The Säuberung Baptism: The Reasoning Behind Nazi Book Burning

And they burned holy books as well as forcing the Jewish people to sit through long sermons promising hell to anyone who died Jewish. But, the difference between the anti-Jewish behavior of the Church and the anti-Semitic behavior of the Nazi’s was that the Church wished to destroy Judaism by converting the Jewish people, Hitler wanted to destroy the Jews themselves (45-47). This was the first recorded anti-Jewish behavior. After the murder of Christ, all Christians and Catholics hated the Jewish people. But they had reason and every generation the Churches have decided of way after way of punishing the Jewish people. But Germany has had a long history of anti-Semitism.

At the end of WWI, Germany was directly blamed for causing the great conflict. Many Germans could not accept this blame, and believed designed by the Jewish people as part of a greater conspiracy. Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. The Nazi rise to power ended the Weimar Republic, the German democracy that was established after World War I. The Nazi state, also called The Third Reich, quickly became a regime in which citizens had no guaranteed basic rights. Hitler’s first objective was to eliminate political opposition. The assault against the Jews began with a boycott of Jewish businesses. A week later the Nazis dismissed Jews from civil service, and by the end of the month the participation of Jews in German schools was restricted. In May 1933, thousands of Nazi students and professors stormed university libraries and bookstores in cities throughout Germany to

In this war, [World War II] we know, books are weapons” (Von Merveldt). He was trying to lift the American spirits in spite of the horrific events in Europe . In Germany, the mood was much more cheerful, as they were accompanied by singing of “Nazi songs and anthems” (The History Place). The leader of propaganda and book burning for the Nazi party, Joseph Goebbels, proclaimed “The flames not only illuminate the end of the old era, they also light up the new.” (Foxman) Unlike the rest of the world, the Nazi party viewed the book burning as a positive event and as a beginning, not an end.

Germans in the beginning of the Nazi era were campaigning to eliminate any signs of Jewish intellectualism or anti-socialist ideas within the public. This is eminent when the author states in the article “Book Burning” that, “German govt was trying to create support for the Nazi cause, by driving in the nazi ideas in social and cultural groups”(Book Burning, Holocaust

The Holocaust was the Nazi attempt to wipe out the Jewish race (Rossel 12). The Holocaust took place from 1933 to 1945 (Rossel 12). The Holocaust took place in Europe, mainly Germany (“Introduction” par 3). Mainly Jewish and Nazi people were involved in the Holocaust, as well as some Gypsies (“Introduction” par 2, 3). The Holocaust was the persecution of 6 million Jews and millions of others forced to live in ghettos, deported to camps, and systematically annihilated until the Allied forces liberated the remaining survivors.

The holocaust was the systematic, state-organized persecution and murder of at least six million jews. 100 days after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Nazis began having book burnings to get rid of un-German writings proclaiming the death of Jewish intellectualism. This was one of the first acts that foreshadowed the destruction Hitler would have in Germany. Since Hitler and the Nazis felt that all Jewish peoples made Germany impure, their goal was to put an end to the existence of all Jews. Nazis required the elimination of Jews from German life. Their first nationwide action against

Hitler came to power in January 1933 (Kolb). By that May, the Nazi Party began to publicly demonstrate their beliefs (Kolb). Joseph Goebbels organized the first of many book burning episodes on May 15th. Books that did not approve of Nazi beliefs were burnt in public; loyal Nazis ransacked libraries to remove books considered “offensive,” including Jewish, communist, and liberal texts (Kolb). This soon led to more active demonstrations of Nazi ideals, including Kristallnacht and concentration camps (Herf).

At this point in history the nation must face a massive reworking of government and redefining of society. It was "to this grand work of national regeneration and entire purification Congress must… address Itself, with full purpose".

Censorship is one of the many manifestations used by the Nazi’s throughout the most notorious genocide in history. Censorship is essentially “the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.” Book Burnings are a method of censorship that the government uses to diminish a group of people’s interpretations, very often in a time of annihilation. Heinrich Heine once said, "Wherever they burn books, in the end will also burn human beings." Book Burning, the public act of turning books to ash, ultimately resorts to the act of turning humans to ash. Books represent the rights of freedom of speech and freedom to express your beliefs, and when those rights are taken away, dehumanization is the outcome. The May 10, 1933 Nazi book burning, was the first major act of censorship against the Jews. Symbolically, the extermination of 25,000 books ultimately led to the murder of six million Jews. The act of book burning prohibits the spread of information through literary works, contrary to the ultimate goal of authors and publishers who wish to share their opinions.

Initiation as a key episode in describing the Holocaust. It expressed the lack of respect the prisoners were given. First they were assigned numbers. They were not called by their names, they were addresses by their numbers. Not only did their numbers classify them name wise, it also told who they were, and where they were from. This was very discouraging to the prisoners since it showed they no longer mattered. Their story no longer mattered. The prisoners were then tattooed with their number. They now were forced to permanently remember how they were classified, even if they become free in the future. It is a reminder of the oppression and abuse they would receive.

•The most famous book in the Holocaust was written by a 13 year old girl, and it has been read by 10 million people.

He placed curfews, making the Jews wear the sign of David on their clothing, forcing them out of schools and other public places. Not only did Nazism effect the Jewish people, it took away from Germany anything that was produced or published from other societies. On May 10, 1933, a group of university students who had been meeting with their professors to decide which books they wanted to get rid of, took these books, formed a pile, and burned them. They wanted to eliminate foreign influence into their culture, thus keeping Germany “pure”. This prompted others to do the same. There were more than 25,000 “Un-German books burned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHzM1gXaiVo Joseph Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister stated “and the future German man will not just be a man of books, but also a man of character. And it is to this end, we want to educate you.” The book burnings of 1933 caused censorship and Nazi propaganda.

Firemen today are around to put out fires, but in Fahrenheit 451, the temperature books burn, they are the ones that start the fires when they hear about a house that contains books. Anti-Intellectualism was used in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by the firemen burning books and the houses that contained them. Anti-Intellectualism is when a group or individual disagrees with given knowledge, for example burning books in Fahrenheit 451 because they disagreed with the knowledge contained within them. Firemen saw books as nothing but a waste, but still went through with harsh punishments to anyone in possession of a book because it was a law. Similar was done throughout history. Something like that was a huge world event showing that we can be punished for knowledge. Events like the Salem witch trials, nazi occupied germany, and isis all believed that information should be censored and heavily practiced anti-intellectualism. That similar illegalization and burning of books in Fahrenheit 451 leads to unhappiness, anti-intellectualism of citizens, and even death to the very people who believed it was better for the population.

One is a faith that billions of people have worshiped for hundreds of years, and the other is a regime based on racist theories. Catholicism and Nazism. These two congregations have more in common than anyone could have imagined. Both had principles and theories. History shows that both parties shared hatred and sought out those they disapproved of for questioning, torture and even execution. The medieval Catholic Church and Nazi Party had common motives. However, those in disagreement argue that one is a faith and the other is politics. The actions of the Nazi Party were distinct replications of those of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, which is a reminder to all that any prevailing party, whether it be political or religious, can command a threatening power.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.