In June, I was privileged to be part of a group of U.S. teachers who spent nine days in Germany on a transatlantic study trip learning about the country’s modern aspects, including education, politics, government, and culture, and also delving into its complicated history.
While in Berlin, I visited The Empty Library, a memorial built in the public square where, on May 10, 1933, in front of a crowd of 40,000, Nazi university students burned 20,000 books deemed “objectionable” and “un-German.”
Organizers prepared a speech to be read at various book burning sites, including the words: “Against decadence and moray decay! For discipline and decency in the family and the nation” (“Book Burning Memorial at Bebelplatz”).
The book burning was carried out by a group of people trying to suppress ideas they didn’t agree with or find acceptable.
Sound familiar?
The memorial, easy to miss if you don’t know to look for it, is made up of a glass panel set flush with the cobblestones. It serves as a window into an underground room featuring empty, white bookshelves, representing both the physical and intellectual void created by destroying books. Several feet away, a metal plate on the ground describes the purpose of the memorial in just a few powerful words.
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- English translation superimposed over the German text on the memorial plaque.
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- Heinrich Heine quote translated to English.
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- Glass plate set into the cobblestones.
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- On the right you can see empty bookshelves.
(When I visited the memorial, the glass was cloudy and difficult to see through. You can view clearer photos here. Scroll to the bottom of the page to view photos of the memorial lit at night.)
Part of the memorial plaque reads: “That was only a prelude. Where books are burned, people will be burned in the end.”
The quote is from a play by German-Jewish writer Heinrich Heine, whose work was banned by the Nazis. It is likely that copies of his work were burned in that very spot in 1933.
Among other blacklisted books targeted for burning that day was a title by American author, speaker, and activist Helen Keller. In a letter to German university students dated one day before the burning, Keller wrote, “History has taught you nothing if you think you can kill ideas. Tyrants have tried to do that often before, and the ideas have risen up in their might and destroyed them.”
Powerful words.
Letter from Helen Keller to Adolf Hitler / German students expressing anger over Hitler’s policies. May 9, 1933. Copyright Helen Keller Archives, American Foundation for the Blind. Used with permission.
More than 90 years later, across the Atlantic, an Ohio man set fire to around 100 library books on Jewish, African American, and LGBTQ history according to a May 14, 2025, report from NBC News.
The incident elicited shock and outrage, especially from those who felt personally attacked due to identifying with the targeted groups.
Ohio Democratic Senator Kent Smith responded by saying this book burning incident “cannot be tolerated” (Burke).
Senator Smith went on to say: “I condemn this act, not only because it is a crime against our institutions and community, but also because it is fundamentally un-American. This act of violence is not just a crime against the public catalog of literature that was destroyed, but also is a violation of the marketplace of ideas that is a bedrock principle of American life” (Burke).
From Empty Library to Full Shelves: Moving from Censorship to Freedom
In another part of Berlin stands the American Memorial Library. Built during the 1950s and partially funded by donations from Americans, it became the central public library in West Berlin when the city was divided by the Berlin Wall.
American Memorial Library in Berlin
The leader of our transatlantic study trip grew up in East Berlin. She told us about a childhood experience of going to the top of the TV Tower, a historical landmark with an observation deck that is the highest point in Berlin. She remembered seeing the spectacular view from the top and looking over into West Berlin and thinking, “Will I ever set foot there?”
She pointed out the American Memorial Library to our teacher group and shared memories of visiting this library as a teenager after the Berlin Wall came down and Germany was reunified. She told us the American Memorial Library was important because it was available to everyone, spread the ideals of democracy and freedom, and provided open access to ideas and information.
My librarian heart was singing when I heard that.
The message was loud and clear: Books are sacred. Libraries are powerful. Intellectual freedom is worth protecting.
Works Cited
“Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Oct. 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
“Book Burning Memorial at Bebelplatz.” visitBerlin.De, Berlin Tourism, www.visitberlin.de/en/book-burning-memorial-bebelplatz. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Burke, Minyvonne, and Joe Kottke. “Ohio Man Accused of Burning 100 Books on Black, Jewish, LGBTQ History.” NBC News, 14 May 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ohio-man-accused-burning-books-black-jewish-lgbtq-history-rcna206716. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
“The Empty Library.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Dec. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Empty_Library. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Keller, Helen. Letter from Helen Keller to Adolf Hitler / German students expressing anger over Hitler’s policies. May 9, 1933. 29 Nov. 2016. Helen Keller Archive, American Foundation for the Blind, https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK02-B210-F03-001. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Very thoughtful article, Amy. Would you mind sharing the program you went through?
@Amy Pulliam – My trip was sponsored by a German organization called Atlantik-Bruecke, a nonpartisan group interested in building transatlantic relationships. Their goal is to educate people about modern Germany and build international relationships. They have been hosting U.S. teachers in Germany for over 30 years. They offer an alternating-year teacher program: in 2025 they brought U.S. teachers to Germany, and in 2026 they will bring German teachers to America. https://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/en/our-work/programs/us-teachers-program/