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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Twenty Minutes

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Eclectic arts magazine programme, exploring a range of fascinating subjects

Eclectic arts magazine programme, exploring a range of fascinating people, places and events

Twenty Minutes: Herschel Grynszpan, the Forgotten Assassin

Herschel Grynszpan, the Forgotten Assassin

01/08/2012

BBC Radio 3 - Twenty Minutes, Herschel Grynszpan, the Forgotten Assassin

The story of Herschel Grynszpan, whose actions provided the pretext for Kristallnacht.

The story of Herschel Grynszpan, whose murder of a Nazi diplomat in 1938 provided the excuse for Kristallnacht and whose fate inspired Tippett's oratorio A Child of Our Time.

Michael Tippett's oratorio A Child of Our Time was partly inspired by the story of Herschel Grynszpan, a young Polish-German Jew whose assassination of Nazi foreign service officer Ernst vom Rath in Paris on 7 November 1938 provided the excuse for the vicious pogrom that became known as Kristallnacht. 

Despite his key role, Grynszpan remains an obscure figure. He was taken into French custody and remained alive throughout much of the war, a prisoner in various Nazi institutions. But his ultimate fate is unknown. 

This feature tells the intriguing story of 17 year old Herschel Grynszpan and speculates on his fate, and on why his name has been largely forgotten by history.

Contributors: David Cesarani, Ron Roizen, Gerald Schwab and John Najam.

Readings by Susie Riddell, Joe Sims and Patrick Brennan. 

Produced by Emma Harding.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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