- Headline
-
Germany to Burn Books at Shrine of Nazi Kultur
- Sub-Headline
- Tens of Thousands of Volumes Seized for Greatest Bonfires Since Inquisition
- Publication Date
- Friday, April 14, 1933
- Historical Event
-
German Students, Nazis Stage Nationwide Book Burnings
This database includes 930 articles about this event - Article Type
- Newspaper
- Page Section and Number
- 1
- Author/Byline
- H. R. Knickerbocker
- Article Text
- BERLIN, April 13—The most spectacular burnt offering of books ever offered the world since the Inquisition will be staged in Germany May 10, when, after four weeks of searching private and public libraries, Nazi students will gather their booty of tens of thousands of "seditious, un-German, Jewish, Marxist" publications and consign them to the flames of 65 huge bonfires in the quadrangles of 65 German universities and other institutions of higher education.
This monumental holocaust was announced today by the German Students Association, now the sole representative of German students of all educational institutions of the Reich and representative also of the students of German blood in schools of Austria and other neighboring states.
It constitutes the peak of a "month of enlightenment'' and of the "campaign against the un-German spirit," which began yesterday.
100,00 Students Take Part
Approximately 100,000 students are participating in this work of "enlightenment" and will, in the last two weeks of the campaign, devote their whole libraries of suspicious works.
Chief among the 12 points outlined by the students' association to guide the campaign are the following:
"The purity of our language is our precious treasure.
"The Jew is our most dangerous opponent.
"The Jew can only think Jewishly. If he write German he lies.
"We demand that the censor compel all Jewish works to appear only in Hebrew. If they appear in German they must be clearly marked as translations.
"The German language must be used only by Germans.
"In the third week of the campaign, every student," the outline continues, "must purge his own library of all un-German books which may have been thoughtlessly acquired. Every student must search the libraries of his friends and acquaintances, and delegations from the students' associations will search the public libraries. On the tenth day of May all this degenerative literature will be consigned to the flames. Notification of assembly places for confiscated literature will be made later."
The action of the students harmonizes perfectly with the movement throughout the Reich to fit every cultural activity into the frame of National Socialism and to repress ruthlessly not only every dissenting but every neutral voice.
Reich Journalists Reorganize
The Association of German Journalists was reorganized yesterday with a Nazi president, who informed the assembled writers that objectivity no longer had any place in German journalism. At the same time the Nazis are preparing laws for the reorganization of German music critics, requiring licenses and denying licenses to "non-Aryans."
The confiscation and the burning of the books also coincides with the Party policy of giving the populace an almost uninterrupted show. Chancellor Hitler's birthday is April 20 and it will be celebrated by a Nation-wide collection of alms from "all employers, factory owners, business men and farmers" in order that "on this day of rejoicing there shall be not one single hungry person in Germany."
May 1, it is declared, is "Germany's Labor Day." It will be celebrated with huge demonstrations through the Reich, with torchlight parades and military band concerts, and once more the entire Nation is enjoined to display flags and sing patriotic songs.
(Copyright, 1933) - History Unfolded Contributor
- Carlos G.
- Location of Research
- Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com)
Learn More about this Historical Event: German Students, Nazis Stage Nationwide Book Burnings
- Book Burning (Encyclopedia Article)
- Immediate American Responses to Nazi Book Burnings (Encyclopedia Article)
- Culture in the Third Reich: Overview (Encyclopedia Article)
- Book Burning (Timeline)
Bibliography
Birchall, Frederick T. “Burning of the Books, May 10, 1933.” In National Socialist Germany: Twelve Years that Shook the World, edited by Louis L. Snyder, 101–104. Malabor, FL: Krieger, 1984.
Stern, Guy. “The Burning of the Books in Nazi Germany, 1933: The American Response.” (external link) Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual 2, (1985): 95–114.
Stern, Guy. Nazi Book Burning and the American Response: Distinguished Lecture. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University, 1991.
United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Nazi Book Burnings and the American Response. Washington, DC: United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 1988.
Download the full newspaper page
See full image on newspapers.com
Newspaper images provided by Newspapers.com
