Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information that may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions.
The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the German Student Union to ceremonially burn books viewed as being subversive or representing ideologies opposed to Nazism. These included books written by Jewish, pacifists, religious, classical liberal, anarchist, and communist authors. The first books burned were those of Karl Marx and Karl Kautsky.
Strict censorship existed in the Eastern Communist Bloc. Various ministries of culture controlled all forms of media and art. In the Stalinist period, even weather forecasts would be changed if they suggested that the sun might not shine on the communists International Worker’s Day.
In the People’s Republic of China, during the Culture Revolution, books were burned and artifacts, paintings, and statues were ruined because they were reminiscent of the pre-revolution past. Today, the Golden Shield Project monitors and tightly censors the internet.
Freedom of speech and freedom of expression must not be taken for granted. These are the first freedoms stripped during the rise of a dictator. We must be vigilant of who use violence to suppress ideas, those who seek to silence those they disagree with, those who seek to control speech.
On May 5, 1920, Lenin gave a famous speech to a crowd of Soviet troops in Sverdlov Square, Moscow. In the foreground was Leon Trotsky and Lev Kamenev. The photo was later altered and both were removed by censors. WikipediaOn November 7, 1919, this image was snapped of the Soviet leadership celebrating the second anniversary of the October Revolution. After Trotsky and his allies fell from power, a number of figures were removed from the image, including Trotsky and two people over to Lenin’s left, wearing glasses and giving a salute. Lev Kamenev two men over on Lenin’s right was another of Stalin’s opponents and below the boy in front of Trotsky, another bearded figure, Artemic Bagratovich Khalatov the one-time Commissar of publishing, was also edited out. WikipediaDuring the Bolshevik Revolution, a number of pictures were taken of successful fighters celebrating their victories. These were often used as postcards after the war. The background of the original image includes a store that says in Russian, “Watches, gold, and silver”. The image was then changed to read, “Struggle for your rights”, and a flag that was a solid color before was changed to read, “Down with the monarchy – long live the Republic!”. WikipediaThis picture is a meeting of the St. Petersburg chapter of the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class taken in February 1897. Shortly after the picture was taken the whole group was arrested by the Okhrana. The members were handed out various punishments with Lenin being arrested, held by authorities for fourteen months and then released and exiled to the village of Shushenskoye in Siberia, where he mingled with such notable Marxists as Georgy Plekhanov, who had introduced socialism to Russia. To the left standing is Alexander Malchenko. At the time of this picture, he was an engineering student and his mother would let Lenin hide out at her house. After his arrest, he spent some time in exile before returning in 1900 and abandoning the revolution. He moved to Moscow where he worked as a senior engineer in various state departments before in 1929 being arrested, wrongfully accused of being a “wrecker” and executed on November 18, 1930. After his arrest and execution, he was airbrushed out of all reproductions of this image. In 1958 he was posthumously rehabilitated and was allowed to reappear in reproductions of the image. WikipediaPhoto of Nikolai Yezhov (Naval Commissar) and Stalin walking alongside the Moscow Canal. After Nikolai Yezhov fell from power, he was arrested, shot, and his image removed by the censors. WikipediaHand-picked for the first cosmonaut detachment in 1960, Nelyubov was a star choice for space flight for being “a remarkable person, an excellent pilot, a sportsman…” A founding member of the top space team known as the Sochi Six, some say Nelyubov was the third or fourth person in space; others say he never made it into space before being expelled from the Soviet space program for alcohol-related misconduct. The incident led to his being deleted from program records. Nelyubov was ultimately struck by a train and killed; his death was ruled a suicide. Business InsiderJoseph Goebbels was immensely valued by Hitler for his enthusiasm, ideas, and vehement anti-semitism. Hitler made Goebbels his chief of propaganda and sent him all over Germany to establish a Nazi presence and boost morale during the war. Goebbels was one of just a few people in Hitler’s inner-circle, even trusted with helping burn Hitler’s body after he committed suicide. Like Stalin, Hitler was known for “erasing” people who fell out of his favor, though it remains unknown what Goebbels did that led to his being deleted from this famous 1937 photo taken at the home of German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Business InsiderGerman students and Nazi SA members look through a library to find books to burn. WikipediaThe Institute for Sexual Sciences after a Nazi raid. WikipediaBooks and writings deemed un-German are burned at the Opernplatz. Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933. ushmmGerman students gather around books they regard as un-German. The books will be publically burned at Berlin’s Opernplatz. Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933. — National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.Students and members of the SA unload books deemed “un-German” during the book burning in Berlin. The banner reads: “German students march against the un-German spirit.” Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.Across Germany, students took books by truck, furniture van, even oxcart, and heaped them into pyres on public squares. This image shows members of the SA and students from the University of Frankfurt with oxen pulling manure carts loaded with books deemed “un-German.” Frankfurt am Main, Germany, May 10, 1933. Wide World PhotoCrowds gather at Berlin’s Opernplatz for the burning of books deemed un-German. Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933. — Wide World Photo
