Violent Justice: How Three Assassins Fought to Free Europe's Jews [Hardcover]

Felix Imonti (Author), Miyoko Imonti (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994

The history of Europe's Jews is one of oppression and violent persecution. As vulnerable minority communities in the midst of suspicious, resentful, or hostile peoples, Jews developed the prevailing attitude that in their own defence the only recourse was to negotiate with those who threatened them. But occasionally this long-suffering spirit broke down, and isolated individuals lashed out in sudden violent eruptions against those who would persecute them. "Violent Justice" tells the stories of three such lone Jewish activists, who at different times and different places refused to be victims any longer and by political assassination sought to gain world attention to the plight of their people. In 1926, Samuel Schwartzbard, soldier and revolutionary, gunned down Simon Petliera, the leader of the independent Ukraine, for helping to kill thousands of Jews. In 1936, Yugoslav David Frankfurter show Wilhelm Gustloff, a Nazi leader in Switzerland, to short-circuit the growth of Nazi sympathisers. And in 1938, German-born Herschel Grynszpan willed Ernest von Rath, a German diplomat, to avenge the deaths of Polish Jews. Unlike more famous assassinations of noted political leaders, these acts of vengeance did not significantly alter the course of history. But they were among the first attempts to force the world to acknowledge Jewish persecution and to put an end to the history of slaughter. How the killings were carried out, the international response, and the surprising reaction of many Jews to the assessions make this one of the extraordinary, though lesser-known, chapters in history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The authors, Canadian freelance writers, here introduce three Jews who became assassins to dramatize Jewish persecution. In 1926 in Paris, Ukrainian-born Samuel Schwartzbard gunned down Simon Petliura, the anti-Semitic former leader of the Ukraine, during whose rule (1919-1921) between 50,000 and 100,000 Jews were murdered. Yugoslav David Frankfurter, in 1936, shot Wilhelm Gustloff, a Nazi leader in Switzerland, where sympathy for Hitler was growing. Herschel Grynszpan, a German, in 1938, assassinated a minor German diplomat in Paris. The first two men were acquitted by courts in France and Switzerland, respectively, while Grynszpan was most likely executed by the Vichy government. The authors, who do not address the problematic issue of "violent justice," express praise for these assassins, for each man surrendered himself voluntarily to the authorities.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 318 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; 1St Edition edition (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879759259
• ISBN-13: 978-0879759254
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,025,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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