Hermann Goring, Reichstag president and Hitler’s chief minister, conducted an official investigation, and fixed responsibility for the fire on the German Communist Party.
The supposed arsonist was a Dutchman, Marinus van der Lubbe, whom some have claimed was brought to the scene of the crime by Nazi agents. Van der Lubbe was eventually convicted of the crime, but his alleged co-conspirators were found innocent. Others have contended that there was no proof of Nazi complicity in the crime, but that Hitler merely capitalized on van der Lubber’s independent act. The fire is the subject of continued debate and research.
On 28 February 1933, the day after the fire, Hitler’s dictatorship began with the enactment of a decree “for the Protection of the People and the State,” which dispensed with all constitutional protection of political, personal, and property rights. Though ensuing elections did not give the Nazis an outright majority, they were able to persuade the Reichstag to pass an Enabling Act on 23 March whereby all its legislative powers were transferred to the Reich Cabinet, thereby sanctioning the dictatorship. A new Reichstag was established in Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg Land (state) in eastern Germany.