Reichstag: The controversial fire of 1933 and Nazi History.
Latest hand-picked WWII news.
75 Years Ago, Reichstag Fire hastened Adolf Hitler's power grab
Fire broke out in the German parliament on Feb. 27, 1933. It was blamed on Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe, caught outside the building. He admitted to the act, stating he single-handedly wanted to take revenge on capitalism. However Prussian Interior Minister Hermann Goering called the event the first act in a planned communist uprising. Lead by police chief Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf, who headed a section of SA storm-troopers, police arrested many Communist Party members. Historians still disagree whether van der Lubbe acted alone, or if the Communist Party or Nazi Party (NSDAP) set the blaze.
(dw-world)
Mikhail Minin, who raised the USSR flag over Reichstag in 1945, died
World War II veteran Mikhail Minin, a Hero of the Soviet Union, who set up the USSR flag, the banner of Victory, over Nazi Germany`s Reichstag in May of 1945, died. He took part in battles to liberate Leningrad from blockade and made his way across the fronts to Berlin. When the Soviet army was assaulting Reichstag on April 30, 1945 Minin broke into the building and became the first man to raise the Red Banner on its tower. However, the famous picture does not show Minin but a Georgian soldier, because it was not taken at the actual event. Minin was recognized for his effort, but not rewarded, as there were no photos taken when the flag was put on the roof on 10 p.m.
(pravda)
The Reichstag fire conviction of Marinus van der Lubbe overturned
Prosecutors have annulled the conviction of Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe, accused of burning down the Reichstag building in 1933. He was convicted of arson and high treason and executed on Jan. 10, 1934. It said that the conviction was overturned automatically under a 1998 law enabling the rehabilitation of people convicted of crimes under the Nazis. Historians still argue whether van der Lubbe set the Feb. 27, 1933, fire, which came just a month after Adolf Hitler's rise to power and was followed by the suspension of civil liberties. Some think the Nazis set it themselves to give Hitler an excuse for his crackdown against a "communist conspiracy."
(dailymail.co.uk)
1933 Reichstag Fire - Germany's UFA lights up over 'Fire'
Nazi Germany's darkest period remains a treasure trove for filmmakers. In "Der Reichstagsbrand" (The Reichstag Fire), Potsdam-based UFA Filmproduktion will explore the circumstances of the unexplained fire that destroyed Germany's parliament building, the famed Reichstag, in the early days of Adolf Hitler's reign. The 1933 blaze paved the way for Adolf Hitler's consolidation of power over the country after the Nazi government blamed the fire on a communist conspiracy. In the wake of the attack, Hitler won a vote granting him powers to rule by decree, making him in effect, a parliamentary-approved dictator.
(variety)
The Reichstag Building
One might be confused by the `Reich` in the name of Germany`s Reichstag Building. How did the world`s most visited parliamentary building end up with the word `empire` in its name? ... Between the World Wars, the Reichstag would act as witness to the chaos of the Weimar Republic and the rise to power of the Nazi party. The Reichstag fire, on Feb 27th, 1933, followed Adolf Hitler`s appointment as Chancellor. After the Red Army took Berlin in 1945, they raised their Soviet flag over the Reichstag. Western Germany restored the Reichstag in the sixties, and it was used for a permanent exhibit on German history.
(b-o)