Na‘ar Jehudi Ge’eh (Proud Jewish Boy)

On November 7, 1938, seventeen-year-old Herschel Grynszpan shot and killed the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris. This served as a pretext for the Nazi leadership to organize and carry out a bloody, nationwide pogrom across Germany and Austria. Drawing on meticulously researched archival materials and interviews with family members, the film traces Herschel’s life—from his birth and upbringing in poverty to the assassination, his subsequent arrest, and the propaganda trial that never took place. The film examines rumors regarding a potential homosexual connection, challenges historical myths, and concludes that Herschel may well have survived the Shoah. It is the first film based on comprehensive factual evidence about a proud young Jewish man named Herschel. (Frank Stern)