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Who was responsible for the reichstag fire
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6. Source H suggests that the Nazis did not plan the fire, because they were not ready for it. If the Nazis had really organised the fire, they would surely have made big preparations before. However, source I shows that Van Der Lubbe, could not possibly have done it alone and on impulse, it explains that he could not have set fire to the building so quickly especially without knowledge of the building and being mentally and physically handicapped. Both sources are unlikely to be very precise because they are from history books, however, the origin of these books is unknown, and a German or someone else could have written them.
Source J backs up source I. It shows the extent of the damage that one man could not have acted alone, however it could be showing the worst effected area and the rest of the building could be unharmed. Also you would need more details such as what the room was made of and contained to say that one man couldn’t have done it all.
So I think that none of them prove whether it was more or less likely that the Nazis started the fire as they are all questionable and sources I and H were written a whole 40 years afterwards and are likely to be just one mans opinion.
7. Source A suggests that Van Der Lubbe was in fact a madman, and it had all been blown out of proportion by Hitler and Goring. Diels describes how it would have been easy for Van Der Lubbe to set fire to the Building because of the old furniture, the dry wood and curtains. The next source, source B, Van Der Lubbe’s confession, also confirms this point. It seems that Diels believed this confession after interviewing Van Der Lubbe at length. Source C does not express the opinion that the Nazis were not responsible for the fire but that they saw the opportunity to take the dictatorship of the country. The book about the fire, source D, clearly suggests that Van Der Lubbe was part of a communist uprising, however, it was just Nazi propaganda and so it was just part of the Nazi plot to take power and eliminate the communists. It also was used to get the support of German people.
Source E suggests that the fire was started by the Nazis, the General Franz Halder explains that Goring confessed to starting the fire, but he said that it was him in person who set fire to the building, this is unlikely because it would be difficult for him to get away without anyone knowing he was there, it was also at a party so it is likely that he was drunk at the time which would have clouded the thinking of both of them. This evidence was denied by Goring at the same trial, he said that he didn’t set fire to the Reichstag, it is likely that [next page]