Marinus van der Lubbe

Marinus van der Lubbe (January 13, 1909 - January 10, 1934) was a Dutch communist accused of setting fire to the German Reichstag building on February 27, 1933.

Born in Leiden, Holland, van der Lubbe in his youth worked as a bricklayer until he suffered a debilitating accident in 1926, which left him unemployed. He soon joined the Dutch Communist Party (CPH) and planned to emigrate to the Soviet Union, but lacked the funds to do so. He was active among the unemployed workers movement until, in 1931, he went into disagreement with the CPH and instead approached the IKG (Internationalist Communist Group). In order to become active in the local opposition against the Nazis, he went to Germany in 1933.

Van der Lubbe was beheaded after his arrest and trial on January 10, 1934, just three days before his twenty-fifth birthday. For details, refer to the Reichstag fire page.