In may 1940, during nazi germanys offensive in europe in world war ii, the university library of leuven, belgium was destroyed by the german army and 900,000 books burned. Us holocaust memorial museum, courtesy of national archives and records administration, college park, md. America and the nazi book burnings will run through may 23, 2010 at the national world war ii museum. In the modern sense, its very much a mid20th century idea, very much a propaganda thing that happens during world war ii, says matthew. Book burning united states holocaust memorial museum. Many german students were complicit in the nazi book burning campaign.
During the spring of 1933, nazi student organizations, professors, and librarians made up long lists of books they thought should not be read by germans. Berlin book burnings and tells the story of how america responded by printing hundreds of millions of books for americans serving in world war ii. The works of jewish authors like albert einstein and. When books went to war houghton mifflin harcourt, by molly guptill manning, details the 1933 berlin book burnings and tells the story of how america responded by printing hundreds of millions of books for americans serving in world war ii. A member of the sa throws confiscated books into the bonfire during the public burning of ungerman books on the opernplatz in berlin, may 10, 1933. The nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the german student union the dst. Nazi propaganda and censorship the holocaust encyclopedia. This was after 300,000 others had burned when the library was attacked in world war i. When alqaida islamists invaded mali, and then timbuktu in 2012, among their targets were priceless manuscriptsbooks that needed to be burned. In an interesting aftermath to the nazi book burnings, in 1946, the process was reversed by the allied leaders. They marched by torchlight in nighttime parades, sang chants, and threw books into huge bonfires. While not performed in public, millions of books were seized from germany and destroyed.
On the night of may 10, 1933, an event unseen in europe since the middle ages occurred as german students from universities once regarded as among the finest in the world, gathered in berlin to burn books with ungerman ideas. A brief history of book burning, from the printing press. Some 30,000 different titles with subject matter from poetry to educational publications used in schools were eliminated. E5325 t45 1942 find in a library near you external link the text of a 1942 radio play written by an american poet and broadcast on the ninth anniversary of the book burnings. Book burnings in germany, 1933 american experience official. Fahrenheit 451 movie and the true history of book burning time. The book burnings took place in 34 university towns and cities. The largest of these book bonfires occurred in berlin, where an estimated 40,000 people gathered to hear a speech by. These book burnings marked the beginning of a period of extensive censorship and control of culture in adolf hitlers escalating reign of terror. Then, on the night of may 10, 1933, nazis raided libraries and bookstores across germany. The mass book burnings marked a turning point in the nazis ideology campaigns. Beginning on may 10, 1933, nazidominated student groups carried out public burnings of books they claimed were ungerman. Pastor terry joness plan to burn 200 copies of the quran in florida was widely condemned.
The book burnings stood as a powerful symbol of nazi intolerance and censorship. On may 10, 1933, university students in 34 university towns across germany burned over 25,000 books. Dramatizes the imagined voices of well known literary figures such as heine, schiller. University library of salzburg against oblivion april 30, 1938 april 30, 20. But the damage couldve been much worse if not for men like abdel kader haidara, who risked their lives to protect the medieval works.