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The Reichstag fire of 1933
On January 30, 1933 Adolf Hitler, a man who had never held public office, became
chancellor of Germany. President Paul von Hindenburg, who had feared that Hitler
would turn the country into a dictatorship, finally gave way to pressure from
bankers, army officers and right wing politicians who were demanding order and
discipline. Although right wing Nationalist politicians initially thought that
they would soon tame Hitler and his ‘Brownshirt’ followers, they soon
discovered how futile such an ambition was. Hitler’s speeches drove his followers
into a frenzy in which they would scream out “Seig Heil!” and offer
unquestioned allegiance to their leader.
On the night of February 27th, Berlin was rocked by a fire that blazed through
the Reichstag Building, the German House of Parliament. The building was absolutely
gutted. Called out to watch the massive bonfire, Adolf Hiltler exclaimed, “This
is a God-given signal.” He was, in fact, delighted with what he saw. The
very next day, Hitler met with President von Hindenburg, and pressured him into
giving him dictatorial powers. This was a vital step for the Nazis. Now Hitler
no longer relied upon the votes of the deputies in the Reichstag, where the Nazis
did not enjoy a majority.
The following day, Chancellor Hitler took the radical steps of denying all
legal guarantees of personal liberty, freedom of speech and the right of assembly
by official decree. This step sent a shiver up many Berlin spines, as the people
saw the destroyed Reichstag building as a symbol of the death of German democracy.
Blame for the fire was directed towards a Dutch Communist by the name of Marinus
van der Lubbe. Van der Lubbe was picked up in the Reichstag grounds while the
blaze was still in progress. A case was built around him that placed the simple
minded Dutchman as the scapegoat of a sinister Communist plot to destabilise the
nation. However, the beneficial aspects of the destruction of the Reichstag building
for the Nazis did not go unnoticed and many people speculated that it was actually
Chancellor Hitler who was the mastermind behind the plot.
The Nazis now began to assume ruthless control over Germany. In the run up to
the March, 1933 elections, Nazi Storm Troopers were enrolled as special police
and began arresting socialists and communists and suppressing opposition newspapers.
The Nazis also took control of the radio waves where Hitler’s Communications
spokesman, Josef Goebbels undertook a campaign of verbal assault against Jews,
Communists and any other group that the Nazis viewed as undesirable. On March
23, the Reichstag voted to give Hitler rather than President von Hindenburg full
powers to rule by decree. Yet despite the intimidation shown during the build
up to the election, the Nazis failed to gain a Reichstag majority. Hitler’s
solution was simple – he had the Communist and Socialist deputies arrested.
From that point on the Nazi campaign of terror directed against the German Jewish
population was stepped up. These moves would draw the world into it’s most
devastating battle for liberty – a battle that would only be resolved with
the death of Hitler 12 years later, and the loss of some 55 million other lives.
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