Reichstag Fire (1933)

Mon Feb 27, 1933

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Image: The Reichstag burning in February 1933. From the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration [Wikipedia]

On this day in 1933, the Reichstag was burned. Nazis blamed the arson on communists and arrested them en masse. Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was executed for the act, but some historians believe the burning may have been a false flag by the Nazis in order to consolidate their power.

The first report of the fire came shortly after 9:00 pm on February 27th, 1933. The police conducted a thorough search inside the building and found Van der Lubbe, who was arrested.

On February 28th, President Paul von Hindenburg issued the “Reichstag Fire Decree”, suspending civil liberties and beginning a widespread crackdown on communists. The Nazi-controlled police arrested leftists en masse, including all of the communist Reichstag delegates, severely crippling their participation in the elections the following week.

Van Der Lubbe, and four communist leaders were tried in the Leipzig Trial in September 1933. All except Van der Lubbe were acquitted, and the Dutch council communist was executed at the age of 24.

At the same time Nazis were using the fire as a pretext to suppress their political opponents, communists internationally were accusing Nazis of organizing the fire as a false flag operation. Historians remain divided on the issue, with some concluding that van der Lubbe acting alone and others believing that Nazis were responsible for the arson.

In July 2019, more than 80 years after the fire, an affidavit from Hans-Martin Lennings, a former member of a Nazi paramilitary, was discovered. The document stated that, the night of the fire, his unit had driven Van der Lubbe from an infirmary to the Reichstag and that the fire was ongoing when they arrived, indicating Van der Lubbe’s innocence and possible Nazi complicity.

In any case, the Reichstag Fire proved a pivotal event in the establishment of Nazi Germany, with Nazis winning the subsequent March elections after imprisoning and terrorizing their left opposition. The Reichstag Fire Decree paved the way for Nazi dictatorship, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.