Ernst vom Rath

Ernst Eduard vom Rath , born the June 3rd 1909 and dead the November 9th 1938, was a German Diplomate whose assassination with Paris by Herschel Grynszpan served as a pretext for one night of violence against the German Juifs, called the Nuit of crystal.

Its studies

Vom Rath is born with Francfort-sur-le-Main, of a collaborator father of the prefect of Cologne. After secondary studies at the school of Breslau, studies the right to the university of Bonn, Munich and to finish with Königsberg. In 1932, after obtaining its license of right, it is allowed as trainee with the Court of Baillage de Zinter close to Königsberg. It makes another training course at the County court of Berlin. In 1934 it enters as attache to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to Berlin. In 1935, it makes a success of the entrance examination in the diplomatic career. It will spend one year as personal secretary of the ambassador Koester, his uncle. It will go back 6 months to Berlin then it is affected with the consulate-general of Germany with Calcutta where it will set out again about it for health reasons. In fact, he suffered from a rectal Gonorrhée , disease caused by homosexual reports/ratios. Once restored, it is affected in July 1938 with the embassy of Germany in France in the hotel of Beauharnais, located 78 rue de Lille.

The assassination

The 7 November 1938 towards 9:35, Herschel Grynszpan, remaining in Paris in his/her uncle, succeeds in entering the office of Vom Rath to the embassy and car 5 balls with a Révolver of gauges 6.35; two blows reach it. The reason called upon by Grynszpan to have killed vom Rath is revenge against ill treatments inflicted with its family by the Nazis and their expulsion in Poland. In the second time, at the time of its lawsuit it will advance another argument which always makes debate today.

The secretary vom Rath is taken along to the private clinic of Alma, located 166 rue de l'Université, with a street of the embassy. Hitler decides to send its personal doctor Karl Brandt and the professor of Munich Georg Magnus to its bedside and raises the secretary with the row of advising ambassade.
In the morning of the 8 they examine the patient thoroughly and publish the bulletin santé according to:

The state of Mister the Adviser of Embassy vom Rath is considered to be serious because of the wound at the entry of the estomac.
the considerable heavy bleeding due to the bursting of the Rate is compensated by transfusions. The excellent surgical and medical treatment exempted by the professor Baumgartner of Paris makes it possible to foresee a hope for the future.

November 9th around 3 p.m. vom Rath sinks in the coma; a little later one communiqué the ambassade is published:

Mr. vom Rath, which had been named by Führer Conseiller of embassy, succumbed to 16:30 with the wounds received during the attack of November 7th.

Three days later, a funerary ceremony takes place with the temple Lutheran of the street Blanche. The German ceremony proceeds in Rheinhalle of Düsseldorf. The room is entirely decorated with black draperies with Nazis flags. The ceremony proceeds in the presence of Hitler and of the Nazis dignitaries. Von Ribbentrop will make the funeral praise.

The death of vom Rath will be used at ends of propaganda anti-semite and will be the pretext at one night of violence against the German Jews, called the Nuit of crystal.

References

"The Night of Cristal" of Rita Thalmann and Emmanuel Feinermann, ED. Robert Laffont 1972
" Histoire" n°274 p18-19

External bonds

Auschwitz/Grynszpan
Newspaper " The Guardian"

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