“Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen” (“Where they have burned books, they will end up burning people”). These words, by German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, have a prophetic air about them. They were recalled in April and May 1933, when the Nazi-backed German Student Organization called for “action against the un-German spirit,” by publicly burning (they called it “purging”) books deemed antithetical to the “new German spirit.” We all know how that ended.
Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen (“Where they have burned books, they will end up burning people”). These words, by German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, have a prophetic air about them. They were recalled in April and May 1933, when the Nazi-backed German Student Organization called for “action against the un-German spirit,” by publicly burning (they called it “purging”) books deemed antithetical to the “new German spirit.” We all know how that ended.
But what many people might fail to realize is that the quote by Heine was not about the burning of Jewish books, but of the burning of a Koran by a Crusader in the play Almansor.
Pastor Terry Jones has rescinded his plan to publicly repeat the crime of burning books—of burning the Koran—in front of his church in commemoration of 9/11. Nevertheless, the Interfaith Dialogue Group of Santa Cruz is planning a gathering at the town clock on Sunday in support of the freedom of religious expression and religious worship. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders are expected to attend the event, which will begin at 5 pm. “It shows that we are united in the U.S.,” said Anis Alhadi, a member of the Islamic Society. “The good people outweigh the bad people.” Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel.
