Television Reviews : Execution Doesn’t Match Intent in PBS’ ‘Kristallnacht’

Kristallnacht--the Nazi-instigated episode of anti-Jewish terror and destruction in Germany and Austria that foreshadowed the Holocaust of World War II--deserves a worthy memorial. But the PBS documentary “Kristallnacht: Journey from 1938 to 1988” isn’t it. (The program airs tonight at 8 on Channel 50, at 9 on Channels 28 and 15 and at 10 on Channel 24.)

It was 50 years ago today that the Nazis used a Jewish youth’s murder of an obscure German embassy official in Paris as an excuse to destroy hundreds of German and Austrian synagogues, arrest thousands of Jews and vandalize countless Jewish businesses in a terrifying pogrom that came to be known as Crystal Night, or night of breaking glass.

Although anti-Jewish violence had been commonplace under the Nazis, persecutions had diminished, giving many German Jews a false sense of security. Crystal Night ended that.

Produced by Robert E. Frye and narrated by Eric Sevareid, tonight’s hour echoes the stolid documentary style of the much longer “Shoah” in reliving this event through the words of survivors and examining Jewish life in West Germany, East Germany and Austria and the attitudes of non-Jews there toward the Holocaust.

The execution doesn’t match the intent. Unlike the brilliant, landmark “Shoah,” which somehow transformed talking heads into chillingly vivid portraiture, the “Kristallnacht” program is mostly arid and static, so lacking in pace and structure that sitting through it becomes a challenge.

Although Sevareid was in Paris when the murder that sparked the anti-Jewish violence took place, he has little to contribute beyond his monotonal narration.