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Who was responsible for the reichstag fire
time after the fire, so could he really remember so well? But then again it was a very important event and therefore not easily forgotten. From this evidence I believe that Rudolf Diels’ account of the fire is more or less reliable, but there is no proof.
But a few things suggest the opposite. First of all he said he believed Lubbe has acted alone, but later he says, “…several details suggested that communists who had helped him start these other fires, might have helped with the Reichstag Fire.” Diels’ account was also written 12 years after the actual fire but he can still remember lots of small details such as the look on Van Der Lubbe’s face and the words he heard and said himself during the incident. However, he was chief of police so he probably had access to a lot of notes and records that would have helped him write the statement. Maybe Diels had been covering people who had been helping Van Der Lubbe. And also even if Diels’ account seemed believable, you have to remember that Van Der Lubbe was mentally and physically handicapped and so its unlikely that he could have acted on his own.
Although Diel’s account is well written and on its own would probably convince a person that Van Der Lubbe acted alone, there are too many factors working against it. So I don’t think it is reliable enough to use as evidence in finding out the real cause of the fire.
3. The sources C and D agree that the communists started the fire. Source C does not directly say that the communists started the fire, but it does not say that the Nazis started it. Hindenburg, dressed as an ancient Roman, with Togas, speaks of the fire as an opportunity, not as a planned operation, and it says ‘THE RED PERIL’ which is referring to the Communists. Source C was also from a British magazine, which shows it wasn’t just the Nazis who blamed the communists for the fire. Source D is an example of typical Nazi anti-Communist propaganda, it was published as a direct response to the fire; its purpose was to make the German people scared and angry towards all Communists. . Source D shows one of the measures Hitler took to exploit the fire. As proof of this, Hindenburg signed a decree the next day granting the Nazis the right to prevent freedom of speech and therefore eliminating all opposition to the Nazis. At this time the Nazi party is gaining more and more control, the first source show that is Hitler trying to be dictator, that he is using the fire as an opportunity, but Source D is just justifying the increased power to Hitler by blaming the communists for the fire. This puts C and D in agreement.
4. The Nazis would have many [next page]