Jewish Avenger," again earns
gun at the Evian Conference, of searching
A callousness had set in among the
and outraged by the acts of a murderer.
for the elusive country which would agree attention while taking account again of the
peoples everywhere and a Gallup Poll to take in refugees.
And there was something supremely
Herschel Grynszpan affair.
showed overwhelming opposition to the
human about Schwartzbard and his sense of
Soon after Frankfurter went on trial in
"On
November
23rd
President
Roosevelt
opening of American doors to refugees.
outrage over the murders by Petlura's
the Swiss court, Emil Ludwig wrote the
sent Myron Taylor a confidential letter in-
But the press, and many noteworthy for-
armies. From his jail he wrote to his wife:
structing
him
immediately
to
renew
the
story
under
the
title
"The
Davos
Murder."
eign correspondents pleaded for justice. The
"Have a new inscription carved on my
It
was
translated
from
the
German
by
efforts
of
the
Intergovernment
Committee
situation was tense, and the summary of
Eden and Cedar Paul and was published father's tombstone: 'Rest in peace, great
for Refugees, called the Evian Committee.
the world sentiments in the Thalmann-Fei-
in London by Bethune Co. The dramatic
`It is essential,' Roosevelt wrote, 'to create
Jewish soul. Your son Shalom has avenged
nermann book states:
the sacred blood of the children of Israel ..'
Ludwig account of a world famous case
the proper spirit in the countries of po-
"President Roosevelt was aware that,
tential settlement and to lead them to see was published eight years before Frank-
I do not repent having killed him . . . Ask
despite the protests, American public opin-
furter was pardoned by the legislative
my father, in my name, to forgive me. I
ion would balk at an influx of refugees. A this problem as one which is humanitarian
have been false to him., his teaching, our
in
its
urgency
but
from
which
they
can
council
of
southeastern
Switzerland
by
a
poll conducted a few months after the 'Crys-
draw ultimate practical benefit . . . I do
vote of 78 to 12. The pardoning of the Jew- faith.' "
tal Night' asked: 'If you were a member
ish avenger of his people for the Nazi
not believe it either desirable or practicable
He killed to avenge, but he repented be-
of Congress would you vote "yes" or "no"
to recommend any change in the quota pro-
crimes took place soon after the defeat of
cause he had to kill!
on a bill to open the doors of the United
Germany in 1945.
This is told in the Emil Ludwig story
States to a larger number of European ref- visions of our immigration laws. We are
prepared, nevertheless, to make any other
Frankfurter's assassination of Gustloff,
published in 1927!
ugees than now admitted under our immi-
contribution which may be in our power
however, led to the prompt banning of
But the Ukrainians never repented, never
to make.'
the Nazi party in Switzerland. Ludwig apologized, never regretted.
"This message assumes greater signif-
To this day, Ukrainian literature refers
would have had additional dramatic occur-
icance when one considers that on the
rences for the Frankfurter story in "The
to Schwartzbard as "a Communist agent,"
and the pogroms are not mentioned.
same day, November 23, 1938, the Amer-
Davos Murder" had he lived to supplement
the facts with the interesting data about
late as May 1966, the Ukrainian pub s
ican newspapers re-published an extract
David Frankfurter having settled in Pale-
tion, "ABN Correspondence," publishe,
from Das Schwarze Korps which unequiv-
ocally announced Hitler's intention of find-
stine. Upon the rebirth of Israel he entered
"Bulletin of the (so-called) Anti-Bolshevik
ing a 'totalitarian solution' for the Jewish
government services. He lived in Ramat Bloc of Nations," hailed "Symon Petlura-
problem, including the eradication of Jews
Gan when last located. He never played the
National Hero of the Ukraine (May 23,
from the economy and their isolation in
hero and kept out of the limelight. Perhaps
1879-May 25, 1926)."
a new chapter in the dramatic early life of
ghettoes so as to reduce them to misery
Ukrainian letter-writers often acclaimed
the pogromist Petlura as a hero and ridi-
the man who, at the age of 26 avenged the
and crime.
cruelties that had begun against his people
culed Schwartzbard as a Communist agent.
"The official SS and Gestapo publication,
The Herschel Grynszpan reconstructed
by the beasts in the ranks of Nazism.
which had been the first to prime public
David Frankfurter is not alone as an story, the recollections of the David Frank-
opinion for the pogroms of November 1938,
avenger in "The Davos Murder." Ludwig furter and Shalom Schwartzbard historic in-
concluded genially: 'At this stage of devel-
utilized the occasion of a sensational diplo-
cidents, other related matters recorded in
opment we should therefore face the hard
Emil Ludwig's "The Davos Murder," keep
matic murder to relate other accounts of
necessity of exterminating the Jewish un-
history alive. They are records of venge-
vengeance for crimes against the Jews.
derworld in the same fashion in which in
ance. They show how peace-loving Jews kill
Among the most sensational was that of
this state of order we exterminate criminals
out of anguish, but are in remorse because
symon Petlura by Salomon Schwartzbard,
generally—by fire. and sword.' "
enemies of their people have forced them
On the morrow after the Crystal Night in Paris, March 25,- 1926.
to commit crimes.
Petlura was the general of the White
horrors there was a meeting of German
These are stories of history's anguish, but
armies in Russia. He was among the vilest
officials,- including Goering, Goebbels, in-
not of human remorse. Too much in human-
anti-Semites of the century. Under his com-
surance corn panics' representatives and
ity remains criminally-minded.
mand 493 pogroms were recorded.
others, and the beasts plotted both how to
The
horrors
perpetrated
by
Petlura
in
the
to
acquire
and
how
get rid of the .Jews
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Ukraine are described in their lurid details
their property. It was agreed that insur-
2—Friday,
August
30, 1974
by
Ludwig.
Ludwig
recorded,
in
part:
ance damage resulting from the clestruc-
Herschel Grynszpan