After the assassination attempt on the German Legation Secretary Ernst Eduard vom Rath and the November pogroms in 1938, Hermann Göring demanded a contribution payment of one billion Reichsmark (RM) as "atonement" for "the hostile attitude of Judaism towards the German people". The decree of 12 November 1938 on the expiation of Jews of German nationality (RGBl. I p. 1579) was signed by Hermann Göring, who had been granted a general power of attorney in 1936 to issue ordinances.