Erasing History

US Holocaust Memorial Museum: On May 10, 1933 student groups at universities across Germany carried out a series of book burnings of works that the students and leading Nazi party members associated with an “un-German spirit.” Enthusiastic crowds witnessed the burning of books by Brecht, Einstein, Freud, Mann and Remarque, among many other well-known intellectuals, scientists and cultural figures, many of whom were Jewish. 

‘If you get rid of all the books, you get rid of memory…And culture and ethics and variety and any argument that opposes what you choose to think.’ Donna Leon, novel, By Its Cover. Published March 2014

Google questions: Why is Banned Book Week important? July 10, 2019

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. … Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week.

Google questions: Why do books get banned? August 13,  2019

There are a few common reasons that books have been banned or censored in schools, libraries, and book stores. These include: Racial Issues: About and/or encouraging racism towards one or more group of people. … Violence or Negativity: Books with content that include violence are often banned or censored.

Google questions: Is removing statues Erasing History?

In an August 2017 statement on the monuments controversy, the American Historical Association (AHA) said that to remove a monument “is not to erase history, but rather to alter or call attention to a previous interpretation of history.”