International London Conference
Finds Nazis Guilty of Reichstag Fire
Headed by the British Royal Barrister D.N. Pritt, a Counter-trial before an "International Commission of Distinguished Jurists" began on September 21, 1933 in London. It lasted one week and ended with the conclusion the defendants were innocent, and the true initiators of the fire were to be found amid the leading Nazi Party elite.
Following is an excerpt from the conclusions of this International Commission:
The commission came to the following conclusions of its examination (excerpts):
- that the documents and the oral statements as well as the remaining material the commission holds in hands are suited to assess that van der Lubbe could not have committed the crime on his own;
- that the control of all possibilities of an entry or exit from and to the Reichstag makes it most probable that the arsonists used the underground gangway that leads from the Reichstagspräsidentenpalais to the Reichstag;
that such a fire was a great benefit for the Nazi party at the eligible time; - that for this and for other reasons discussed in the 3rd part of the report serious clues are given for the suspicion that the Reichstag was set on fire by leading characters of the Nazi party or on their account.
The commission considers that each judicial institution is obliged to pursue these suspicious facts.