1933: Germans are burning books, why?

HellWarrior · Mar 2, 2013

Thanks everybody. I understand now why the Germans did burn books.

LRusso216 said:

I think that Victor is correct. The Nazis wanted to control what could be seen and read from the past and the outside. It was meant to control what the people could understand for themselves. By doing so, they could influence the masses by allowing only what they deemed "correct". They hoped to destroy any knowledge which they did not control. That meant their own past as well as thinkers from other countries that did not conform to their ideals of the "Volk".
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With this explanation it is crystal clear! Thanks LRusso216.

belasar said:

The answers so far are both correct and good, but I think they leave out an aspect that was as important as the books chosen to be burned.

In a Communist country, indeed most totalitarian societies, the government or ruling body would come in the middle of the night with nameless, faceless men to collect all the "unacceptable or subversive" material to be taken away. They would claim to be acting in defense of the people, without telling them the details.

The Nazi's took it one, clever step further. They made the people themselves an eager and willing participant. They brought these books from home or a bookstore and chucked them publicly, in front of their neighbors and friends, into the fire. It was not simply the government acting, but seemingly the people.
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I didn't think about that. Good point belasar!

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1933: Germans are burning books, why?

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