Revisiting the Reichstag fire and the talk of postponing our elections

[Cleita]

In a Berlin tavern in February of 1933, a certain drunken Dutch national named Marinus van der Lubbe bragged about attempting to set some public buildings on fire and he announced he would attempt to set the Reichstag building on fire next. Reported by eavesdroppers, he was picked up by the S. A. (Sturmabteilung, storm troopers or Brownshirts). To the Nazi’s delight they discovered that he was also a communist as well as a firebug. If he had been a Jew, it would have been even sweeter.

Nuremberg testimony points to Goebbels and Goering as the ones who hatched the plot for setting the Reichstag on fire, and by pure luck, providence had dropped a scapegoat in their laps to put the plan into action. So van der Lubbe was released and encouraged to proceed with his plans to burn down the Reichstag.

On the evening February 27, 1933, using only his shirt as tinder he lit a fire in the main hall while the storm troopers, unknown to him, set fires all over the building, which they had previously doused with gasoline after entering from a secret tunnel that connected the building to one occupied by Goering. Two and a half minutes after he lit his fire, the building was aflame, something he could not have accomplished alone in such a short period of time.

Of course the Nazis immediately blamed the communists and arrested van der Lubbe on the spot, who was eventually decapitated. Those communists charged and tried were mostly acquitted, as there still were fair trials at the time the Republic was going through its death throes. The German leader of the communist party, however, found himself in “protective custody” until he was killed in WWII. Many of those involved in the plot were killed within months by Hitler’s henchmen. He didn’t need witnesses. Goering denied any complicity but there were witnesses that he had bragged about it on occasion.

The aging and often doting Field Marshal von Hindenberg was still President of the Republic and he had reluctantly appointed Adolf Hilter as his Chancellor by presidential decree without recourse to Parliament on January 30, 1933. The day after the fire, February 28, 1933, Hitler prevailed on him to sign a decree, their version our Patriot Act. It suspended seven sections of the German constitution and provided for:

“Restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press; on the rights of assembly and association; and violations of privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications; and warrants for house searchers, orders for confiscations and well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.”

On March 5, 1933, a terrified German people voted in the last free and democratic election that was held before the shadow of the swastika covered them. Even with the trumped up communist terror, the majority still voted with their hearts and the Nazis only gained a small advantage, not the two-thirds majority they needed to control the government, but not to worry, von Hindenberg’s last decree had given them all the power that they needed.

So you see, even after a bogus terrorist attack, elections were still held in the Germany of the Weimar Republic. With the decree of February 28, 1933, giving them way too much power, Nazi terror and suspension of freedoms began in earnest. Storm trooper roamed through the streets, broke into homes, arresting victims who would be tortured and beaten under custody on mostly unfounded charges. All media carried Nazi propaganda and nothing else from that time on until the Nazis were defeated in WWII.

I thought this little history refresher might be timely right now for those who think we shouldn’t call Bush, Inc. Nazis. I have summarized this from a more detailed account in “The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich” by William L. Shirer, which even though it was first published in 1959 it is, in my opinion, still the most authoritative history of Nazi Germany.

So no true American, who still thinks our Constitution should be obeyed by the unelected thugs in charge, should let them suspend our elections in November without taking to the streets and telling them where they can take it. I don’t care how many terrorist attacks they manufacture, hint at, or allow to happen, their MO is fear tactics and we must fight back.

[Pathwalker]

1. Thank you, Cleita. Very important point.

This desrves to be read, and re-read.

:kick:

[gristy]

2. Thank you Cleita.

Thank you so much for this post.

[Kenergy]

3. Very good

Thank you Cleita- good post

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. Great post..and what of that divided vote on the left that gave them that

small advantage?

[Cleita]

10. Feel free to add to this, Teena, anything that you think is

important. I just skimed what I thought were the salient points, but others may think other points are more important. :hi:

[fdr_hst_fan]

5. Unless we're ALL heavily armed at that point.

it would be futile to take to the streets, because Smirk would call ou the National Guard, and the blood of innocent patriots would be shed over Smirk and Snarl! I sympathize with your viewpoint, though...also like the summary from Shirer's book-one of my favorite books. A citing to the Enabling Act would be most appropriate, also.

[JDPriestly]

6. Thank you.

Lots of Americans do not realice that the Nazis did not just take over Germany in one fell swoop. They gradually took more and more power and deprived Germans of their rights one by one over a period of time. The lesson: Those of us who are fotunate enough to live in democracies should vigilantly guard our rights. No nation, not even the U.S., is immune from authoritarian power grabs.

Right now, our country is in danger. Many Americans are just itching to impose their cultural values on others and may be willing to condone or resort to force to do it. We can't be too careful.

Your post points out how self-defeating it is to use violent methods to reach political goals. I believe we should condemn violence on the part of the left, including environmental movements, just as strongly as as we condemn it on the part of the right.

[fdr_hst_fan]

7. True-we must remember

that HITLER tried violence FIRST; when that failed, he decided to go legit and destroy the Weimar government from the INSIDE, using it's OWN institutions!

[Kellanved]

8. the exact circumstances of the fire were never cleared up

There were numerous re-examinations of the ruins, the last one quite recently. The last examination came to the conclusion that no gas was used for the fire. Probably the inflammable nametags were used to set the curtains on fire.



Fact is that van der Lubbe should not have been to enter the building and that the SA thugs, who had arrested him, "knew" more about the fire than Lubbe ever testified.

[Cleita]

11. Even Shirer admits that no one will know for sure because

most of those involved were dead in a matter of months. He constructed this scenario from what documents, eyewitness accounts and Nuremberg testimony he could gather to come up with a plausible explanation of what happened.

[sniffa]

9. that was a must read

thank you for the post. :D