• The Prussian police raided Communist headquarters in Berlin on 24 February 1933 - a week before the Reichstag fire. They claimed to have discovered a plan by the Communist Party to overthrow the government.
• 4,000 Communists and other opponents were arrested and jailed following the incident.
• Van der Lubbe and four others were charged with the conspiracy.
• All four of the other Communists arrested and put on trial were found not guilty - nothing could be proven against them.
• Hitler used the fire as propaganda - to warn people against the Communists - and to convince Hindenburg to issue a decree suspending people's personal rights (which had been guaranteed under the Constitution) in order to protect the citizens of Germany.
• He also used this to refuse to allow the Communist representatives into the building where the Reichstag was meeting after the elections. He banned them from it.

The important thing about the Reichstag fire is not who was guilty, but the way the Nazis milked the incident for all it was worth.