As Hitler rose to prominence within Germany, there were a number of events that allowed
him to increase his stranglehold over the population of the country.
Through a number of political manipulations and movements, he managed to eventually establish
the Nazis as the only major political party in which any opposition to his party were
extinguished.
There was an event which took place four weeks after Hitler was sworn in as chancellor which
gave him the excuse to ruthlessly attack some of his greatest enemies, the communists.
The Reichstag Fire saw the German Reichstag parliament building being gutted by an act
of arson, and after the inferno was started there was a communist arrested who had a criminal
record for arson.
Shortly after, Marinus van der Lubbe was sentenced to death and was executed in brutal fashion,
but around 75 years after the fire, the German government granted Van der Lubbe a posthumous
pardon, relinquishing him of any criminal responsibility for the Reichstag Fire.
So join us today as we look at, ‘The BRUTAL Execution Of Marinus Van Der Lubbe, - The
Reichstag Fire Starter.’
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Marinus van der Lubbe was born in south holland, and his parents were divorced.
His mother died when he was a young boy, and he then lived with his half sister’s family.
After his schooling, he worked as a bricklayer, and was known for being a very strong young
man.
Whilst working on the building yard, he became familiar with the labour movements and also
communism, and he joined the CPN, the Communist Part of the Netherlands and it’s subsequent
youth groups.
He was active in the groups, but at the age of 17 was injured on the building site.
He had got lime in his eyes, and spent months in hospital and almost lost his sight completely.
But this forced him to change his job, and he was unemployed for a period of time and
only received a weekly benefit which was not sufficient.
He ended up learning German and moved to Leiden where he founded the Lenin House, and organised
communist meetings.
Van der Lubbe was seen in the local area as a communist troublemaker, who after a strike
broke out in a factory, he was seen as one of the main advocates.
But at this time, he began to consider moving to the Soviet Union but simply could not afford
to do so, and he remained as a member of the unemployed workers movements and the communist
groups.
But he heard about what was happening in Germany, and he heard about the rise of Adolf Hitler
before he became the chancellor, and in 1933 he moved to Germany to become involved in
the local communist groups.
But the key thing at this time is that Van der Lubbe had a reputation for being a troublemaker
and also an arsonist, as his criminal record had several charges of attempted arson on
it.
He walked to Berlin, and it took 15 days for him to do so, and when he arrived he discovered
that the Communist Party were not resisting Hitler’s rule.
Hitler had been sworn in as chancellor and the head of a coalition government on the
30th January 1933, and he asked President Paul von Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag
and hold new elections, with this being set for the 5th March 1933.
Hitler in his mind wished to solidify the strength of the Nazi Party, and he passed
the enabling act which allowed him to pass any law without consulting the Reichstag.
These laws allowed him also to ban other parties within the parliament, but the focus for Hitler
was to increase the seats in Parliament of the Nazi Party.
But then the Fire broke out.
After 9pm on the 27th February 1933, it was reported that the Reichstag building was on
fire and the firefighters were fighting the huge blaze that was causing devastating damage
to the parliament.
Most of the building was on fire, and it took 2 and a half hours to put the fire out and
then inspections occured.
A large amount of firelighters were found outside the building, so it was believed that
the fire was started deliberately.
Shortly after the Hitler was informed who was eating dinner with Joseph Goebbels at
his apartment, and Goebbels when he heard of the event first believed it was a lie.
But after another call, the pair left Goebbels’ apartment and they went to the Reichstag with
the fire now just a smouldering ember.
Hermann Goring met them there and it was said he screamed to Hiter, ‘This is Communist
outrage, one of the communist culprits has been arrested.’
But what was Goring reporting?
It was believed that Marinus van der Lubbe was arrested inside the building of the Reichstag,
or just outside the Reichstag.
A gestapo officer stated, ‘A few of my department were already engaged in interrogating Marinus
van der Lubbe.
Naked from the waist upwards, smeared with dirt and sweating, he sat in front of them
breathing heavily.
He panted as if he had completed a tremendous task.
There was a wild triumphant gleam in the burning eyes of his pale, haggard young face.’
It was claimed that Hans Floter a theology student was walking past the south western
dark corner of the Reichstag when he heard breaking glass and saw a man with a burning
torch in his hand.
Then the man waving the torch, Van der Lubbe was arrested, and was reported as being out
of breathe and dishevilled.’
There have been disputes about whether Van der Lubbe actually set fire to the Reichstag
or not.
In the aftermath, foreign newspapers began to accuse the Nazis as setting fire to it,
but he was seen as a communist scapegoat by others.
Most historians consider that he did start the fire, and that he had a long history of
attempting to burn down buildings, but there have been accusations towards the Nazis for
torching the parliament building.
For Hitler it came at a too perfect time, as he then had the power to begin to ban his
enemies and strike against the communists who had destructively destroyed the parliament
of government.
There are accusations that Van Der Lubbe was taken to the Reichstag once the fire had already
been started where he was actually arrested, or that Hermann Goring set fire to it.
He was overheard boasting once about starting the fire, saying ‘The only one who really
knows about the Reichstag building Is I, for I set fire to it, but at the Nuremberg trials
he later denied this.
Following the fire, Hitler managed to increase his stranglehold over the people despite being
still the chancellor.
The German public began to panic fearing communists within their ranks, and thousands of communists
were imprisoned after the fire.
Hitler slandered them greatly, criticising them and he eventually got what he wanted,
a majority inside of the Reichstag from elections.
In July 1933, Van der Lubbe and 4 others were placed on trial for setting fire to the Reichstag.
The trial named the Leipzig trial took place from the 21st September to the 23rd December
1933, and the defendants were accused of arson and also attempting to overthrow the government.
The trial was broadcast on the radio, and it was expected that all the communists on
trial would be found guilty.
Van der Lubbe testified and he said how he had lost his sight in one eye and had spent
time as a drifter around Europe, and he also said he was a member of the Dutch Communist
Party.
He viewed himself as a communist, and was attacked by the other defendants, but the
others who were on trial with him were acquitted.
Marinus Van Der Lubbe was found guilty and was sentenced to death.
It was stated that the Communist Party of Germany, the KPD had planned the fire to start
a revolution.
Marinus van der Lubbe appealed for clemency and this was rejected, and after this was
turned down it was said that he was to be executed b bheading the following morning.
He answered to the judge, ‘Thank you for telling me, I shall see you tomorrow.’
Inside of Leipzig Prison Yard, a guillotine had been set up to perform the beheading of
the Reichstag firestarter, and the guillotine was used throughout the Third Reich as an
efficient way of executing those who Hitler deemed were traitors.
The Guillotine was operated by a German executioner, and van der Lubbe was brought from his cell
inside Leipzig Prison.
He was led through the doors into the courtyard where he was greeted by the executioners assistant.
The assistant confirmed his identity before he was then handed over to the executioner,
and within seconds he had been strapped to a board and then slid under the guillotines
blade.
Once final checks occured, the lever was pulled and the blade fell cutting the head off of
Marinus van der Lubbe, and executing him in swift and quick fashion.
The execution of Marinus Van der Lubbe has been seen as a rather controversial moment
in German History.
After the war, efforts were made from his family to rehabilitate his name and to overturn
the original verdict of the trial.
His sentence was changed in 1967 from death to 8 years in prison, which was pointless
and he had been guillotined decades before.
However in 2007, the Attorney General of Germany nullified the verdict and Van der Lubbe was
posthumously pardoned on the basis that he was executed by a Nazi regime which was unjust,
and disgusting.
It was said his death sentence was politically motivated which added to the sentence to it.
The conclusion did not consider whether he had or had not set fire to the Reichstag however.
It’s up to you what you believe, but what cannot be disputed is that Van der Lubbe has
gone down in the history books for being the Reichstag Firestarter, and the man who was
executed for it.
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