Germany Overturns Conviction in Nazi Era Reichstag Fire Verdict
Germany overturned the 1933 verdict against Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutchman convicted at the beginning of the Nazi era for setting fire to the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin.
The Dec. 23, 1933, verdict sentencing van der Lubbe to death for treason and arson was overturned by a 1998 law. The Federal Prosecution Office declared that the law applies to the case, the office said in a statement yesterday. Van der Lubbe was executed in 1934.
"The 1998 law automatically overturned certain politically motivated verdicts from the Nazi era and we now declared that van der Lubbe case was covered by it,'' Sonja Heine, the office's spokeswoman, said in an interview. ``This is not a ruling on whether van der Lubbe was guilty or innocent.''
Historians still debate whether van der Lubbe acted by himself or if the Nazis were involved in the crime. The Reichstag was set on fire four weeks after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and the Nazis used the case as a pretext to lift civil rights....
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The Dec. 23, 1933, verdict sentencing van der Lubbe to death for treason and arson was overturned by a 1998 law. The Federal Prosecution Office declared that the law applies to the case, the office said in a statement yesterday. Van der Lubbe was executed in 1934.
"The 1998 law automatically overturned certain politically motivated verdicts from the Nazi era and we now declared that van der Lubbe case was covered by it,'' Sonja Heine, the office's spokeswoman, said in an interview. ``This is not a ruling on whether van der Lubbe was guilty or innocent.''
Historians still debate whether van der Lubbe acted by himself or if the Nazis were involved in the crime. The Reichstag was set on fire four weeks after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and the Nazis used the case as a pretext to lift civil rights....