For weeks and months in advance, The German Student Union and the NSDStB planned to ignite the barrier of hate against any ideas going against the German spirit. Invites were sent, and plans were drawn to bring attention to the cause. With these de facto legislation papers being thrown to the public, crowds were able to be drawn to Berlin and other areas to burn the books.
USHMM. Invitees "must arrive at the designated area at precisely 11 p.m. At 11 p.m. the torchlight procession of the entire Munich Students Association will be arriving. 1. The united bands will play parade music. 2. The festivities will begin at 11 with the song "Brothers, Forward!". 3. Speech by the leader of the German Students Association Kurt Ellersiek. 4. Burning of the nation-corrupting books and journals. 5. Group sing-along of ... songs". May 10, 1933.
USHMM. University of Cologne plan for Nazi book burning ceremony, May 1933.
USHMM. Julien Bryan. "Jes are not wanted". Bavaria, Germany. 1937.
Issued by the Main Office for the Enlightenment and Advertising of the German Students' Association:
Fire slogans, May 10, 1933
1. Against class warfare and materialism;
For the community of the Volk and an idealistic way of life.
Marx, Kautsky
2. Against decadence and moral decay;
For discipline and decency in family and state.
H. Mann, Ernst Glaeser, E. Kostner
3. Against unprincipled thinking and political treason;
For dedication to people and state.
FW Foerster
4. Against soul-shredding over-emphasis on sexual instincts;
For the nobility of the human soul.
Freudian School, Imago magazine
5. Against the distortion of our history and the belittling of great historical figures;
For respect for our past.
Emil Ludwig, Werner Hegemann
6. Against democratic-Jewish journalism, alien to the Volk ;
For responsible co-operation with rebuilding the nation.
Theodor Wolff, Georg Bernhard
7. Against the literary treason committed against the soldiers of World War One;
For educating the nation in the spirit of military might.
EM Remarque
8. Against arrogantly ruining the German language;
For the conservation of the most precious possession of the people .
Alfred Kerr
9. Against impudence and presumption;
For respect and reverence before the eternal German mind.
Tucholsky, Ossietzky
USHMM, 1933
