Transcript

Beginning in May 1933, the Nazis carried out public burnings of books which they deemed were "un-German". The works of Jewish, liberal, and politically-left writers and thinkers were burned in large bonfires. The book burnings were carried out by Nazi-led student groups and took place in 34 cities and university towns across Germany. In Berlin, 40,000 people gathered for the book burning to listen to an address by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. The book burnings were part of a Nazi effort to 'purify' Germany by promoting 'Aryan' culture and suppressing other artistic and ideological productions. It symbolically marked the censorship, intolerance, and terror of the Nazi regime.