The Reichstag Fire-Whodunnit?
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The Reichstag Fire-Whodunnit?
On February 27, 1933, the Reichstag burned down. Since then debate has continued: Was the perp van der Lubbe, the official culprit, or the work of the Nazis?
From what we know, the fire was extensive and intense. Thus, in my mind, van der Lubbe had nothing to do with it directly, but became a convenient fall guy in a way which I will describe.
Those who argue the former have always stated that Hitler gave the order. I am not convinced. Sefton Delmer was in Berlin at the time as a reporter. His vivid and highly objective account of the fire and reactions to it give no indication that Hitler, or anyone else who was there, saw it coming, and indeed, thought it was a Communist conspiracy, and would have nothing to do with anyone else. Rosenberg remarked on it in a way that indicated he suspected others in the Party. Goring's first order on arrival ("Save the tapestries!") seems to indicate that he had nothing to do with it, either. Hitler's reactions and words indicate to me genuine surprise. However, there was one person suspiciously absent: Himmler. He was virtually unknown outside his native state of Bavaria (and is my least favorite Bavarian: you'll meet my favorite in the Christmas surprise ), and thus had cover and reason to not be present.
At the scene, investigators detected large quantities of an unknown accelerant. It was spread out in a systematic way. Unknown accelerant, systematic use of it, one plausible dupe for the whole thing; it reeks of one man's work: Heydrich. He had been hired by Himmler in 1931 on the spot after a 20 minute interview. He was called "The Blond Beast", "The Hangman", "The Man With An Iron Heart", and "The Evil Young God Of Death". He was extremely intelligent, and often hung out with similar looking buddies in shady Berlin bars. Thus my hypothesis:
Himmler comes up with the idea of burning the Reichstag down to give Hitler leverage to take power. And he keeps it a secret for maximum effect. He assigns the execution of the task to Heydrich. Heydrich's buddies, having been assigned to burn the Reichstag down,are hanging out in a Berlin bar when they hear van der Lubbe boasting that he'll burn down a government building, specifically the Reichstag. They are intrigued, let him in on their plot, and invite him along. Once they get there, van der Lubbe gets to work using his coat and shirt to make totally inadequate fires. Heydrich's men do a far more professional job, and make themselves scarce, dumping van der Lubbe and leaving him there when the authorities arrive.
From what we know, the fire was extensive and intense. Thus, in my mind, van der Lubbe had nothing to do with it directly, but became a convenient fall guy in a way which I will describe.
Those who argue the former have always stated that Hitler gave the order. I am not convinced. Sefton Delmer was in Berlin at the time as a reporter. His vivid and highly objective account of the fire and reactions to it give no indication that Hitler, or anyone else who was there, saw it coming, and indeed, thought it was a Communist conspiracy, and would have nothing to do with anyone else. Rosenberg remarked on it in a way that indicated he suspected others in the Party. Goring's first order on arrival ("Save the tapestries!") seems to indicate that he had nothing to do with it, either. Hitler's reactions and words indicate to me genuine surprise. However, there was one person suspiciously absent: Himmler. He was virtually unknown outside his native state of Bavaria (and is my least favorite Bavarian: you'll meet my favorite in the Christmas surprise ), and thus had cover and reason to not be present.
At the scene, investigators detected large quantities of an unknown accelerant. It was spread out in a systematic way. Unknown accelerant, systematic use of it, one plausible dupe for the whole thing; it reeks of one man's work: Heydrich. He had been hired by Himmler in 1931 on the spot after a 20 minute interview. He was called "The Blond Beast", "The Hangman", "The Man With An Iron Heart", and "The Evil Young God Of Death". He was extremely intelligent, and often hung out with similar looking buddies in shady Berlin bars. Thus my hypothesis:
Himmler comes up with the idea of burning the Reichstag down to give Hitler leverage to take power. And he keeps it a secret for maximum effect. He assigns the execution of the task to Heydrich. Heydrich's buddies, having been assigned to burn the Reichstag down,are hanging out in a Berlin bar when they hear van der Lubbe boasting that he'll burn down a government building, specifically the Reichstag. They are intrigued, let him in on their plot, and invite him along. Once they get there, van der Lubbe gets to work using his coat and shirt to make totally inadequate fires. Heydrich's men do a far more professional job, and make themselves scarce, dumping van der Lubbe and leaving him there when the authorities arrive.
Last edited by 109Driver4Life on Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
Re: The Reichstag Fire-Whodunnit?
Whoever did it, it was ample oportunity for the Nazis to use the communists as a scapegoat, as they did with the Jews later on kristallnacht. I'd put my money on it being co-ordinated by the Nazis in order to put bad-light on the communists; IMHO this is the most credible reason for it
philip.ed- Junior Member
- Posts : 10
Join date : 2009-12-14
Re: The Reichstag Fire-Whodunnit?
Yes, in my opinion it was started by the Nazis, but unlike others, my hypothesis states that Himmler and Heydrich planned it all and that all other Nazi leaders were completely in the dark.philip.ed wrote:Whoever did it, it was ample oportunity for the Nazis to use the communists as a scapegoat, as they did with the Jews later on kristallnacht. I'd put my money on it being co-ordinated by the Nazis in order to put bad-light on the communists; IMHO this is the most credible reason for it
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