Damon Mcknight
The burning of books has a long history of being used by authorities to suppress dissenting or heretical views. One of the most famous instances of book burning in history was carried out by the Nazis in Germany and Austria in the 1930s. On May 10, 1933, university students in 34 university towns across Germany and Austria burned over 25,000 books that were deemed un-German and subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism. This included books written by Jewish, Marxist, Bolshevik, leftist, liberal, pacifist, and sexologist authors, among others. The book burnings were a powerful symbol of Nazi intolerance and censorship and were intended to mark the beginning of a new cultural era.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date | 10 May 1933 |
| Locations | 34 university towns across Germany, including Berlin, Munich, Dresden, and Salzburg, Austria |
| Organisers | German Student Union (DSt), German Students' Union, local Nazi-dominated student groups |
| Participants | University students, Nazi supporters, nationalist students, members of the Hitler Youth |
| Books burned | Books by Jewish, Marxist, Bolshevik, leftist, liberal, pacifist, socialist, anarchist, communist, and sexologist authors, including Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Magnus Hirschfeld, Lion Feuchtwanger, Rosa Luxemburg, Erich Maria Remarque, Bertolt Brecht, August Bebel, Karl Marx, Arthur Schnitzler, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Mann |
| Reasons | Books were considered "un-German", subversive, or representing ideologies opposed to Nazism |
| Speakers | Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda; Kurt Ellersiek, "elder of the German students"; Karl Gegenbach, law student and main organiser of the Munich book burning |
| Attendance | 40,000 people in Berlin; 70,000 onlookers in Munich |
| Media coverage | Radio broadcasts, newspaper coverage, photographs |
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What You'll Learn
- Nazi book burnings in Austria were part of a campaign to ceremonially burn books deemed un-German
- Books by Jewish, communist, socialist, and anarchist authors were among those burned
- The Nazi book burnings were met with international criticism and outrage from intellectuals and the press
- The book burnings were a prelude to the systematic persecution of Jewish, Marxist, and politically undesirable writers
- The Nazi book burnings were a form of censorship and cultural genocide
Nazi book burnings in Austria were part of a campaign to ceremonially burn books deemed un-German
The Nazi book burnings in Austria were part of a campaign to ceremonially burn books deemed "un-German". The campaign was conducted by the German Student Union (Deutsche Studentenschaft, DSt) in the 1930s, with the goal of purging society of ideologies opposed to Nazism. The books that were burned included works by Jewish, half-Jewish, communist, socialist, anarchist, liberal, pacifist, and sexologist authors, among others. The initial targets were the books of Karl Marx and Karl Kautsky, but the burnings soon expanded to include other authors, such as Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, and Magnus Hirschfeld. The book burnings stood as a powerful symbol of Nazi intolerance and censorship, and they were often accompanied by speeches, songs, and ceremonial incantations.
On May 10, 1933, university students in 34 university towns across Germany and Austria burned over 25,000 books. This date is known as the "Action against the Un-German Spirit". The works of prominent Jewish, liberal, and leftist writers were thrown into the bonfires, including the writings of Bertolt Brecht, Erich Maria Remarque, Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Helen Keller, and Thomas Mann. In Berlin, 40,000 people gathered to hear German Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels speak. Goebbels promoted the Nazi message through art, music, theatre, films, books, radio, and the press, and he censored all opposition. In his speech, he declared:
> "The era of extreme Jewish intellectualism is now at an end... The future German man will not just be a man of books, but a man of character. It is to this end that we want to educate you... And thus you do well in this midnight hour to commit to the flames the evil spirit of the past."
The Nazi book burnings were met with international criticism from intellectuals and the press, who viewed them as barbaric acts that were out of step with modern, civilized society. The book burnings were a prelude to the systematic persecution of Jewish, Marxist, pacifist, and politically undesirable writers by the Nazi regime. They sent a clear message to Germany and the world that the Nazi regime's rise to power marked the beginning of a new cultural era, one that would eradicate the "depraved" culture of the Weimar Republic.
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Books by Jewish, communist, socialist, and anarchist authors were among those burned
The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the German Student Union (Deutsche Studentenschaft, DSt) to ceremonially burn books in Nazi Germany and Austria in the 1930s. The books targeted for burning were those considered “un-German” and subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism.
On May 10, 1933, university students in 34 university towns across Germany burned over 25,000 books. In Berlin, 40,000 people gathered to hear German Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels give a speech in Berlin's Opera Square. Goebbels promoted the Nazi message through art, music, theatre, films, books, radio, and the press, and censored all opposition. He declared:
> "The era of extreme Jewish intellectualism is now at an end... The future German man will not just be a man of books, but a man of character. It is to this end that we want to educate you... And thus you do well in this midnight hour to commit to the flames the evil spirit of the past."
The books burned included those by Jewish, half-Jewish, communist, socialist, anarchist, liberal, pacifist, and sexologist authors, among others. The initial books burned were those of Karl Marx and Karl Kautsky, but soon came to include other authors, including Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Magnus Hirschfeld, Lion Feuchtwanger, Rosa Luxemburg, Erich Maria Remarque, Bertolt Brecht, August Bebel, Arthur Schnitzler, and Ernest Hemingway.
The Nazi book burnings were a powerful symbol of Nazi intolerance and censorship and were met with international criticism from intellectuals and the press, who saw it as a barbaric act. They were a prelude to the systematic persecution of Jewish, Marxist, pacifist, and politically undesirable writers by the Nazi regime.
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The Nazi book burnings were met with international criticism and outrage from intellectuals and the press
The international press reported on the book burnings, with American media responding with shock and outrage. Newsweek, for example, called it "a holocaust of books", while Time magazine referred to it as a "bibliocaust". The New York Herald Tribune columnist Walter Lippmann wrote that the book burnings symbolised the moral and intellectual character of the Nazi regime, suggesting that they were more than just symbolic acts and indicative of the government's true intentions. He was one of the few journalists who recognised the book burnings as an ominous sign of the Nazis' ultimate goal of violence and war preparation.
Protests against the book burnings took place in several American cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. Louis. In New York, 100,000 people marched to protest Nazi policies. American writers and intellectuals also voiced their opposition, with novelist Sherwood Anderson, best-selling author Faith Baldwin, scriptwriter Erwin Cobb, and Nobel laureate Sinclair Lewis declaring their solidarity with the banned writers. They understood that burning books was an attempt to silence dissenting voices and erase certain ideas from existence.
The Nazi book burnings caused a "mass exodus of German writers, artists, and intellectuals" in 1933, who fled to countries like America, England, and France. Those in exile worked to preserve the banned and burned books, establishing the Library of the Burned Books in Paris on May 10, 1934, to collect and assemble copies of the destroyed works.
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The book burnings were a prelude to the systematic persecution of Jewish, Marxist, and politically undesirable writers
The Nazi book burnings in Austria and Germany in the 1930s were a campaign led by the German Student Union (Deutsche Studentenschaft, or DSt) to ceremonially burn books that were considered ""un-German"" or "subversive". The books targeted were those written by Jewish, Marxist, Bolshevik, communist, socialist, anarchist, liberal, pacifist, and sexologist authors, among others. The book burnings were a powerful symbol of Nazi intolerance and censorship and were intended to mark the beginning of a new cultural era.
The works of prominent Jewish, Marxist, pacifist, and politically undesirable writers were among those burned. Authors whose books were burned included Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Helen Keller, Karl Marx, Karl Kautsky, Bertolt Brecht, August Bebel, Arthur Schnitzler, Ernest Hemingway, Lion Feuchtwanger, Rosa Luxemburg, Erich Maria Remarque, and Heinrich Heine. Heine, a 19th-century German Jewish poet, famously wrote, "Where they burn books, they will also ultimately burn people."
The book burnings were staged as propaganda spectacles, with marches, songs, and speeches by high-ranking Nazi officials such as Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's minister of propaganda and public information. Goebbels referred to the authors whose books were burned as "intellectual filth" and "Jewish asphalt literati." The burnings were broadcast live on the radio and received widespread newspaper coverage, spreading the Nazi message throughout Germany and beyond.
The book burnings were indeed a prelude to the systematic persecution of Jewish, Marxist, and politically undesirable writers, as well as other groups targeted by the Nazis. The Nazis raided bookstores, libraries, and publishers' warehouses to confiscate materials deemed dangerous or "un-German." The burning of books was part of a larger campaign of cultural genocide, with books also being burned en masse in occupied territories such as Poland. The Nazis' drive to rid the country of all that was "un-German" led to the destruction of books, art, and other cultural artifacts.
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The Nazi book burnings were a form of censorship and cultural genocide
The Nazi book burnings took place in Germany and Austria in the 1930s, with the first wave occurring in May 1933. On May 10, 1933, university students in 34 towns across Germany burned over 25,000 books. The works of Jewish authors, such as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Helen Keller, were burned alongside those of blacklisted American authors like Ernest Hemingway. Similar demonstrations occurred in Austrian cities like Salzburg following the unification of Germany and Austria.
The book burnings were carefully planned and staged as a propaganda spectacle, with speeches, songs, and ceremonial incantations broadcast live on the radio. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's minister of propaganda, addressed the event in Berlin, declaring the end of "Jewish intellectualism" and the reeducation of German youth. The "`Twelve Theses`, published by the DSt, called for a "`pure`" national language and culture, free from the influence of Jewish and non-German ideas.
The Nazi book burnings sent a clear message to Germany and the world: the rise of the Nazi regime marked the beginning of a new cultural era. The campaign extended beyond Germany and Austria, with books burned en masse in occupied territories like Poland. The Nazis raided bookstores, libraries, and publishers' warehouses to confiscate materials deemed "un-German" or incompatible with Nazi ideology. This act of censorship and cultural genocide provoked international criticism and was seen as a barbaric act by intellectuals and the press.
The burning of books has a long history as a tool of censorship and suppression of dissenting views. The Nazi book burnings, however, were distinctive in their scale and systematic nature, with tens of thousands of volumes burned and a comprehensive blacklist of authors targeted. The book burnings were a powerful symbol of Nazi intolerance and their campaign to reshape German culture and society.
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Frequently asked questions
Books were burned in Austria as part of a campaign by the German Student Union to ceremonially burn books that were considered subversive or representative of ideologies opposed to Nazism.
Books by Jewish, half-Jewish, communist, socialist, anarchist, liberal, pacifist, and sexologist authors were burned. Works of prominent Jewish, liberal, and leftist writers were also burned.
Nazi-dominated student groups carried out the public burnings. University students in 34 university towns across Germany and Austria burned over 25,000 books.
The book burnings stood as a powerful symbol of Nazi intolerance and censorship. They were a prelude to the systematic persecution of Jewish, Marxist, pacifist, and politically undesirable writers by the Nazi regime.
