Comparing The German Freedom Library And The American Library Of Nazi-Banned Books

During wartime, books represent more than pages bound together, they represent the hope and culture of groups. Nazi Germany burned Jewish books as a symbol of eradicating Jewish culture, proving Heinrich Heine, a nineteenth-century German poet's belief that "Where one burns books, one will soon burn people.” The Nazi regime banned books to shape the history and culture of Germany by using the power of literature. The German Freedom Library and the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books are two libraries that achieved books and literature which were burned in Nazi Germany to preserve cultural memory and promote intellectual freedom. These libraries had the shared purpose of countering the ideological control imposed by the Nazis and ensuring

The library was founded by the Brooklyn Jewish Center, causing it to have a slightly altered goal than the library it took inspiration from. While both libraries fought against the inhuman actions of Nazi Germany, the Jewish roots of the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books caused it to have a different way of accomplishing the shared goal. The Jewish ties helped give the Library more power because "knowledge and intellectual achievement have at all times been the pride and glory of the Jewish people,” according to Louis J. Gribetz. The library was a method for the Jewish community to fight the Nazi regime using knowledge as a form of power. Besides the Jewish connections, the Library also had strong connections to American and democratic values. While the Paris Library had antifascist materials about Nazi Germany, the American Library complemented its collection of banned books with literature about Jewish Scripture. The German Freedom Library was a political tool for activism for the Communist Party, while the Brooklyn Jewish Center was not a political tool, but rather a way to start conversations and create recognition of the horrific acts of Nazi