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On This Day: Arsonist Torches the Reichstag
February 27, 2009 06:00 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
On Feb. 27, 1933, an arson fire gutted the German Parliament, creating a climate of fear that helped Adolph Hitler seize power.
Hitler Takes Control After Fire
Marinus van der Lubbe set fire to the Reichstag on the night of Feb. 27. The blaze devastated the Parliament chamber, ruining “its great dome of gilded copper and glass,” Time magazine reported.
As a result, Ven der Lubbe, a Dutch Communist, was an unwitting ally in Chancellor Adolph Hitler’s rise to power.
Nazi storm troopers under Hermann Göring had befriended the arsonist and may have encouraged him to burn the Reichstag that night, or even helped to set and spread the fire.
While watching the blaze, Hitler told a reporter, “You are now witnessing the beginning of a great epoch in German history ... This fire is the beginning.”
Hitler launched a campaign accusing Communists of planning to wage civil war, poison food and burn granaries. A fearful public viewed Hitler as a protector, and President Paul von Hindenburg granted him special emergency powers.
Hitler unleashed his troopers, who tortured and killed Communists, Social Democrats and liberals throughout Berlin. Opposition to the Nazi party was quelled.
With the Weimar Republic crumbling, an election was held on March 5 to lend a gloss of validity to the Nazi party’s aims. Hitler won a majority and continued to consolidate power.
By the time von Hindenburg died in August 1934, Hitler had combined the roles of Fuhrer and Chancellor, putting “all the powers of State in his hands."
As a result, Ven der Lubbe, a Dutch Communist, was an unwitting ally in Chancellor Adolph Hitler’s rise to power.
Nazi storm troopers under Hermann Göring had befriended the arsonist and may have encouraged him to burn the Reichstag that night, or even helped to set and spread the fire.
While watching the blaze, Hitler told a reporter, “You are now witnessing the beginning of a great epoch in German history ... This fire is the beginning.”
Hitler launched a campaign accusing Communists of planning to wage civil war, poison food and burn granaries. A fearful public viewed Hitler as a protector, and President Paul von Hindenburg granted him special emergency powers.
Hitler unleashed his troopers, who tortured and killed Communists, Social Democrats and liberals throughout Berlin. Opposition to the Nazi party was quelled.
With the Weimar Republic crumbling, an election was held on March 5 to lend a gloss of validity to the Nazi party’s aims. Hitler won a majority and continued to consolidate power.
By the time von Hindenburg died in August 1934, Hitler had combined the roles of Fuhrer and Chancellor, putting “all the powers of State in his hands."
Historical Context: Timeline of the Nazi Party and the history of the Holocaust
The Florida Center for Instructional Technology presents a comprehensive timeline of “The Rise of the Nazi Party.” The timeline begins in 1918 with the conclusion of World War I and extends to the party’s decline and the aftermath of World War II.
Between Jan. 30, 1933, and the conclusion of World War II on May 8, 1945, European Jews living in areas under Nazi occupation became subject to increasing levels of persecution, the extremes of which eventually led to the systemic slaughter of some six million Jews in what Adolph Hitler termed “the Final Solution.”
Between Jan. 30, 1933, and the conclusion of World War II on May 8, 1945, European Jews living in areas under Nazi occupation became subject to increasing levels of persecution, the extremes of which eventually led to the systemic slaughter of some six million Jews in what Adolph Hitler termed “the Final Solution.”
Key Players: Hitler, Hindenburg and Göring
Adolph Hitler (1889–1945)
In his book "Who's Who in Nazi Germany," Robert S. Wistrich describes the young Hitler: “moody, lazy, of unstable temperament, he was deeply hostile towards his strict, authoritarian father and strongly attached to his indulgent, hard-working mother, whose death from cancer in December 1908 was a shattering blow to the adolescent Hitler.” His rise to power was fueled by economic hardship in Germany and his captivating speeches stressing German nationalism and xenophobia. Hitler founded the Nazi Party, became Chancellor of Germany, then Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Source: Jewish Virtual Library
Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934)
Paul von Hindenburg retired from public life in 1918 following Germany’s defeat in World War I, but became president of Germany in 1925 mainly because of his “status as war hero,” writes the BBC. He implemented deflationist policies during the depression and “economic difficulties and unrest mounted, fuelled by the Nazis.” He frequently rebuffed Hitler’s requests for the chancellorship, despite the growing popularity of the Nazi party. He ultimately forged an agreement in November 1932, giving Hitler the chancellorship and placing “non-Nazis in most other posts.” He died in 1934.
Source: The BBC
Hermann Göring (1893–1946)
Hermann Göring was the “second most powerful leader of Nazi Germany,” and Hitler's selected successor. In 1923, Hitler named Göring head of the Nazi storm troops, called the Sturmabteilung, or SA. In 1932, he became president of the Reichstag after the Nazis became the largest party in parliament. Hitler appointed him to his cabinet in 1933, giving Göring control of the Gestapo, the secret police of most of Germany. Göring commanded the Luftwaffe for much of the war, but his power declined as German success waned. After the war, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg sentenced him to death, but he commited suicide two hours before his scheduled execution.
Source: Encarta
‘The Leaders of the Nazi Party’
The BBC provides concise biographies of “The Leaders of the Nazi Party,” including Paul Josef Goebbels, Rudolph Hess, Heinrich Himmler and Albert Speer.
Source: BBC
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