School of Information Management
& Systems. Fall 2003.
142 Access to American Cultural Heritages. M. Buckland.
“[I]t’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” — Judy Blume
Read the ALA pages on challenged and banned books and book burning.
Excerpt from the Holocaust Learning Center:
In 1933, Nazi Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels began the synchronization of culture (Gleichschaltung), by which the arts were brought in line with Nazi goals. The government purged cultural organizations of Jews and others alleged to be politically or artistically suspect.
On April 6, 1933, the German Student Association's Main Office for Press and
Propaganda proclaimed a nationwide “Action against the Un-German Spirit,”
to climax in a literary purge or “cleansing” (Säuberung) by fire.
In a symbolic act of ominous significance, on May 10 the students burned upwards
of 25,000 volumes of “un-German” books, presaging an era of state
censorship and control of culture.
The day before the scheduled book burnings, the German Student Association sent out a circular which contained statements to be read as books were tossed to the flames. These so-called "fire oaths" accompanied the burning of works written by the individual authors named in the statements.
| 1. Against class struggle and materialism For national community and an idealistic lifestyle Marx and Kautsky |
2. Against decadence and moral decay For discipline and decency in family and state Heinrich Mann, Ernst Glaeser, and Erich Kästner |
| 3. Against opportunism and political betrayal For devotion to nation and state F. W. Förster |
4. Against soul-shredding overvaluation of sexual activity For the nobility of the human soul Freudian School, magazine Imago |
| 5. Against the falsification of our history and disparagement
of its great figures For reverence for our past Emil Ludwig, Werner Hegemann |
6. Against the democratic-Jewish character of journalism alien
to the nation For responsible collaboration on the work of national construction Theodor Wolff and Georg Bernhard |
| 7. Against literary betrayal of the soldiers of the World
War For the education of the nation in the spirit of standing to battle Erich Maria Remarque |
8. Against the arrogant corruption of the German language For the cultivation of the most precious possession of our nation Alfred Kerr |
| 9. Against impudence and presumption For veneration and reverence for the immortal German national spirit Tucholsky and Ossietzky |
In 1949, the National Library of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) published a book: "Index of writings which were not allowed to be announced during 1933-1945" (Verzeichnis der Schriften, die 1933-1945 nicht angezeigt werden durften) which included all books, pamphlets, flyers etc. that couldn't or wouldn't be indexed in the National Bibliography during these years due to nationalsocialistic (Nazi) censorship or war impact. This list contained 7,232 titles and included many of the authors that immigrated to other countries and were among the ones burned. It also contained 56 references to Lenin's writings and other soviet literature. However, not all books published during these years were indexed.
Even earlier, in 1946, the Eastgerman administration (under soviet occupation) published another book: "Index of writings to be removed" (Liste der auszusondernden Literatur) which contained all texts that were deemed nationalsocialistic and militaristic. All writings by Hitler and other popular Nazi figures were to be removed. As were M. Luther's writings against Judaism as a religion, for example. Books with the following contents were removed from libraries and schoolrooms statewide:
In 1947, a new, second national library was created in the Westgerman occupation zone in Frankfurt / M and in 1949, both German states were proclaimed. Now 2 national libraries had the task to collect and preserve German literature, published in Germany and anywhere else in the world. However, not all publications (i.e. some books against the prevalent regime, but also pornography, hate speech etc.) were publically available to the people. Is a peaceful society without censorship possible?
We abhor the "synchronization of culture" in Nazi Germany and the systematic oppression (not only literary) of critical voices but we approve the removement of writings containing hate speech, racial discrimination and sexual inequality.
1.) How can we distinguish one censorship from the other?
2.) Read the fire oaths that were proclaimed during the book burning of 1933.
Taken out of context, many of these "theses" can be found in national
advocacies for censorship even today. What makes them problematic ("dangerous")
in the Nazi context?
3.) Who is protected by censorship? Who is discriminated against?
4.) Cultural relativism entails that we give every form of writing equal rights
of publication and distribution. What are the reasons and advantages of this
approach? What is the problem?
5.) Do you think that the German libraries should completely destroy Hitler's
writings? (They have been removed from the public shelves but have been preserved
and can be looked at with special permission.)
6.) If we allow censorship, who should have authority to decide which writings
should be banned and which should not?
7.) Read the following quote from Heinrich Heine from his play Almansor (1821):
“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.”
(German: “Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch
Menschen.")
Why are books so important that they are compared with human beings? What is
the significance of book "burning"? Why do you think book burning
is still practised?