Expanded Documentary on Kristallnacht Pretext Premieres on KAN 11
The two-part film revisits the 1938 assassination of Ernst vom Rath and the subsequent disappearance of Herschel Grynszpan.
By Lucia Herrera ·
A two-part expansion of the documentary Proud Jewish Boy begins airing on KAN 11 on November 7, with the second episode scheduled for November 9. The timing coincides with the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the pogrom that the Nazi regime used as a catalyst for the Holocaust.
The film, which won the Best Israeli Documentary Award at the Haifa International Film Festival last year, focuses on Herschel Grynszpan. Born in Hanover in 1921 to Polish Jewish parents who lacked German citizenship, Grynszpan lived in a legal limbo that became dangerous after the Nazis seized power. In October 1938, the German government expelled more than 17,000 Polish Jews to the border town of Zbaszyn, where Grynszpan’s parents were left in poor conditions.
While living illegally in Paris, the 17-year-old Grynszpan entered the German Embassy and shot Ernst vom Rath, a minor diplomat. Vom Rath died two days later. Grynszpan did not resist arrest, and the Nazi leadership quickly framed the act as evidence of an international Jewish conspiracy. The event served as the direct pretext for Kristallnacht.
Director Isri Halpern’s documentary investigates the aftermath of the shooting, specifically the fate of Grynszpan after France fell to the Nazis in 1940. The regime initially planned a high-profile show trial to cement Grynszpan’s role in antisemitic mythology. However, newly unearthed documents suggest that Grynszpan told German interrogators about a sexual relationship with vom Rath, a detail that would have embarrassed the regime during a public trial.
Consequently, the show trial was canceled. Grynszpan disappeared into the Nazi prison system, and his final fate remains unclear. Halpern noted in an interview that while the exact cause of death is unknown, the reasons people stopped asking are documented. The expanded version of the film provides additional detail on the decision to cancel the trial.
To visualize Grynszpan, for whom few photographs exist, Halpern commissioned illustrations from artists David Polonsky and Michael Faust. Both artists are known for their work on Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir and Gidi Dar’s Legend of Destruction.
Also beginning this week on YesVOD is American Hostage, an eight-episode miniseries starring Jon Hamm. The show is based on a true event in Indianapolis in 1977. Hamm plays Fred Heckman, a popular radio news director whose program is known for its local focus. The story centers on a hostage crisis where a man takes a mortgage officer captive using a dead man’s line device.
The crisis lasted 63 hours. The hostage-taker, Tony Kiritsis, requested to speak with Heckman on live radio, placing the broadcaster at the center of the event. The series explores the media's role in the incident and the risks involved in Heckman’s involvement. The cast also includes Giovanni Ribisi, Kristoffer Polaha, Adam Arkin, and Mireille Enos.
The series was co-created by Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers. It features a recreated 1970s newsroom setting. The incident has previously inspired a documentary called Dead Man’s Line, a scripted podcast, and a 2025 film directed by Gus Van Sant.
Netflix has also released A Couple of Lies, a series that follows two couples who swap houses for a vacation. One couple moves to a home in Sicily, while the other moves to an island near Stockholm. The plot involves a missing tourist and a mysterious neighbor. The show aims to replicate the suspenseful format of The White Lotus, which returns for its fourth season in early 2027.
