Reichstag Fire/Fire Decree

By A.Fedeski (FSWC Educator)

On February 27, 1933, the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, was set on fire. The Nazis quickly blamed Marinus van der Lubbem, a Dutch communist, for the blaze, and used the incident to incite public fear of an imminent communist uprising. The next day, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler -  who had become Chancellor of Germany just four weeks earlier -  persuaded President Paul von Hindenberg to sign the Reichstag Fire Decree. This emergency law suspended key civil liberties, including freedom of speech, press and assembly, and allowed for indefinite detention without trial. Although presented as a temporary measure, the Decree would remain in force until the end of the Nazi regime more than 12 years later. The powers of the Fire Decree allowed the Nazis to arrest political opponents and suppress dissent, effectively marking the end of democratic rule in Germany. By creating a legal basis for the consolidation of one-party rule and removing all checks on Nazi power, the Reichstag Fire Decree ensured that Nazi persecution and violence could escalate without restraint, thereby laying the groundwork for the Holocaust.

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