The Holocaust and the Book: Destruction and Preservation (Studies in Print Culture and the History of the Book) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558496432 ISBN 13: 9781558496439

Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press, 2008

Synopsis

Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany systematically destroyed an estimated 100 million books throughout occupied Europe, an act that was inextricably bound up with the murder of 6 million Jews. By burning and looting libraries and censoring "un-German" publications, the Nazis aimed to eradicate all traces of Jewish culture along with the Jewish people themselves.

The Holocaust and the Book examines this bleak chapter in the history of printing, reading, censorship, and libraries. Topics include the development of Nazi censorship policies, the celebrated library of the Vilna ghetto, the confiscation of books from the Sephardic communities in Rome and Salonika, the experience of reading in the ghettos and concentration camps, the rescue of Polish incunabula, the uses of fine printing by the Dutch underground, and the suppression of Jewish books and authors in the Soviet Union. Several authors discuss the continuing relevance of Nazi book burnings to the present day, with essays on German responses to Friedrich Nietzsche and the destruction of Bosnian libraries in the 1990s.

The collection also includes eyewitness accounts by Holocaust survivors and a translation of Herman Kruk's report on the Vilna ghetto library. An annotated bibliography offers readers a concise guide to research in this growing field.

About this title

About the Author:

Jonathan Rose is William R. Kenan Professor of History at Drew University. He was the founding president of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing.

From Publishers Weekly:

"The story of the Six Million is also the story of the One Hundred Million... the mass slaughter of Jews was accompanied by the most devastating literary holocaust of all time," notes Rose, director of the graduate program in book history at Drew University. He has compiled 15 sound works of scholarship that explore reading as a conscious act of resistance and the vital importance of books to the preservationAor in this case, the complete exterminationAof a society and its identity. Historian Stanislao G. Pugliese discusses how the contents of Rome's renowned Judaica librariesAincluding rare manuscripts and books documenting the community's historyAwere burned by the Fascists and later by the Nazis, allegedly with the help of the Catholic Church. Communications expert John Rodden presents a thoughtful essay on "reception history" (or the response of readers) during Hitler's regime, specifically how the Nazis twisted the teachings of Friedrich Nietzsche to advance their cause and the present-day revival of interest in the philosopher in Germany. But the most compelling articles recall firsthand how both Jews and other Europeans attempted to maintain their dignity with books during WWII. Vilna Ghetto librarian Dina Abramowicz delivers an unemotional yet powerful description of her patrons and what they wanted to read: some sought historical analogies, such as books about WWI; others wanted to read about social issues, but most checked out escapist booksAdetective stories, romance and suspense novels. Jewish scholars and students of modern history will find this volume to be a significant and unusual supplement to Holocaust research and a convincing argument for the centrality of books and reading as subjects for historical research.
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About this edition

• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1558496432
• ISBN 13: 9781558496439
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328
• Editor: Rose Jonathan