The Reichstag Fire Trial

Access this item (login required):

Description: Bulgarian account of the Reichstag Fire Trial with a focus on the trial of Dimitrov.
Duration: 37 mins 10 secs
Year: 1971
Subjects: Political conflicts, Dictatorship, Germany, Communism, Resistance to oppression, Political prisoners, Nazism, Legal procedure, Guerilla activities
Segment 1: Cyrillic script credits. Archive footage of Reichstag in flames [poor quality]. Shots of Reichstag the next morning, lying in ruins. Goering arrives on the scene. Goebbels announces it is an attack carried out by the Communists. Goering gives speech promoting the killing of Communists [soft footage]. Hitler speaks at a rally announcing that he will deliver the German people from the Communist threat. Shots of Nazi newspapers. Other Communists are arrested. Photographs of the accused. Commentary reads from official documents from the trial. Hitler walks through rally of his supporters. The Nazis declare a state of emergency and the introduction of new Police state in Germany. German Communist Ernst Thaelmann making speech [no sound], images of hammer and sickle flag. Headlines from left-wing German newspapers. Nazi parade, Hitler speaking, 'Burning of the Books'. Nazi crimes against Communists. SA and SS institute an auxiliary police force. Still Dimitrov. His letters to family and commrades.
Segment 2: Henri Barbusse giving speech, campaigning for Dimitrov. London, a counter trial takes place in support of the Communists. Dennis Pritt, the British barrister who presided over this mock trial, sums up the Reichstag Fire Trial. In Leipzig, the investigations last for six months and the trials then begin. Shots of the German Imperial Court. Shots of the official trial documents. Film taken during the trial, Dimitrov, Marinus van der Lubbe and others accused seen in defence. Dimitrov giving evidence. Commentary taken from contemporary radio reports. Newspaper articles about the case. Interrogation of Communist witnesses. Stills of witnesses. Shots of Nazi soldiers. False claims against the communists by the Nazis. Documents written by Dimitrov are shown.
Segment 3: Stills, court in session. Radio broadcast of an exchange between Dimitrov and Herman Goering is heard on soundtrack. The artist, John Heartfield [German sync] shows his photo montages of the case. Mr Benton, a London barrister who attended the trial as an observer, describes the verbal combat between Dimitrov and Goering. The trial continues with Dimitrov still challenging Goering. stills from the trail and demonstrations around Europe. Documents calling for Dimitrov to be detained and shots of the prison in which he was kept.
Segment 4: Rallies supporting Dimitrov take place across Europe and the world. Shots of marches, rallies speeches and protests. 27 February 1934. Dimitrov is released and then arrives in Moscow to a hero's welcome. Dimitrov works to support Ernst Thaelmann who was still in the hands of the Gestapo. Soviet and international Communist leaders declare Dimitrov a hero and rally to his support, including Harry Pollitt and Henri Barbusse in attendance. Sequence showing Nazi atrocities, including scenes of bombing, killing and military military attacks. Credits. End.
Persistent URL: http://edina.ac.uk/purl/isan/0002-0000-0021-0000-0-0000-0000-0
Written and compiled by the British Universities Film & Video Council © BUFVC 2005
Subject classification by University of Edinburgh Library © 2006