1 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: Diversion audio. A note this episode contains descriptions of violence 2 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: that may be disturbing for some audiences. Please take care 3 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: in listening. This series is based on historical characters and 4 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: real events. Some dialogue has been imagined for dramatic purposes 5 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: when no primary source material is available. The guy standing 6 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: at the front desk claiming to be a spy looked 7 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: like a teenager. His hair was disheveled, his trench coat 8 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: was wrinkled and stained. He couldn't look the secretary in 9 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: the eye, but whenever she got a glimpse, she noted 10 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: how young he seemed to be. Still, he persisted, you 11 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: don't understand this is a matter of national security. I 12 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: need to speak to the ambassador. I have to know 13 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: your name and affiliation before I can. More people will 14 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: die if you sit on this any longer. Now, do 15 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: you want to help the Germans or do you want 16 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: to sit on your ass and read headlines about what 17 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: you let happened. The secretary couldn't help but be shaken 18 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: by the kid's intensity. She had signed up for the 19 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: job at the embassy in Paris to do paperwork and 20 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: schedule meetings, and now she was getting harassed by foreigners. 21 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: Just hold on a moment. Who is it you need? 22 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:45,759 Speaker 1: I told you the ambassador well more moment. The boy's 23 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: paranoia and anger grew as the secretary disappeared into a 24 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: back office. He gazed around the embassy, pressed suits, nice furniture. 25 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: Rage built inside of him as he looked at the 26 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: details of this other world. What infuriated him the most 27 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: was that it wasn't even considered luxury or excess. This 28 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: was considered normal, and he'd never been part of a 29 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: normal world. You may go in. His stomach growled as 30 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: he pushed forward. He hadn't eaten all day, and it 31 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: was getting harder and harder to focus. It's nice to yes. 32 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: Then reality began to set in. He was now standing 33 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: in the office of a German official. I ah, you, 34 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: what are you doing? Screaming? That's my secretary. They're busy here. 35 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:54,959 Speaker 1: I I have an important document for for the Nazis. 36 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: So I stricles a man with a lot of patients. 37 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: If you have something, give it to me and didn't 38 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: get out of here, you fifty bus in the name 39 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: of the twelve thousand tooth. Here's what I have for you. 40 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: This is a special episode of Good Assassins. Back in 41 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: episode one of this season, you remember I talked about 42 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: Crystal Knock, the violent uprising against German Jews in November 43 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: that historians regard as the opening to the eventual genocide 44 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: of six million European Jews and then millions of others 45 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: during World War Two. Today, we're delving into the story 46 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: of a young man who is somewhat lost to history, 47 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: but his story is right at the dead center of 48 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: the Holocaust. This young man became an assassin, and the 49 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: assassination he committed on November in Paris is the spark 50 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: that set off the inferno that was the Nazi Holocaust. 51 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: This man's name was Herschel grin Spot and he was 52 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: just seventeen years old. I'm Stephen Talty and from Diversion. 53 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 1: This is Good Assassin's Season two, episode ten, The Boy 54 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: who shot the Nazi. Life was never easy for the 55 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: grin Spond family. Parents, Sindel and Rivka, arrived in Hanover 56 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 1: in northern Germany in nineteen eleven from their native Poland, 57 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: hoping like many to make a better life for themselves. 58 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: Like many Jews who lived in the pale of settlement, 59 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,359 Speaker 1: the green Spawn family escaped the pogroms there to go 60 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: to what they thought was and indeed was a more 61 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: civilized place at the time in the early twentieth century, 62 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: to Germany. That's Joseph Matthews, the author of an historical 63 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: novel about Herschel grin Spawn called Everyone Has Their Reasons, 64 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: who spent a decade researching Grinspon's life. So the Grinspond 65 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: family arrived in Hanover, they were considered not just second 66 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: class citizens because they were Jews, but third class citizens 67 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:48,720 Speaker 1: because they were Eastern Jews, not German Jews. They were 68 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 1: Polish Jews, fairly observant, and they immediately faced the hostility 69 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: of Western Europe. Jews from the East, spoke Yiddish and 70 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: often faced difficulty assimilating into German culture. Still, Zindel and 71 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: Rivka made a family. Of the six children they had, 72 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: only three of them managed to survive childhood, esther Mordechai, 73 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: and their youngest born in Herschel. From an early age, 74 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: Herschel was different from the rest of his family. He 75 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: was passionate, emotional, artistic, and seemed to have a deep 76 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: respect for his orthodox religious beliefs, but these were treated 77 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: as quirks, especially by anti Semites, and Herschel wasn't wont 78 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: to step down from a fight. He reacted to insults 79 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,360 Speaker 1: with his fists, and he was apparently prone to schoolyard 80 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: tussles and sometimes violent outbursts, much to the chagrin of 81 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: his parents. Prougrin Star. He has given Herschel multiple opportunities 82 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: to better himself at school. Still he seems to insist 83 00:06:55,040 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: on solving all his problems myth violence. I'm afraid he 84 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: can do no more for him. Good luck to you. This, 85 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: of course, was just one side of the story. Herschel 86 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: was facing fervid anti Semitism in school. At a certain 87 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: point in Herschel's schooling, Jews were moved to separate painted 88 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: yellow benches in the schoolrooms author Joseph Matthews. Again, they 89 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: weren't asked any questions by the teachers, they weren't allowed 90 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: to speak school. You know, the other children began to 91 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: violently beat Jewish kids. School became, you know, a place 92 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: that was insufferable, and Herschel left at age fourteen. There 93 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: was just no point in continuing. While Herschel dropped out 94 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: of school at the age of fourteen, he wasn't unintelligent 95 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: or unsocial. Herschel was a decent student, nothing special, very 96 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: bright young guy. His parents sent him to Paris to 97 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: live with his aunt and uncle and hopefully make a 98 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: better life for himself, and the family understood that there 99 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: was no future for Herschel in Germany. As you can imagine, 100 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: it was a wrenching, horrible decision for the family to make, 101 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: because they probably knew very well they'd never see Herschel again. 102 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: Herschel grew insular in Paris, living among Yiddish speaking Polish 103 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: Orthodox Jews and learning almost no French. He didn't return 104 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: to school, he couldn't work legally, and instead opted for 105 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: a life spent on the streets where he mostly kept 106 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: to himself, wandering Paris and sneaking into movie houses. He 107 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: apparently tried repeatedly to apply for French citizenship, who was 108 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: continually denied, and became what the French called a clandestine 109 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,960 Speaker 1: and a legal resident and in danger of being expelled 110 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: at any time. They and because he had a Polish passport, 111 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: he would be deported to Poland, where he knew no 112 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: one and he didn't speak Polish, so he had to 113 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,680 Speaker 1: keep his head under the firing line, and his uncle 114 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: and Herschel continue to try to get papers regularizing his 115 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: stay so that he could live there legally and work, 116 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: and every at every step they were turned down. He 117 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:28,320 Speaker 1: didn't have training, he didn't have money. He you know, 118 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: his aunt and uncle couldn't put up sufficient support for him. 119 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: He did, however, remain religiously devout and proud of his 120 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: Jewish heritage. But in discrimination against Jews was ramping up. 121 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: The Nazis already in the mid thirties into ninety eight, 122 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: we're coming up with all kinds of laws to exclude 123 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: Jews from public and private life, to force Jews to 124 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: leave Germany. They could to create a Jew free space 125 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: in Germany in all different kinds of ways. A census 126 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: taken in nineteen thirty three noted that over fifty seven 127 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: percent of Jews living in Germany were Polish, a figure 128 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: assumed to have grown by the Nazi Party took the 129 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: increasing number of Eastern European Jews and fanned the flames 130 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 1: of anti Semitism, erroneously claiming that they were being invaded 131 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: by this new populace and culturally replaced. Thousands of Jews 132 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: fled to surrounding countries. In response to the influx of 133 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:39,839 Speaker 1: Jews coming back to Poland, the Polish government passed a 134 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: law in October requiring Polish citizens living outside the country 135 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: to get an endorsement stamp on their passports by the 136 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: end of the month, or they'd have their citizenship revoked. 137 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: It was an absurd declaration with an impossible deadline, and 138 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: it left nearly seventy thousand Polish Jews in Germany without citizenship. 139 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,199 Speaker 1: They became a people with no country, no rights, and 140 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 1: almost no prospects. So now people like the green Spawn 141 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: family were caught in this no man's land, which said, well, 142 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:28,959 Speaker 1: the Germans are going to expel you, but the Poles 143 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 1: refused to accept you. What's going to happen And what 144 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:40,199 Speaker 1: happened in late October of Polish passport holding Jews in Germany, 145 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:44,440 Speaker 1: including all of Herschel's family, were rounded up in the 146 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,840 Speaker 1: middle of the night, put on box cars and shipped 147 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: to the Polish border, where they were dumped unceremoniously onto 148 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: the border. On October, Nazis invaded the homes at Bis 149 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: This is of thousands of these Jews from the East, 150 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: stripped them of their possessions, homes and money, and forced 151 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: some twelve thousand aboard trains headed to Poland. When the 152 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: deportees arrived in Poland, some were allowed back into their country, 153 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: but the vast majority were rejected at the border for 154 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: not having the passport staff that protected their native citizenship. 155 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: These Polish Jews without a country were relegated to homeless 156 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: camps along the border, where poor conditions, cold weather, and 157 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 1: a lack of food dwindled their numbers. And among the 158 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: Jews that were deported to this nomad's land the family 159 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 1: of Herschel grin Spond. More than twenty years later, at 160 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: the trial of Adolf eichman In, Herschel's father, Zendel grinch 161 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 1: Spond described the Polish Jews forced deportation by the Nazis. 162 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: The ss men used whips to hurry us across fields 163 00:12:55,640 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: to the Polish frontier line. Those who founded stuck, blood 164 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: spurred it, Bundles were grabbed from people's hands. M Herschel 165 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: received a postcard from his sister on November three and 166 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: learned of his family's faith. She begged him to help. 167 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 1: So you wanted to help his family, and you wanted 168 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 1: to send money and you had a big argument with 169 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: his uncle who said, don't send money because the German 170 00:13:55,960 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: well pocketed, and of course he was right. That's our 171 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,079 Speaker 1: man Furor, a journalist and historian who published a biography 172 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 1: of greensponn in Germany in two thousand thirteen. But haswanta 173 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: to do something, you know, so we wanted to set 174 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: an example against the Nazis. Grinch Bond was outraged at 175 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: how Germany and Poland were treating Jews, and he was desperate. 176 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: He decided he'd take justice into his own hands. We'll 177 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: hear how this goes horribly wrong after the break. Hi, 178 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: this is Stephen Talty, host of Good Assassins. The folks 179 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: that helped me bring you this show have just launched 180 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: another podcast that we think you'll like. It's called War Queens. 181 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: Every episode of War Queens tells the story of a fearless, 182 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: powerful female leader from history from Elizabeth Tudor and Golden 183 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: my Years, high stakes wartime gambles. Twain Goola is Queen 184 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:05,760 Speaker 1: Najinga's willingness to shed and occasionally drink blood to defend 185 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: her kingdom, to endear Gandhi's war, to solve a refugee crisis, 186 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: and so many more. These are super engrossing stories told 187 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: by expert historians in a way that's accessible and interesting. 188 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: It's great listening. Every episode of War Queens brings you 189 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: the stories of extraordinary leaders, all of them legends. War 190 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 1: Queens is out now. Follow the show on Apple Podcasts, 191 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, and wherever you listen to podcasts. 192 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: After hearing about the deportation of his family from Germany, 193 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: Herschel grinch Bond became hyper focused on revenge. Assassination he 194 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: believed would be the only appropriate method of enacting justice. 195 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,800 Speaker 1: The question then became who would be the target. There 196 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: were some obvious choice is. Adolf Hitler would have been 197 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: the optimal selection, but he was too powerful and locked 198 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 1: behind the Nazi Party's highgates in Germany. Then there was 199 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: Joseph Gebel's, the chief propagandist for the Nazis, who sat 200 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: at Hitler's right hand. But do you imagined Gebel's was 201 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: also fiercely protected in a country away, Herschel needed a 202 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: closer target there in Paris. He settled on Johannes van Belchik, 203 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: the German ambassador to France. He would be accessible in 204 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: his Paris office, and his death would be consequential enough 205 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: to attract the attention to the plight of the Jews 206 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: that Herschel desired. Belichick was everything Herschel needed in a target, 207 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: a rich Nazi from an aristocratic family. The two couldn't 208 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: have been more opposite. I'd like to buy a gun. 209 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,840 Speaker 1: On November seven, nine thirty eight, just over a week 210 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,879 Speaker 1: after his family had been deported from Hanover by the Nazis, 211 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: Herschel Grinshpond purchased a revolver from a Paris gun shop 212 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: and took the train to the embassy. On the ride over, 213 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,400 Speaker 1: he wrote a postcard saying goodbye to his parents, assuming 214 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: that after the assassination he'd be quickly executed by the Nazis. 215 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 1: With God's help, my dear parents, I could not do otherwise. 216 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: May God forgive me the heart bleeds when I hear 217 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:42,240 Speaker 1: of your tragedy and that of the twelve Jews. I 218 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: must protest, so that the whole world here's my protest, 219 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: and that I will do forgive me. He was never 220 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: able to send it, as he placed it in his 221 00:17:54,520 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: pocket right before entering the embassy. Upon entering, grinch Band 222 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,680 Speaker 1: realized a major problem. He had no idea what Johannes 223 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: von Belichick looked like. Flustered, he approached the Secretary's desk 224 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: and mumbled that he needed to see the ambassador immediately. 225 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: He claimed to be a spy with intel that would 226 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: help the Germans, but when pressed, he couldn't offer any 227 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:29,919 Speaker 1: details to what does the information PERTAINE? I cannot say 228 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 1: who is in danger. I just need to speak to 229 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: the ambassador. M Eventually, the secretary buckled to his demands, 230 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,199 Speaker 1: but Belichick had already left the office that morning for 231 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 1: his daily walk. She instead passed grinchbonn off to a 232 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: junior officer, Ernst Bombade, an ex paramilitary soldier in the 233 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 1: Nazi Army who now worked at the embassy. It's believed 234 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:04,399 Speaker 1: that grinch Bond did not know who he was assassinating. You, 235 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 1: filthy bus in the name of the twelve thousand jo, 236 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: Here's what I have for you. Grinch Bond didn't put 237 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 1: up a fight after the shooting. He was taken into 238 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,199 Speaker 1: custody by the French police and spent two years in 239 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: prison while his trial was subject to review. But while 240 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: the cogs of the court system turned slowly for grinch Bond, 241 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,479 Speaker 1: The Nazis quickly leapt at this new opportunity to incite 242 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: violence against the Jews. The German official grinch Bond, had 243 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:45,439 Speaker 1: shot died two days after the attack. Nazi propagandist Joseph 244 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:49,440 Speaker 1: Gebel's wasted no time. Fanning the planes of Rod's assassination. 245 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 1: He made inflammatory speeches, leveraging grinch Bond to quote demonstrate 246 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,679 Speaker 1: why every Jewish Man, woman and child in the world 247 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,080 Speaker 1: was a deadly enemy of the Third Reich unquote, and 248 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 1: called on German citizens to take back their country against 249 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: what he referred to as the Jewish problem. When news 250 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: of Rod's murder reached Germany, the Nazis revolted violently against 251 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: Jews residing in the country. Hours after Rod's death, they 252 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,919 Speaker 1: formed up a grome that grew in size and power 253 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: and swept through German streets and obliterated Jewish homes and 254 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:36,919 Speaker 1: businesses with arson and gunfire. It was an unstoppable blood 255 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: bath and the first major defining outbursts of mass violence 256 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: against the Jews. In the period from November nine to 257 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: November ten, Crystal knocked left bodies strewn in the streets. 258 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: Nearly thirty thousand Jewish Men were ripped from their families 259 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 1: and deported to concentration camps. Almost a hundred were violently murdered, 260 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: some in their synagogues. German police and fire fighters were 261 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,359 Speaker 1: ordered not to engage in any rescue attempts. The Jewish 262 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: parts of the country were meant to be burned to ash. 263 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: They took everything out they could. They started making fires 264 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 1: in the synagogues and the next day they came and 265 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: they took all the community, well known people. They had 266 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 1: a clean up that would put signs on them jew 267 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: and would put on all the stores signs on that 268 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: nobody was of leuten uh judicious a chef, that nobody 269 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: should come in and buy anything or do any business restricts. 270 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: That's Herman Kompinski, a Holocaust survivor and former president of 271 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: the Society of the Survivors of the Riga Ghetto, a 272 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:52,359 Speaker 1: predominantly German Jewish group. Reflecting on his own experience of 273 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: Crystal Knockt, Kompinski empathizes with greenspond after experiencing severe anti 274 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:05,240 Speaker 1: Semitism his own childhood. He was also outraged as parents 275 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,639 Speaker 1: have been deported from Hanofa. I believe it's like you 276 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,879 Speaker 1: like me, and I could understand. If I would have 277 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: lived in Palace, maybe I would have shot the whole embassy, 278 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,399 Speaker 1: even at the age of ten years. But I was 279 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,440 Speaker 1: too young, and I think I didn't have the college 280 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,479 Speaker 1: or the paper thing. The Nazis had succeeded in turning 281 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: the country completely against the Jewish people, and they had 282 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 1: used Herschel grinche Bond to do it. Americans are and 283 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 1: should be indignant at the caramel out break of Jewish 284 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: persecution in Germany and the drive against Christian faiths as well. 285 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: It represented our breakup rural intolerance, which has no parallel 286 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 1: in modern history except possibly the destruction of religious worship 287 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:57,399 Speaker 1: in Russia by the Boatman. While American leaders condemned the 288 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,040 Speaker 1: violence at the hands of the Nazis, they feared major engagement. 289 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 1: The United States immigration laws at the time strictly barred 290 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:08,640 Speaker 1: masses of German and Polish Jews from coming into the country. 291 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: It seemed as though all American leaders were willing to 292 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: offer with sympathy. Yeah. Meanwhile, grinch Bond was held in 293 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,880 Speaker 1: French custody for more than a year, but was eventually 294 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: turned over to the Nazis directly in While he waited 295 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: behind bars. He tried to get a read on what 296 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: the Nazis planned to do in his trial. Joseph Gebbels 297 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 1: was hoping to use the teenager as a perpetual symbol 298 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: for his quote Jewish problem. A high profile trial could 299 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 1: result in dozens of crystal knocks, and that seemed to 300 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:55,199 Speaker 1: be exactly what Hitler wanted. The dryer was supposed to 301 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: start exactly at the time when the first German extermination 302 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: camps and in Poland where being big. So the trial 303 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: was intended to justify this extermination of millions of Jews. 304 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: So it was very important for the Nazis and for 305 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: the Nazi proper gun enowl. He was of govins Armid 306 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: Purer again, the German journalist and historian. Yeah, but Hasher 307 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,359 Speaker 1: was a very tough and smart guy. I mean he 308 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: was eight, but he was a very smart guy. He 309 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: recognized this plan and he destroyed it with a trick. 310 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 1: Gritchpan claimed that arms arm Rod was secretly a gay 311 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,879 Speaker 1: man and the murder was the result of a lover's quarrel. Well, 312 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: when this news got back to Gebel's and to Hitler, 313 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: they blewe refused. That's Joseph Matthews again, the author, even 314 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 1: if they could show that this wasn't true factually, just 315 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: having it raised in international trial that this guy varm Wrath, 316 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,919 Speaker 1: when they had turned into a hero of Germany, was 317 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,880 Speaker 1: gay and had a gay relationship with a miner who 318 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:12,199 Speaker 1: was a Jew, well, you know, this was incredible, and 319 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 1: Herschel actually brought the entire German propaganda machine to a 320 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: screeching halt following grinch Bond's claim in prison, the Nazis 321 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: not wanting their martyr labeled as a homosexual. The Nazis 322 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 1: abhorred homosexuality and violently persecuted gay people. Ultimately decided against 323 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 1: a trial. Grinchmond was shipped off to a concentration camp 324 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 1: where he was summarily executed. At least that's what most 325 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 1: people believed for more than seventy years. But in two 326 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: thousand sixteen, our men furor the German journalists we spoke to, 327 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 1: made an amazing discovery. I'll tell you about it after 328 00:25:54,880 --> 00:26:09,680 Speaker 1: the break. Ultimately, there are many things we don't know 329 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: about Herschel grinch Spond. No one can say for certain 330 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,280 Speaker 1: if the claims about vom Rot and some kind of 331 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:19,440 Speaker 1: relationship prior to the assassination were based in fact, or 332 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: if this was just a fabrication invented to protect the 333 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: teenager in court. While most historians believe that Greenspond wasn't gay, 334 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:29,879 Speaker 1: some reports at the time of bomb Rod's death do 335 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: seem to allude to his sexual orientation prior to when 336 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 1: grins Bond made his defense, but these have been hired 337 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:40,679 Speaker 1: to authenticate. Intriguingly, there's a longstanding mystery as to what 338 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 1: happened to grinch Bond once he was sent off to 339 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: the camps. For decades, most believed he was another victim, 340 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: one among the six million murdered by the Nazis, but 341 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: there were always rumors in the fifties sixties uh that 342 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: he survived and lifted the Peris or lifted in Edinburgh, 343 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: but there was never any proof of it. Throughout the 344 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: post war years, eyewitnesses continue to make claims of Herschel 345 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:10,760 Speaker 1: grinch Bonds sightings in France, in Israel, even in Germany. 346 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:14,919 Speaker 1: None of these claims were ever substantiated, and eventually, in 347 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty greens Bond was declared legally dead. Popular consensus 348 00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: settled on his likely execution in ninety two at the 349 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: hands of the s S. The last official confirmation of 350 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:38,640 Speaker 1: his existence until almost seventy years later in May sixteen, 351 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: that was invited to give a lecture an Hashort in 352 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: Vienna again arm in Fur. And after this lecture a 353 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 1: woman approached me. My name was the Stop Polkish, and 354 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: she was the director of the archive of the Jewish 355 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: Museum in Vienna, and she was very interested in this 356 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: Hashort story. And she had read many books I was 357 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 1: thinking more than me. But she saw that they were 358 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: all bad because most of them didn't work with documents, 359 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 1: which is true, and they copied from each other. So 360 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: she said, the first book that convinced her was my book, 361 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: because I used thousands of documents and I found, for example, 362 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,160 Speaker 1: in in Unique, I found four thousand pages of new 363 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: documents that were completely unknown until then. And so she 364 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: asked me what do you can Can you come tomorrow 365 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,920 Speaker 1: to my office and I said okay, and I went 366 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 1: there the next day and she showed me a photo 367 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 1: without any comments. I immediately explained, oh my god, this 368 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 1: is Harshal, this is hactual Gridge span and she said, yes, 369 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 1: I think too. So this photograph Armed Feurer finds in 370 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: two thousand sixteen is taken after the war, and it 371 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: seems to show grin Span demonstrating with other Holocaust survivors 372 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,840 Speaker 1: against being barred from emigrating to Palestine, which would fit 373 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: what we know of grinch Bond. The photo, taking in 374 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: when he would have been twenty four, has been the 375 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 1: subject of debate among historians, with some claiming the similarities 376 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: between the man and the photo and grinch Bond are 377 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: too great to ignore and some seeing only a passing resemblance. Purer, though, 378 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: is completely convinced. I really I don't have any adults 379 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: that treative, Purer says. The photograph confirms something that took 380 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: place during a trial in nineteen sixty when vom Rat's 381 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: family suited. Journalists would accuse the diplomat of being gay. 382 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:43,479 Speaker 1: During the trial, and Writtness claimed that Hasherd was alive 383 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: in one and that he could also appear in the 384 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: court room. He also said he saw a photograph, and 385 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: he described the exact photograph found in the photographs election. 386 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,720 Speaker 1: At the time of the photos discovery, the Alreadian wrote 387 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,400 Speaker 1: a face recognition test on the photograph, taken on July 388 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: three in a camp for displaced persons in Bamberg, Southern 389 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: Germany returned a nine likelihood, considered the highest possible match. 390 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 1: But that being said Joseph Matthews, who has also researched 391 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: the subject extensively, doesn't put stock in the photo. I 392 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,320 Speaker 1: don't make much of it. The idea that Herschel survived 393 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: the war and never got in touch with his family 394 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 1: seems utterly absurd given what we know of how much 395 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 1: Herschel was dedicated to his family. And secondly, there was 396 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 1: no evidence after about nine two or forty three of 397 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,600 Speaker 1: Herschel's continued existence, so we don't have any records, and 398 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: remember the Nazis were meticulous record keepers that he survived. 399 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 1: The picture was taken in a relocation camp in southern Germany, 400 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: which is a place he was never imprisoned anywhere near there, 401 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:10,480 Speaker 1: so the idea that he somehow was relocated there doesn't 402 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: make any sense. And finally, this matching of the photographs, 403 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,719 Speaker 1: all they had were newspaper photos from when he was 404 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:22,320 Speaker 1: sixteen years old seventeen years old to compare with a 405 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:26,479 Speaker 1: grainy photograph of a guy in a relocation camp. This 406 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: is not like comparing high resolution photography, where facial recognition 407 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:36,040 Speaker 1: has a much higher degree of accuracy. So, you know, 408 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:40,000 Speaker 1: for so many reasons, it's just and the story quickly faded. 409 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: None of the historical serious historians of Herschel's story um 410 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:49,560 Speaker 1: took it seriously. When we spoke with armand Furrer, we 411 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:53,760 Speaker 1: explained Matthew's point of view. Fur though remained steadfast in 412 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 1: his belief that the photo was indeed of Herschel. Grin 413 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: spond that that maybe some angry Jews would kill him 414 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: because some of them, many of them, thought that he 415 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 1: was responsible for the whole of course, but of course nonsense. 416 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: But many many Jews people said so. In other words, 417 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:20,720 Speaker 1: Grinchman might have stayed away because he didn't want to 418 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:24,120 Speaker 1: endanger his family, or perhaps he did make contact with 419 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,840 Speaker 1: his family and they kept a secret in order to 420 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 1: protect him. In any case, Matthew's infurior agree on one thing. 421 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: To be absolutely certain that Herschel survived the war, we 422 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: need more evidence, and for for I don't know. If 423 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: we do not find any other stuff which tell us 424 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,800 Speaker 1: that hasn't really really survived, we can't say for one, 425 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,200 Speaker 1: you know, so whether Grinchmond did indeed survive the war 426 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: or perish in a concentration camp or somewhere else is 427 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:05,680 Speaker 1: still unknown, but more importantly, Herschel grinch Bond's place in 428 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:08,719 Speaker 1: history will also continue to be a topic of debate. 429 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: Some have unfairly placed the blame of the Holocaust squarely 430 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,720 Speaker 1: on his seventeen year old shoulders, while others believe his 431 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 1: actions were justified and that he was a young freedom 432 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 1: fighter of the highest degree. The Nazis were always planning 433 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:27,680 Speaker 1: an extermination of those they deemed undesirable, and grinch Bond 434 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: is one of many who stood up to the threat 435 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,480 Speaker 1: of the Third Reich. It's simple to make grinch Bond 436 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:37,040 Speaker 1: a scapegoade for the evils of the Holocaust, a misguided 437 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:42,040 Speaker 1: way to compact a horrendous genocide into a neat, digestible timeline. 438 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,800 Speaker 1: As Hannah A. Rent once wrote on the conditions of tyranny, 439 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: it is far easier to act than to think. But 440 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:52,920 Speaker 1: I like to think that this young man was instead 441 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,560 Speaker 1: a desperate hero, acting in the only way he knew how, 442 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: fighting the enemy he saw so clearly in front of him, 443 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 1: and refusing to bend to the whims of racism of fascism. 444 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: Jonathan Kirsch is the author of The Short Strange Life 445 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 1: of Herschel Grins bond, a boy avenger, a Nazi diplomat, 446 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: and a murder in Paris. Kersch explained in an interview 447 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,840 Speaker 1: with the Los Angeles Review of Books that Herschel carried 448 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:24,280 Speaker 1: out the first act of armed Jewish resistance against Nazi 449 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 1: Germany under remarkable circumstances that really entitle him to be 450 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:33,319 Speaker 1: regarded as a hero. And yet he has really been 451 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: written out of history and his acts of heroism have 452 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 1: been suppressed. Herschel Grinspond's story is a reminder of every 453 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:45,479 Speaker 1: individual's place in this world. One day he was living 454 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,920 Speaker 1: on the fringes of Paris, a cast away from society, 455 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,839 Speaker 1: with no nation to call home, and the next day 456 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 1: he was making headlines that change the course of history. 457 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: And then I also try to grapple with some of 458 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,719 Speaker 1: the larger issue shows, the most uncomfortable and awkward of 459 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:08,000 Speaker 1: which is uh with so much emphasis placed on finding 460 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 1: evidence of Jewish resistance, of answering the question why did 461 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,760 Speaker 1: so many Jews seemed to go so passively to their deaths. 462 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:21,359 Speaker 1: Why was this young man who didn't go passively, who 463 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:25,080 Speaker 1: was willing to fight back, Why was he overlooked in 464 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:31,680 Speaker 1: the history of resistance to the Holocaust. It's fascinating to 465 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:34,640 Speaker 1: think of the ripple effects of our actions, both big 466 00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 1: and small, and how quickly one life can be thrown 467 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 1: into the limelight, where their humanity has suddenly taken on 468 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:45,719 Speaker 1: a new enormous form. While we may never know what 469 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:49,720 Speaker 1: really happened to Herschel Greenspond he etched his name into history, 470 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:53,840 Speaker 1: a seventeen year old assassin who took justice into his 471 00:35:53,880 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: own hands and became the pond of an international war machine. 472 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,920 Speaker 1: If you have questions for us about Good Assassins or 473 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:18,600 Speaker 1: any comment on the podcast, we'd love to hear from you. 474 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:24,399 Speaker 1: Please email us at Good Assassins at Diversion Audio dot com. 475 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:28,839 Speaker 1: Make sure you spell assassins correctly. Again, that's good Assassins 476 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 1: at Diversion Audio dot com. We'll try to answer your 477 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 1: questions on a future episode. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, 478 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:41,800 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Diversion Pods. Good Assassins is a production 479 00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:46,319 Speaker 1: of Diversion Audio in association with I Heart Podcasts. This 480 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:50,280 Speaker 1: season is hosted by Stephen Talty and written by Cede Carpenter, 481 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,840 Speaker 1: Produced and directed by Kevin Thompson for Real Jet Packs Productions. 482 00:36:55,680 --> 00:37:00,560 Speaker 1: Story editing by Jacob Bronstein, with editorial direction from Scott Waxman. 483 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:05,879 Speaker 1: Additional research and reporting by Sophie McNulty. Theme music by 484 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: Tyler Cash, featuring the voices of Nicola Esquerdo, Raphael Corkill, 485 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:17,799 Speaker 1: Lenna Klingerman, Brandon mckinness, John Pirkas, Andrew polk Or, Locassidy 486 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: Mono Felciano, Sean Gormley, and Steve Rautman. Sound design, mixing 487 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:28,880 Speaker 1: and mastering by Paul Goodrich, Sound editing by Justin Kilpatrick. 488 00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:34,360 Speaker 1: Executive producers Jacob Bronstein, Mark Francis and Scott Waxman for 489 00:37:34,480 --> 00:38:02,000 Speaker 1: Diversion Audio Diversion Audio S