The Berlin Book Burning and the Beginning of the Nazi Regime Essay

Leaders are always looking to demonstrate their power. They want to show the world that they are the ones in authority, that no one should cross their path or challenge their ideas. To do this leaders burn books that they want to efface from the minds of their followers. Book burnings are always a part of a massive turning point in history, either for good or bad. In most cases book burnings appear towards the beginning of the battle, to strengthen everyone’s opinion to be with or against whatever the leaders may be burning. Burnings of books appear all over history, and all over the world, so they were not a rare sight to see or hear of. The Nazi regime burned books on May 10, 1933 in Berlin; it was one of the first book burnings that they preformed around Germany before and during WWII. The German poet Heinrich Heine in 1822 perfectly predicted what the Nazi regime was going to do during WWII in one sentence: â€Å"Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human be ings too† (Heine), which leads to the fact that the Berlin Book Burning was just the start of a new gruesome period in time. Though just because book burnings took place on several occasions in history does not mean it did not affect anyone, matter of fact it was of massive importance. The Berlin Book Burning had a colossal impact on the Nazis; it allowed their ideas to spread, it increased the awareness and fear of the Nazis, and it helped ensure the ignorance of the Germans. The Berlin Book Burning burned writings that the German student associations viewed as â€Å"un-German†, which then made the Nazi’s ideas spread to places it had not reached before and allowed it to take control. Dr. Goebbels was the mastermind behind the Berlin Book Burning. Dr. Goebbels was ma... ...els: Minister of Propaganda and Enlightenment." Joseph Goebbels. Historical . . Boys' Clothing, 9 July 2010. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. "Joseph Goebbels: On the "Big Lie"" Joseph Goebbels On the "Big Lie" Jewish Virtual Library. . . Web. 03 Nov. 2013. Milton, John. "Quotations about Liberty and Power." Areopagitica . Ed. Sir Richard C. Jebb. . Areopagitica, with a Commentary by Sir Richard C. Jebb and with Supplementary Material . . ed.: Cambridge at the UP, 1918. N. pag. Areopagitica a Speech of Mr John Milton. 15 May . 2006. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. Stern, Guy. "The Burning of the Books in Nazi Germany, 1933: The American Response." 2 . Annual 2 Chapter 05-Simon Wiesenthal Center Multimedia Learning Center. The Simon , . Wiesenthal Center, 1997. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.