Hitler appointed as Chancellor but did not have total control of Germany. Maximized percentage of votes would mean that elected government could push bills through Reichstag. President Hindenburg persuaded to allow for a new election by Hitler and the Nazis. New election : March 5th, 1933. 50,000 Storm Troopers and SA members recruited Violent Electoral Campaign of Nazis was concerned with eradicating Communists and Anti-Nazi Groups. Reichstag Fire : February 27th 1933, Reichstag (German Parliament) burned down due to arson Marinus van der Lubbe blamed for fire Lubbe affiliated with underground Communist Movement Fire perceived as Communist attack to overthrow the state Lubbe arrested along with 4,000 Communist just hours after the …show more content…
The purpose of the source is to present the public with information regarding the Reichstag Fire in 1933. Specifically, about the confession of van der Lubbe, who was blamed for starting the fire and how he supposedly did it. This account is valuable as Diels was the individual who interrogated van der Lubbe after he was arrested. In addition, this source is valuable as Diels mentions what Hitler had to say about this issue .This was that he was not convinced that it was solely one person who started the fire as he says “ The criminals have thought this out beautifully.” One of the source’s limitations is that Diels was German, and his account may therefore be biased as the information could have potentially been falsified. There is no indication of what came about as a result of this fire nor the fate of van der Lubbe. Also, there is no explicit mention of how Hitler exploited the Reichstag Fire or its decree in his rise to power. Lastly, this source is limited as it was written “after the war.” As a result, this information can be flawed as it is subject to the a distorted memory of Diels however, there is no certain way of