-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,583700,00.html
}}}>Begin
Did gay affair provide a catalyst for Kristallnacht?
Historian says Jewish boy killed his Nazi lover
Kate Connolly
Wednesday October 31, 2001
The Guardian
The assassination of a top German diplomat which triggered
Kristallnacht, the organised Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany,
was not politically-motivated, as commonly believed, but the result
of a homosexual love affair between a Nazi diplomat and a young
Jewish man, according to a leading expert on the Third Reich.
Hans-J�rgen D�scher, considered Germany's foremost authority on the
events of November 9 1938 following the publication last year of his
definitive history, Reichskristallnacht, has gathered scores of
documents and eyewitness accounts, including the diaries of the
French writer Andr� Gide, to support the theory.
On November 7 1938, Herschel Grynszpan, a Jew, walked into the German
embassy in Paris and shot Ernst vom Rath, a German diplomat, five
times. Vom Rath died two days later. Nazi propagandists condemned the
shooting as a terrorist attack to further the cause of the Jewish
"world revolution", and the pogrom was launched.
The attacks - called Kristallnacht (crystal night), an ironic reference to the broken
glass left on the streets - led to the murder of 91 Jews, the arrests of 26,000 others
and the destruction of 177 synagogues.
Until now, it was widely believed that Grynszpan had intended to shoot the ambassador,
Count Johannes Welczek, in protest at the SS's expulsion of his parents to Poland. But
according to Professor D�scher, who teaches mod
ern history at Osnabr�ck University, Grynszpan's actions were a spontaneous expression
of anger over the broken promises of his lover, Vom Rath, not a political gesture.
In the updated edition of Reichskristallnacht, due to be published in November, Prof
D�scher claims that Vom Rath was nicknamed Mrs Ambassador and Notre Dame de Paris as a
result of his homosexual antics. He and Grynszpan
- a "boy with a beautiful penetrative gaze" - met in Le Boeuf sur le Toit bar, a
popular haunt for gay men in the autumn of 1938 and became intimate.
Grynszpan, who was in his late teens, had been living illegally in Paris, and Prof
D�scher states that 29-year-old Vom Rath agreed to use his influential position to
secure official papers for his friend.
When Vom Rath went back on his word, Grynszpan reacted by storming into the German
embassy on rue de Lille 78, demanding to see him, and opening fire on him with a
revolver.
Grynszpan was arrested and languished in jail in France until 1940, when he was handed
over to the Nazis, who planned a show trial which would be used to justify the
outbreak of the second world war.
A combined report from the German foreign, justice and propaganda ministries in
January 1942 declared: "The purpose of the trial should be to clarify to the German
people and the world that the international community of
Jews is to blame for the outbreak of this war."
According to Prof D�scher, when Grynszpan learned of this motivation for the trial in
the early 40s, he revealed the real truth to his Nazi captors. Fearing embarrassment
and humiliation, they then stripped Vom Rath of hi
s martyrdom and scrapped their plans.
Grynszpan was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp and then disappeared. He was
declared dead in 1960.
Prof D�scher gleaned his previously unpublished evidence from court
archives, reports from the propaganda ministry, letters, diary
extracts, and interviews with diplomats of the time. Most startling
are the diaries of Gide, in which the writer expresses his amazement
that the scandal failed to gain public attention. Vom Rath, Gide
wrote, "had an exceptionally intimate relationship with the little
Jew, his murderer".
Referring to the fact that Vom Rath was both gay and had an affair
with a Jew, Gide later said: "The thought that a such highly-thought
of representative of the Third Reich sinned twice according to the
laws of his country is rather amusing."
But that was not what amazed him most. "How is it that the press
failed to bring this scandal into the open?" he asked.
Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001
End<{{{
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not
believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not
believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men.
Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller,
German Writer (1759-1805)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut."
--- Ernest Hemingway
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
