Statistics relating to Kristallnacht November 9-10, 1938
the Holocaust.
In August 1938, around 17,000 Jews of Polish descent became stranded at the Polish border when German authorities attempted to forcefully expel them from the country. Included among them was the Grynszpan family, who then wrote to their 17 year old son, Herschel, in Paris, asking him to send money. Four days after receiving the letter, on November 7, Herschel went into the German embassy in Paris and shot a diplomat by the name of Ernst vom Rath. Grynszpan was arrested immediately, and when Nazi leadership in Germany learned of the motive behind the attack they began imposing stricter sanctions on Jews. Two days later, vom Rath died of his wounds; when news of this reached Hitler's inner circle, Joseph Goebbels gave a speech heavily implying (but not directly ordering) that a nationwide pogrom should take place immediately. What followed is now considered a major turning point in the Nazi regime's treatment of Jews, and a precursor to