The Reichstag fire: who was responsible?

On the 27th of February 1933 the Reichstag fire was set on fire. Within the burning building a Dutchman going by the name of Marinus van der Lubbe was arrested for the arson. The Nazi-party, at that time the biggest party in the German Parliament, claimed that the communists were behind the fire and were trying to topple the government. At the same time the Communist Party claimed that the Nazi's had staged the fire in order to create a pretext for them to crack down hard on their (political) enemies. Marinus van der Lubbe was executed after stating in court that he worked alone. The consensus in Europe was that the Nazi's had staged the fire for their own political gain. After the Second World War a lively debate sprung up on whether or not Marinus van der Lubbe had received help from the Nazi's or had he worked alone. Up to the present day this debate is ongoing. Paul Kuijpers links the different predominant views on the Reichstag fire to the specific circumstances of the time in which they were predominant in an attempt to deconstruct the myths surrounding the Reichstag fire.

Autorentext

Paul Kuijpers, MA: studied history of society at Erasmus University Rotterdam.