The Short, Strange Life of Herschel Grynszpan

The Short, Strange Life of Herschel Grynszpan - a book talk by author Jonathan Kirsch

In this latest book, best-selling author Jonathan Kirsch brings to light the wrenching story of Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old Jewish refugee, who, on the morning of November 7, 1938, walked into the German embassy in Paris and in an act of desperation assassinated Ernst vom Rath, a low-level Nazi diplomat. Two days later, vom Rath lay dead, and the Third Reich exploited his murder to inaugurate its long-planned campaign of terror against Germany’s Jewish citizens, in the mass pogrom that became known as Kristallnacht. Kirsch reexamines the historical details and moral dimensions of one of the most enigmatic cases of World War II. Was Grynszpan a crazed lone gunman, or was he an agent of the Gestapo, recruited to provide a convenient pretext for a major escalation of Nazi aggression? Was he motivated by a desire to strike a blow for the Jewish people as an early partisan fighter, or did his act of violence speak to an intimate connection between the assassin and his target, as Grynszpan later claimed? 

Jonathan Kirsch is the author of thirteen books, including eight books of history and biography, two novels and two books on publishing law. Kirsch’s books have been published in England, the Netherlands, Australia, Korea, Brazil, and elsewhere around the world.  He has contributed book reviews to the Los Angeles Times for more than 40 years, and now serves as book editor and book columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. He appears as a guest commentator on NPR affiliates KCRW-FM and KPCC-FM in Southern California, and serves on the adjunct faculty of New York University’s Professional Publishing Program.  Kirsch is an attorney specializing in intellectual property and publishing law, and in this capacity he serves as a legal counsel on a pro bono basis.  He is an Adjunct Professor on the faculty of New York University’s Professional Publishing Program.   (See Jonathan Kirsch’s website.)

For your convenience, a map to the event is provided.

Everyone is invited. but seating is limited. Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.