Wolfgang Herrmann
Wolfgang Herrmann ( born March 14, 1904 in Alsleben (Saale ), † April 1945 in Brno ) was a German librarian and a Nazi, whose " black lists " the template for the book burnings of "Action against the Un-German Spirit " in 1933 delivered in Germany.
Life
Already as a student was a member of the German Nationalists Herrmann Youth League. He studied Modern History in Munich in 1922 and in 1928 received his doctorate. 1929 Herrmann worked at the public library in Breslau and was committed to a policy library in the National Socialist sense.
In 1931 he moved to the city library Stettin, where he was but already released in October of the same year. Also in 1931, he applied to join the Nazi party, where he sympathized with the wing to the brothers Gregor and Otto Strasser. In 1933, the then 29 -year-old head of the Central Agency for German librarianship in Berlin. In April 1934, Mr. Mann Library Director in Königsberg.
1936 Herrmann was a political leader.
The emergence of the Black List
In April 1933, entered into Berlin a " Committee for the Reform of Berlin city and public libraries " together, which also includes the 29 -year-old Herrmann belonged. Herrmann had worked in previous years on directories auszusondernder literature, which he now brought into the newly formed committee. These initial lists Herrmann had initially only the function to terminate the indexed works for lending in libraries.
In his first lists, however, Herrmann also recommended Hitler - a German fate of Ernst Niekisch and Adolf Hitler, William III from Weigand of Miltenberg (pseudonym of Herbert Blank ) and commented disparagingly about Hitler's Mein Kampf. Shortly after the book burning was thus agitated against Herrmann by the party press. A by himself on December 12, 1936 therefore initiated party court proceedings were suspended due to disposal of Hitler on 27 April 1938.
Beginning of the year 1933, the German Student Union ( DSt ) turned to Herrmann with the request to provide his list to organize the burning of books by May 10, 1933 are available. This " list of harmful and undesirable writings " formed the basis for the book burning.
The Nazi research of the past three decades has shown that neither the book burning of May 10, 1933, which created by Wolfgang Herrmann blacklist had been given directly from the " Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda " in order or directed.
The organization of the book burning was largely in the hands of the German Student Union ( which was entirely supported by the Reich Ministry ), and also was Herrmann's blacklist own initiative Confident Nazi librarian emerged; only in the following years took Goebbels and his Ministry - after long power struggle with Alfred Rosenberg - the sole guidance of literature policy.
Black list and book burning
On the basis of his "black lists " Herrmann created more author lists, which he then successively transmitted from April 26, 1933, the German student body for their "Action against the Un-German Spirit ". On March 26 In 1933, a first " list combustion worthy books" in the "Berlin edition ". She was preliminary and incomplete and was soon replaced by a more thorough index. With the help of these lists, the university and institute libraries were searched and hit bookstores in 1933 and lending libraries of student shock troops from the 6th May and deprived of so-called " harmful and undesirable writings ". The public urban and public libraries were encouraged their stocks themselves to " clean up" and the discarded books to pass the student bodies for the public book burnings on May 10.
On May 16, 1933 Mr. Black 's list was later published as the first official black list of banned books for Prussia in the trade journal for the German Book Trade.