On November 7, 1938, a Jewish teenager named Herschel Grynszpan walked into the German embassy in Paris, claiming to have a valuable secret document he wanted to give to the Nazis.
When diplomat Ernst vom Rath asked to see the document, Grynszpan pulled out a gun he had bought the day before and shot vom Rath, killing him instantly. The price tag was still hanging from the gun.
Grynszpan’s parents had been arrested by the Nazis just days before and sent to a Polish work camp, along with 12,000 other Jews. The young man wanted revenge, but he had no idea how his actions would lead to much bigger consequences.
Soon after, Hitler used the killing as a reason to launch the Kristallnacht attacks against Jewish people in Germany. This event is widely considered to be the beginning of the Holocaust.