The Reichstag Fire of 1933
Hitler Blamed the Communists and Used the Fire to Expand Power
On February 27, 1933 fire erupted in the Reichstag building in Berlin. The burning of the parliament building, less than a month after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor, had far reaching results. The Reichstag fire represented the first act of provocation Hitler would use to consolidate power. Before the night was over, thousands of Communists were arrested, over-crowing police stations.
Communists and Social Democrats
The Communist Party in Germany (KPD) had been active for decades. Controlled by Moscow through the Comintern (Communist International), the party received guidance and funds with the goal of turning Germany into a Communist state. Working from Berlin and Hamburg – known as the “reddest city outside of Moscow,” the KPD developed vast international organizations, chiefly through its work in the maritime industry.
The KPD, however, opposed the Social Democrats (SPD) because their socialist program did not accept Soviet leadership or influence and was heavily involved in trade unionism. The SPD favored democratic means, anathema to both the KPD and the Nazis. As the National Socialists (NASPD – Nazis) began to strengthen, particularly in the immediate years preceding Hitler’s ascendancy as Chancellor, the KPD, under orders from Moscow, concentrated their efforts against the Social Democrats.
KPD leaders dismissed Hitler and the Nazis, completely underestimating the ruthless lust for power within the Nazi Party. During national elections in 1932, Communist activists joined with the Nazi Brownshirts in disrupting Social Democratic political meetings. KPD leaders that saw the proverbial “hand-writing on the wall” were given short shrift by Kremlin bosses.
The Communist “Night of the Long Knives”
A Dutch citizen, Marinus van der Lubbe, also a known arsonist, was found at the burning Reichstag and arrested. Historians differ as to whether he actually ever was a Communist. KPD leadership, however, denied any Communist involvement. Privately, they wondered who Lubbe really was; he was completely unknown to any of the Communist leaders or field organizers.
Along with Lubbe, several other known Communists were arrested and charged with the burning, including G. Dimitrov, a top leader in the KPD organization. Within weeks, jails and hastily constructed camps were set up to house the thousands of Communists arrested. In Hamburg, a hotbed of Communist activity where several Brownshirts had been shot while marching through Altona, an old camp in the Fuhlsbuettel section that had been slated for demolition was rapidly enlarged.
Known Communist leaders in Gestapo custody were brutally tortured into revealing the names of confederates. In some cases, entire families were arrested. These actions drove those still at large underground, forming an early resistance to Hitlerism. Although Social Democrats were not implicated, many rushed to join the Nazis, fearing that they would be next.
Destruction of the Weimar Constitution
The day after the Reichstag fire, February 28th, Hitler suspended civil liberties in the constitution and declared that the “Bolsheviks” were to blame. It was a state of emergency. The Enabling Act or law of March 24th further destroyed constitutional provisions, giving Hitler virtual powers as dictator. Despite not having won a Nazi majority in the parliament, the Reichstag would rubber-stamp Hitler’s policies.
Herman Goring had boasted that the March 1933 elections would be the last. As Hitler moved against the other parties, political opposition was eliminated. The Catholic Party was dissolved following a Concordat with the Vatican.
On September 21, the trial against the Communists responsible for the fire began in Leipzig and would last several months. G. Dimitrov, who railed against Goring during the trial, was acquitted and eventually returned to Moscow. Neutral observers, such as a group of lawyers in London that engaged in a “mock trial,” believed that Nazis themselves were guilty of the fire.
The Reichstag fire gave Hitler an excuse to move against the Communists, dismantling the party by arresting its leaders and destroying the Comintern in Germany.
Sources:
- E. H. Carr, Twilight of the Comintern 1930-1935 (New York: Pantheon Books, 1982)
- Klaus P. Fischer, Nazi Germany: a New History (New York: Continuum, 1995)
- Jan Valtin, Out of the Night (New York, Alliance Book Corp. 1941)
Reichstag Fire
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