Hitler Burning The Reichstag Sprung To Mind

[Rev. Rye]

In New York it is called "Jewish Lightning."

I know that. I read that section of American Pastoral where Philip Roth explained what it was.

WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER HAVE AGAINST JEWS? ANSWER ME.
Well, the usual things you hear.
I DON'T HEAR THEM, DAWN. YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TELL ME.
Well, mostly about being pushy. (Pause.) And materialistic. (Pause.) The term "Jewish lightning" would be used.
JEWISH LIGHT?
Jewish lightning.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
You don't know what Jewish lightning is?
NOT YET.
When a fire is set for insurance purposes. There's lightning. You never heard that?
NO, THAT'S A NEW ONE ON ME.
You're shocked. I didn't mean to.
YES, I AM SHOCKED ALL RIGHT. BUT WE MIGHT AS WELL GET THIS OUT IN THE OPEN, DAWN. THAT IS WHAT WE ARE HERE FOR.
It wouldn't be all Jews. It would be New York Jews.
WHAT ABOUT NEW JERSEY JEWS?
(Pause.) Well, yes, I think they're probably a variant of New York Jews.
I SEE. TO JEWS IN UTAH IT DOESN'T APPLY, JEWISH LIGHTNING. JEWS IN MONTANA. IS THAT RIGHT? IT DOESN'T APPLY TO JEWS IN MONTANA.
I don't know.

The ALLCAPS lines are from Lou Levov, the protagonist's father, and the ones that aren't are from his fiancee Dawn. If it sounds like an interrogation, it's only because it is; Lou Levov is a traditional Jewish man, one who compares porn to the Holocaust and is of a generation where he knows exactly what that would entail, and Dawn is the archetypal Shiksa Goddess.

It's a complicated read, and the earlier parts (pre-post office bombing) aren't all that excellent, but it picks up afterward, and it's worth it.

[Whateverist]

One dead.

If only it was the right one.  (Condolences to anyone who knew the wrong one that died.)

[downbeatplumb]

I'm a founding member of the Marinus van der Lubbe International Firebombing Society.


(Kudos to whomever remembers where that came from.)

Remember, it happened in 1933 how old do you think I am?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I'm a founding member of the Marinus van der Lubbe International Firebombing Society.


(Kudos to whomever remembers where that came from.)

Remember, it happened in 1933 how old do you think I am?

Swoosh.

[downbeatplumb]

Remember, it happened in 1933 how old do you think I am?

Swoosh.

Is that my age in roman numerals? coz it looks like it'd be a lot.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The phrase was not created in 1933, but over thirty years later.

[GUBU]

I'm a founding member of the Marinus van der Lubbe International Firebombing Society.


(Kudos to whomever remembers where that came from.)

And I'm from the Johann Georg Elser German Association of Socialist Pillar Bombers. We're much more hardcore than you.

---

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/nyreg...ss&emc=rss


Can a state of emergency be far behind?

Okay, as someone really interested in that era of history, it seems that there's a distinct possibility that the "official theory" of the Nazis was actually correct for once. My copy of Kershaw's definitive biography of Hitler (Hubris, p. 456-8) said that opinion among historians was unanimous about that, but opening up the Gestapo's archives after that has suggested that the conspiracy theory might actually be correct.

On the actual point of the OP, Trump is certainly amoral enough to do deliberate arson, but I suspect he might have way too much pride in his own property to consider setting fire to his own property.

They were right about van der Lubbe, but everything else was a tissue of cloth. The nazis used an actual crime to spin out a conspiracy amongst leading Socialists and Communists to kill Titler (at the time the only thing the Communists and Socialists could agree on was that it was worse to ally than to let the nazis run rampant).

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I'm a founding member of the Marinus van der Lubbe International Firebombing Society.


(Kudos to whomever remembers where that came from.)

And I'm from the Johann Georg Elser German Association of Socialist Pillar Bombers.  We're much more hardcore than you.

---

Carpenter's "Escape from der Beir Hall".

[Rev. Rye]

I'm a founding member of the Marinus van der Lubbe International Firebombing Society.


(Kudos to whomever remembers where that came from.)

And I'm from the Johann Georg Elser German Association of Socialist Pillar Bombers.  We're much more hardcore than you.

---

Okay, as someone really interested in that era of history, it seems that there's a distinct possibility that the "official theory" of the Nazis was actually correct for once. My copy of Kershaw's definitive biography of Hitler (Hubris, p. 456-8) said that opinion among historians was unanimous about that, but opening up the Gestapo's archives after that has suggested that the conspiracy theory might actually be correct.

On the actual point of the OP, Trump is certainly amoral enough to do deliberate arson, but I suspect he might have way too much pride in his own property to consider setting fire to his own property.

They were right about van der Lubbe, but everything else was a tissue of cloth. The nazis used an actual crime to spin out a conspiracy amongst leading Socialists and Communists to kill Titler (at the time the only thing the Communists and Socialists could agree on was that it was worse to ally than to let the nazis run rampant).

When I originally wrote that post, I pointed out that the consensus was that, while they were right about van der Lubbe, the Nazis used the arson as an excuse to push through the agenda they wanted to push through anyway. I think I erased that due to figuring out I wrote the opening sentence poorly, I erased that part and forgot to reinstate it; and thanks to the two-hour limit passing, I can't do that.

[vorlon13]

Fire victim was a prominent art dealer. Was part of Andy Warhol coterie back in the day. Fire was confined to his apartment. Injuries to the 4 firefighters were not serious.