4 May 2023 press release

From 9 May 2023, visitors will be able to view the exhibition "Burnt locations | Banned words" on the forecourt of the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main. Developed by the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 in cooperation with "Verbrannte Orte e.V.", the exhibition focuses on the book burnings and indexing of literature in 1933 while questioning the current status quo with regard to freedom of opinion. The works of photographer Jan Schenk bear impressive testimony to the fact that the sites of the former book burnings have long since been reintegrated into everyday life. At the same time, they remind us that along with the book burnings in Berlin on 10 May 1933, there were many other places in which publications were consigned to the flames. The German Exile Archive 1933–1945 offers guided tours of the temporary exhibition "Burnt locations | Banned words" for press representatives on request.

Freedom of opinion is a fundamental human right and one of the most valuable assets of liberal societies – not without reason is it feared by authoritarian systems. 90 years ago, the Nazis burnt books at more than 160 locations throughout Germany. Their intention was to quash the opinions and world views of authors whom they considered undesirable. The indexing of "undesirable literature" was widely supported during the Nazi dictatorship; our own institution, then the Deutsche Bücherei in Leipzig, was actively involved in drawing up "blacklists".

Even today, freedom of opinion cannot be taken for granted. There are many places in the world in which people are prevented from expressing their opinions freely, where they are imprisoned or expelled, their books censored and banned. As in earlier times, suppression has driven many of those affected into exile. In the exhibition "Burnt locations | Banned words" and several other events, the German National Library explores the topics of censorship and freedom of opinion – both past and present.

The accompanying programme gets under way at 19:00 on 9 May with the event "Die verbrannten Dichter” (The Burnt Poets), featuring Jürgen Serke, whose epochal book of the same name has just been reprinted by Wallstein-Verlag. When it was first published in 1977, Serke's work triggered a wave of rediscovery. Many of the authors it discussed had fled from the Nazi regime into exile. Jürgen Serke and Thedel von Wallmoden now present the new edition, which has been redesigned and expanded to include visual material from the Serke collection. Actor Hanns Zischler reading selected passages.

Authors are currently being persecuted, threatened, imprisoned or silenced by censorship and violence in many regions of the world. Chinese-born author Liao Yiwu is one of them. Following the publication of his work "Massacre", written in 1989, he was imprisoned in China for four years and severely mistreated. He eventually managed to leave China in 2011. His impressive list of works includes “Fräulein Hallo und der Bauernkaiser” (translation of "Interviews with the Lower Strata of Chinese Society", 2009), “Für ein Lied und hundert Lieder” (For a Song and a Hundred Songs, 2011), “Drei wertlose Visa und ein toter Reisepass” (Three Worthless Visas and a Dead Passport, 2018), and "Wuhan" (2022). The author, whose accolades include the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, has been living and working in Germany since 2011. On 15 June at 19:00, he will be at the German National Library discussing the meaning of censorship and freedom opinion and talking about his experiences in China.

"Verbrannte Orte | Verbannte Worte" (Burnt locations│Banned words)
An exhibition organised by the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 and Verbrannte Orte e.V.
Visitors can view the exhibition on the forecourt of the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main from 9 May to 2 July 2023.

Accompanying events (selection)

Discussion tour
with Jan Schenk and Marc Wurich
9 May 2023, 17:30

"Die verbrannten Dichter" (The Burnt Poets)
Book presentation and reading.
Author Jürgen Serke and publisher Thedel von Wallmoden present the new edition, which has been redesigned and expanded to include visual material from the Serke collection. The actor Hanns Zischler reading selected passages.
9 May 2023, 19:00

"Verbannte Worte". Discussion and reading with Liao Yiwu
Chinese author and musician Liao Yiwu talking to Sylvia Asmus, Head of the German Exile Archive 1933-1945, about censorship and freedom of opinion in his native country and his life in exile in Germany. The discussion will be accompanied by a reading of selected texts written by Liao Yiwu.
15 June 2023, 19:00

Background

The German National Library’s German Exile Archive 1933–1945 (https://www.dnb.de/dea) is a platform for discussing the subjects of exile and emigration during the Nazi era. Besides collecting exile publications and documents, the Exile Archive sets great store by its work in cultural and political education: the institution's exhibitions, publications and varied programmes of events are devoted to historical exile while building bridges to the future.

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