Book Day in Germany

The Fire Festival was the starting point for total censorship.Book Day is held annually in Germany on May 10. This date is not chosen by chance – it reminds millions of people around the world of the true face of fascism. It was on May 10, 1933, that a barbaric action took place in Berlin and some other German cities, where the National Socialists burned books that were objectionable to Hitler’s regime.

This action was planned in the bowels of the Ministry of Propaganda of Germany in February 1933. Its authorship is attributed to a German philologist, Dr. Goebbels, who had just been appointed minister of the above-mentioned department.

The public burning of books was aimed, firstly, at intimidating the “average man” who was accustomed to treating the printed word with respect, and secondly, at attracting young people to the side of the National Socialists. It gave young people the opportunity to feel the radicalism of the new government, as well as the fact that the new government has high hopes for it. It was the students who were assigned a major role in the forthcoming Inquisition of Books.

Public actions of book burning took place in many, mainly university, cities of the country: Bonn, Frankfurt am Main, Munich. At the “bonfire festival” teachers and the rector of the university were required to attend. “First writers, then teachers,” the students whispered.

Oscar Maria Graf, a famous German writer, did not find her surname on the list of books burned. But that did not make him happy. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to write the truth!” he said. “Why don’t you also burn my books?” Did I write badly?

20,000 books were burned in Berlin alone. Mostly books by Jewish authors, as well as works of Marxist and pacifist character. The works of Albert Einstein, Karl Marx, the works of Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Stefan Zweig, Erich Koestner, Sigmund Freud and others.

Goebbels' action had the expected effect. Revolutionary enthusiasm and radicalism, the conflict of generations and the ambition of young scientists – all were skillfully used to attract young people to the side of the National Socialists. German students of the early 30s had the most dizzying university career in German history. Now the youth had only to organize. The Nazi regime accomplished this task very soon.

The Fire Festival was the starting point for total censorship.

During the Nazi dictatorship, the list of banned books grew to 5,500. Some authors are banned completely, others partially. Under the pressure of state propaganda fall writers, poets, and scientists. German literature is being suppressed. Almost all prominent writers leave for emigration - the Mann family (Thomas and Heinrich), Remarque, Feuchtwanger, Stefan Gheorghe, Bertolt Brecht. Those who remain either stop writing or become victims of unknown killers. Of the famous writers, only Ernst Junger and Gottfried Benn remain loyal to the regime. The fate of German immigrants is dramatic, sometimes tragic. Kurt Tuholsky, Karl Einstein, Walter Benjamin, Stefan Zweig voluntarily leave life by committing suicide.

Now the events of the 30s in Germany seem terrible and incredible. And yet, one should never forget about them in order to prevent a recurrence of the “bonfire” in the future. For this purpose, in the modern Bebelplatz Square, where books were once burned, there is one of the most striking monuments in Germany - "Versunkene Bibliothek" ("Down library"). The author is the Israeli architect Micha Ullmann, whose parents left Germany in 1933. In the center of the square, under a thick square of glass, is a white room with empty bookshelves. The magic glow spreading from under the glass attracts passers-by. The empty space beneath the ground conveys the idea of loss. And next to the glass slab is a small explanatory sign: “On this square on May 10, 1933, Nazi students burned books.”