The Holocaust and the Book : Destruction and Preservation [Hardcover]

Jonathan Rose (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001 | Series: Studies in Print Culture and the History of the Book

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 cele-brated 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.

Editorial Reviews

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.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Because the essays are anchored so soundly in historical sources, Rose s premise of history itself as book-bound is amply supported and illustrated throughout the volume. The scholarship is not only sound, but such an extended collection is a breakthrough for Holocaust scholarship the first of its kind. It adds cultural and literary destruction to the terrible sum of human losses suffered during the Holocaust. --James E. Young, author of The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning

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 of historical research. --Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press; 1st edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558492534
• ISBN-13: 978-1558492530
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,640,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Look at a Little-Studied Subject, June 19, 2009

By 

Joshua Watson (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Holocaust and the Book: Destruction and Preservation (Studies in Print Culture and the History of the Book) (Paperback)

I looked up this book to study censorship, and what I found was an interesting, although somewhat narrowly focused read. Basically, and in accordance with the title, this tome deals with how books were either destroyed or preserved in Nazi occupied countries.

Each chapter is written by a different person, and therefore offers a unique voice and perspective on literary censorship. The standout chapters for me were "'The Jewish Question' and Censorship in the USSR" - which offers a great glimpse of how governments can slowly turn to censorship, and "When the Printed Word Celebrates the Human Spirit" - in which the author talks about the library kept up at her concentration camp.

This book offers an informative, interesting look on literary censorship; and given the variety of authors, everyone who is seeking to learn more about this subject will likely find at least one or two chapters to be particularly useful.