‘That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people also’ – Heinrich Heine (1797 to 1856)
In most university towns of Nazi Germany on the night of 10 May 1933, Nazi-supporting students burned over 25,000 books that were deemed to be ‘un-German’.
This bonfire of books followed on from the proclamation of ‘Action against the Un-German Spirit’, which had been declared on 6 April 1933.
To mark this very dark day, here are two newspaper reports about this funeral pyre of ‘un-German’ books.
Nottingham Evening Post – Thursday 11 May 1933
Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/19330511/033/0007
Hull Daily Mail – Thursday 11 May 1933
Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000324/19330511/003/0001
