"Where books are burned, in the end people will be burned."
-- Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine Quote, Bebelplatz, Berlin, Germany
Image by Jake Jenkins
One of the most horrific events at the start of the Holocaust in Germany; the event that started the destruction of Jews and the non-Aryan race: The Berlin Book Burning of May 10, 1933. The date signifies a mass book burning on Bebelplatz, formerly known as Opernplatz, in Berlin Germany. Students from Universities and the Hitler Youth (See the Hitler Youth), gathered together to join in on the destruction of the "unofficial blacklist of ideas, authors, and books more widely known in Germany" (Rose 12).
Many institutions and libraries were raided to purge all non-German ideals. The works of many writers and authors were seized and obtained for destruction. Some writers were even witnesses to their own books being burned. (See Institut fur Sexualwissenschaft)
The books symbolized freedom of ideals and philosophies that could captivate the reader. Some books had ideals of self-control and freedom of thought, while others were just stories. According the Nazis, it did not matter what the book was about, if it did not contain “German” views and a stance that was for Germany and no other, then it was tossed in the blaze.
According to scholar J. M. Ritchie, “Strangely enough, as it turned out, Erich Kästner and Armin T. Wegner were not the only authors to witness the notorious student action, though Kästner was probably the only one who actually heard his own name being shouted and saw his own books being burned” (630-631). Kästner was a German author, known mainly for writing children’s books, who opposed the Nazi regime and knowingly watched as his very own books dissolved into ash. So, it did not matter that he himself was German; it is the fact that he was not fully supporting the Nazis, as they demanded of him.
According to Leonidas E. Hill, writer in The Holocaust and the Book: Destruction and Preservation, the evening progressed as follows:
"Books were burned at thirty German universities, mostly on or within a few days of 10 May 1933 but continuing until 21 June. There were two burnings each at Hamburg and Heidelberg..The students attempted to synchronize the events from eleven until midnight on 10 May in order to exhibit the new technology of radio. The "Deutschland Sender" broadcast the activities and a number of cities, and in Munich all four of the "Bayerischen Rundfunk" carried the story. At 11:30 PM fireman nourish the flames of kerosene, and as they rose, students chanted the nine Nazi cultural canons of the "Feuersprüche," naming twenty-four authors exemplifying them (including a witness Erich Kästner), while throwing their books on the fire. At several universities the bonfire sputtered and even died under a downpour, which calls postponements or cancellations." (Rose 16)
Not only were books burned in Berlin at Bebelplatz, but this catastrophe spread to many universities. The most notable of the burnings is Berlin because according to the Nazis, it was a success. Joseph Goebbels, the prime minister of propoganda, gave his speech, which was broadcasted on the radio. His speech consisted of rising up a new age, a pheonix, from the ashes. (For more, see Joseph Goebbels)
Book-Burning Memorial, Bebelplatz, Berin Germany
Image by Jake Jenkins
Book-Burning Cite, Bebelplatz, Berlin, Germany
Image by Jake Jenkins