Tonight is the 75th anniversary of the Nazi book burnings, die Bücherverbrennung. On May 10, 1933, the German Student Association, prompted by official propagandist Joseph Goebbels, organized the burning of 35,000 "un-German" books in university towns throughout the country. Most of the books were written by Jews, making this an act of cultural genocide, and a harbinger of the Holocaust.
You can see a chilling video of the book bonfire at the Opernplatz (now Bebelplatz) in Berlin and hear Goebbel's address to the Nazi youth at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The website also has a good overview of the event and an online exhibition. When Books Burn is another good online exhibition, hosted by the University of Arizona Library. Do take a few moments to learn about this dark moment in human history.
Where they burn books, they will also burn humans in the end.
—Heinrich HeineThose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
—George Santayana
via Kimbooktu
