Rallying to the Defense

Abstract

Willi Muenzenberg, a German Communist, was the point man for the Comintern’s effort to counter the Reichstag arson accusations. This master at public relations organized an anti-Nazi coalition to influence European public opinion and in April 1933, initiated the creation of a Commission of Inquiry, which he expected to convene just prior to an official German trial.¹ Muenzenberg and other Communists adapted to democratic sensibilities by intentionally staying in the background, but the process soon gained its own momentum as liberal intellectuals (such as the American civil libertarian attorney Arthur Garfield Hays) came to emphasize an objective rule of law and the fate of individual defendants rather than ideological confrontation. Thus, the first international citizens’ tribunal was established, setting forth the guidelines for future similar endeavors.