The Reichstag Fire After-Effects: History Matters

First published in the MVN in January 2019 as a column by Quest Lakes.

The German parliament building, the Reichstag, was set on fire in 1933, just one month after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. Hitler claimed the Communist Party of Germany was behind the arson. Many historians say the burning of the Reichstag was actually secretly planned and ordered by the Nazis as a false flag operation, possibly under direction of military leader Hermann Göring, who later became one of the most influential members of the Nazi party.

Whatever the truth is, the Nazis used the fire as a way to gain control over Germany. On the advice of Chancellor Adolf Hitler, German President Paul von Hindenburg quickly passed the Reichstag Fire Decree, claiming the blaze marked the start of a terror campaign by the Left. The Decree was used as the legal basis for locking up anyone considered to be opponents of the Nazi party, and to stamp out news media and other publications that weren’t in line with the Nazi cause (the Nazis popularized the term “lugenpresse” or “lying press”). The Decree – similar to declaring a National Emergency -- was ultimately used to establish a one-party Nazi state in Germany.

The Reichstag Fire Decree indefinitely suspended most of the civil liberties outlined in the Weimar Constitution, such as habeas corpus, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the right of free association and public assembly, the privacy of mail and telephone communication, and protections of property. Under the Decree, unwarranted searches of homes, “preventative detention” by the police, and confiscations of property were allowed.

A few weeks after the passage of the Decree, Hitler’s party passed the Enabling Act, which gave his cabinet the legal power to decree laws without being passed by the German parliament.

The combined Enabling Act and Reichstag Fire Decree formed the legal basis for Hitler’s dictatorship - he ruled under what amounted to martial law throughout the Nazi reign.

As my mother might say, “what does all of this have to do with the price of beans?” I wish I could answer, “Nothing at all. It’s simply a review of a horrifying period of history.” But as Yale history professor Timothy Snyder writes in his article The Reichstag Warning, “the aspiring tyrants of today have not forgotten the lesson of 1933: that acts of terror—real or fake, provoked or accidental—can provide the occasion to deal a death blow to democracy...The Reichstag fire has long been an example for tyrants; it should today be a warning for citizens.”

*Note: In 2005, Silver City, Nevada residents passed a resolution during their town advisory board meeting affirming the Bill of Rights and opposing the overreaching sections of the PATRIOT Act, including 215, the section that the National Security Agency (NSA). The resolution emphasized the need to strike the appropriate balance between security and liberty. The purpose of the resolution was to promote respect for the Bill of Rights. It also "raised the bar of constitutional protection by re-establishing a minimum evidentiary requirement of probable cause before local resources are employed in the detention, investigation, or surveillance of an individual, or the collection or sharing of his/her confidential data. The resolution also prohibited the use of local resources for immigration enforcement, which is the responsibility of the federal government, and it affirmed Silver City's commitment not to engage in racial or ethnic profiling.”

Resident Artist Program Brought Poetry, Music, Art Workshops and More in 2018

Silver City, Nevada - The visiting artists at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City contributed a wide range of good things to the northern Nevada region in 2018. Pulitzer Prize nominated poet David Lee was at the Program for a third time. His new book of poems, many of them set in Silver City, will be published in 2019. Gary Short, the only Nevada writer in the history of the state to win the Western States Book Award, offered a well-attended poetry reading. Lens-based artist Megan Berner led a delightful outdoor workshop on the cyanotype photographic printing process with locals. Two large artworks for McCormick House – an indoor mural and a new sign for the Program – were created by emerging artist Allison Rasmussen. Guitarist Mylo McCormick gave a free outdoor concert at the Silver Pavilion stage and other venues in the area.

At the beginning of the new year, we'd like to express our sincere gratitude for the superlative work our 2018 artists in residence have shared and for the support the northern Nevada region has given to the Program.

David Lee, Utah’s first and longest serving Poet Laureate, expects his latest collection of poems to be published this year through 5 Sisters Press. It will include a number of poems set in Silver City, such as “Silver City Dawn Psalm” and “An Aubade, A Love Poem, 9 November 2016”. Lee has been at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City in 2016, 2017 and 2018. A 2001 finalist for the position of United States Poet Laureate, Lee was also a 2016 and 1999 nominee for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. During a 2018 radio interview with KNVC 95.1FM radio, he read several poems written during his time at McCormick House: https://knvc.org/featured/poet-david-lee-reads-unpublished-work-from-his-new-collection-mine-tailings/

One of our spring Resident Artists was Megan Berner, a lens-based artist with a Master of Fine Arts from Iowa University. Participants in her cyanotype process workshops at the Silver City School House made and took home their own unique piece of art. Berner also captured some lovely images of McCormick House, the housing for visiting artists with the Program. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally and is part of multiple collections including the Center for Art and Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art. Currently the City of Reno Public Art Program Coordinator, Berner been a lecturer at the University of Nevada Reno and Truckee Meadows Community College. She previously served as chair of the Reno Arts & Culture Commission, the official adviser to the City Council on arts and culture. During May of 2018, Berner was recorded in an excellent KNVC 95.1FM radio interview with Deana Hoover about her artwork, and her time at the Resident Artist Program: https://knvc.org/the-latest/in-the-studio-with-deana-hoover-megan-berner/

Gary Short, who was visiting from his home in Panajachel, Guatemala, gave a poetry reading at the Silver City School House. He read many of his earlier poems, as well as some of his latest poems. His recent poem "Kaleidoscope, Mischief, an Offering" includes the lines, "Driving Highway 341 between Mound House & Silver City, Nevada/ You witness a crime. Comstock Mining, Inc. murdering the earth." Short has been a Stegner fellow at Stanford, and has been awarded grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Nevada Arts Council, the Sierra Nevada Arts Council, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, etc. He is also a former editor for Hayden's Ferry Review, Shankpainter, and Great Basin Magazine. He's been on the faculty at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Old Dominion University, the University of California, Davis and University of Mississippi, etc. More about Gary: http://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/gary-short

Our most recent visiting artist is Mylo McCormick. At 19, he’s already been performing professionally for three years with the band Mo’z Motley Blues. He’s also performs solo at times, and has his own band, the Mylo McCormick Project. In 2018 he offered a free blues concert at the outdoor stage in the Silver City Park, and at other venues throughout the region, such as Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park, Brewery Arts Center, and Western Nevada College art galleries.

Each year, the Resident Artist Program hosts at least one young emerging artist. Allison Rasmussen, a Valedictorian at Argent Preparatory Academy who completed her Associate’s degree at age 18, was one of our winter visiting artists. She created a permanent artwork for the Resident Artist Program with David Lee's poem “Silver City Dawn Psalm” as its focus. She also created the gorgeous artwork for our new sign at McCormick House, based on a logo for Nevada that artist Jim McCormick created. Rasmussen had artwork in a spring student show at Western Nevada College. She also had work in the 2018 "True Grit" themed art exhibition at Western Nevada College that included emerging artists, as well as established artists such as Zoe Bray, Deon Reynolds, Carol Brown and Joan Arrizabalaga. More about the show: https://www.wnc.edu/wnc-to-celebrate-opening-of-true-grit-exhibit-on-may-3/

The Resident Artist Program also received many gifts from visiting artists this year, including a very generous donation from Michigan-based artist Brian Schorn of two remarkable assemblages from his Comstock Wabi Sabi series. Since 2015, his exhibition, comprised of dozens of artworks made with objects found on the Comstock during his Residency in Silver City, has been on display at Truckee Meadows Community College, St. Mary’s Art Center, the Microsoft Campus in Reno, and the Arts District in Reno.

Gary Short kindly donated copies of his own books of poetry and many other fine books, including a complete set of the journals of Alf Doten, and a rare copy of a book of poems by Nevada poet Irene Bruce, who lived in Silver City for a number of years.

The Program wouldn’t be possible without the community’s enthusiastic participation in workshops, poetry readings, and concerts. And we so appreciate the many thoughtful donations from locals Swami Pooja, Erich Obermayr, Las Swanson, Johne Boehner, and others.

Carson City has been an outstanding partner in helping us to invite the greater northern Nevada region to the free, public programming offered by our Resident Artists. We appreciate the support of Mark Salinas, Arts & Culture Coordinator for Carson City; Carson City Cultural Commission; the Carson City Arts and Culture Coalition; Visit Carson City; and Captial City Arts Initiative.

Finally, we are truly thankful for KNVC community radio, which has archived its expertly edited interviews with many of our Resident Artists.

What Is the Resident Artist Program?

The Resident Artist Program in Silver City is about creating, viewing, and discussing visual art, music poetry, and theater, but it's also about the ripple effect that's inevitable when people connect around arts programming. It's about sharing the gifts of time and attention with one another.

The Program provides a venue for those from other parts of the U.S. and the world to engage with the people of northern Nevada through the arts. Those creating in the performing, visual, or literary arts are invited to apply to reside for up to 3 months at McCormick House, a geodesic dome designed in the 1970s by artist and University Nevada Reno professor Jim McCormick. In exchange, visiting artists offer public performances, exhibitions, readings, workshops, etc. in Silver City and other Nevada communities. The Program is privately funded and directed. For more information, contact director Quest Lakes at 847-0742.