It does not really matter WHO did it ...

[Anonymous]

... but WHO profits.




Reichstag Fire

They who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Recent
events raise ghosts of the past.

January 30, 1933

Weimar Republic President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolph Hitler
Chancellor.

February 27, 1933

The German Parliament (Reichstag) burns down. A dazed Dutch Communist
named Marinus van der Lubbe is found at the scene and charged with
arson. [He is later found guilty and executed].

February 28, 1933

President Hindenburg and Chancellor Hitler invoke Article 48 of the
Weimar Constitution, which permits the suspension of civil liberties in
time of national emergency. This Decree of the Reich President for the
Protection of the People and State abrogates the following
constitutional protections:

- Free expression of opinion 
- Freedom of the press 
- Right of assembly and association 
- Right to privacy of postal and electronic communications 
- Protection against unlawful searches and seizures 
- Individual property rights 
- States' right of self-government 

A supplemental decree creates the SA (Storm Troops) and SS (Special
Security) Federal police agencies.

Who Did It?

Historians do not agree on who is actually responsible for the Reichstag
Fire: van der Lubbe acting alone -- a Communist plot -- or the Nazis
themselves in order to create an incident. Writers such as Klaus P.
Fischer feel that most likely the Nazis were involved.

But regardless of who actually planned and executed the fire, it is
clear that the Nazis immediately took advantage of the situation in
order to advance their cause at the expense of civil rights. The Decree
enabled the Nazis to ruthlessly suppress opposition in the upcoming
election.

March 5, 1933

National elections give Nazis 44% plurality in the Reichstag. Herman
Gvring [who later played a central role in the Nazi government and war
effort] declares that there is no further need for State governments.

Over the next few weeks, each of the lawful Weimar State governments
falls to the same ruse:

- Local Nazi organizations instigate disorder; 
- The disorder is quelled by replacing the elected state government by
appointed Nazi Reich Commissioners. 

March 24, 1933

The Reichstag passes the Law for Terminating the Suffering of People and
Nation , also known as the Enabling Law , essentially granting Adolph
Hitler dictatorial power.

ANALYSIS

The events in 1933 can be summarized as follows:

While it is not clear whether the Nazis intentionally set the Reichstag
fire in order to create a national crisis, or whether the Nazis simply
were opportunistic, the event was used as justification for a sharp
curtailment in constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties. The Nazis
took advantage of the additional Federal police powers to suppress
opponents. It is clear that in other situations, the Nazis did use the
tactic of creating a "law and order" crisis so that they could provide a
solution which further eroded civil liberties and entrenched their
power. The right-wing Nazis and the left-wing communists were cut from
the same cloth -- the point is not that the far right destroyed civil
rights. Rather, the point is that a democracy can be destroyed by
creating a law-and-order crisis and offering as a 'solution' the
abdication of civil liberties and state's rights to a powerful but
unaccountable central authority.

http://www.weyrich.com/political_issues/reichstag_fire.html