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What was the purpose of book burning in Nazi Germany?

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The May 1933 book burning in Nazi Germany had a precedent in nineteenth century Germany. In 1817, German student associations (Burschenschaften) chose the 300th anniversary of Luther's 95 Theses to hold a festival at the Wartburg, a castle in Thuringia where Luther had sought sanctuary after his excommunication. read more

The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the German Student Union to ceremonially burn books in Nazi Germany and Austria in the 1930s. The books targeted for burning were those viewed as being subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism. These included books written by Jewish, pacifist, religious, classical liberal, anarchist, socialist, and communist authors, among others. The first books burned were those of Karl Marx and Karl Kautsky. read more

The Primary Rationale, offered for the Burnings was that they were “Un-German”. The Student Union wanted to take action and Cleanse the Un German Spirit of these books by fire. In reality it was the onset of State sponsored Censorship, one that would get progressively worse over time. read more

Analyzes the symbolic cleansing function that Nazi ideologues associated with the 1933 book burnings and the corresponding perceptions of many intellectual and non-German observers who associated a new German cultural barbarity with the burnings. Includes numerous photographs and illustrations and a bibliography. read more

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