Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
New York, New York : Viking, [2017]
Description
History. Military. Nonfiction. HTML:"A most valuable book." �??Christian Science Monitor For readers of The Monuments Men and The Hare with Amber Eyes, the story of the Nazis' systematic pillaging of Europe's libraries, and the small team of heroic librarians now working to return the stolen books to their rightful owners. While the Nazi party was being condemned by much of the world for burning books, they were already hard at work perpetrating an even greater literary crime. Through extensive new research that included records saved by the Monuments Men themselves�??Anders Rydell tells the untold story of Nazi book theft, as he himself joins the effort to return the stolen books. When the Nazi soldiers ransacked Europe�??s libraries and bookshops, large and small, the books they stole were not burned. Instead, the Nazis began to compile a library of their own that they could use to wage an intellectual war on literature and history. In this secret war, the libraries of Jews, Communists, Liberal politicians, LGBT activists, Catholics, Freemasons, and many other opposition groups were appropriated for Nazi research, and used as an intellectual weapon against their owners. But when the war was over, most of the books were never returned. Instead many found their way into the public library system, where they remain to this day. Now, Rydell finds himself entrusted with one of these stolen volumes, setting out to return it to its rightful owner. It was passed to him by the small team of heroic librarians who have begun the monumental task of combing through Berlin�??s public libraries to identify the looted books and reunite them with the families of their original owners. For those who lost relatives in the Holocaust, these books are often the only remaining possession of their relatives they have ever held. And as Rydell travels to return the volume he was given, he shows just how much a single book can mean to those… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member JBD1
Both a look back at the mass looting of personal and organizational libraries carried out by the Nazis before and during World War II, and an examination of the ongoing efforts at various libraries to determine the origins of looted books and attempt to restore them to their owners or their heirs.
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A bit plodding, but a very interesting story tackling an undercovered aspect of the Nazi lootings. Show Less
LibraryThing member mcdenis
This is a compelling narrative of the National Socialist Party under Hitler devastating plunder and destruction of Jewish ( and other ) libraries both individual, institutional in an attempt to wipe out and reformat more than 400 years of Jewish culture and identity. Hitler’s teams went
I was given an electronic copy in return for an honest review.
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throughout Europe and Greece, gathered up all they could find and shipped them to various locations for reference and cataloguing. Thousands were lost or destroyed, often by neglect. The attempt to return the books, papers and sacred documents continues to this day but is practically hopeless. Soviet Russia did the same kind of thievery after WWII but less systematically. This book should be on everyone’s shelf to be read and reminded of what a few can do to destroy to the intellectual heritage under the cover of a national ideology that purports to tell the truth. This is a very sobering account of intellectual dishonesty and very relevant in this era of “fake news”.I was given an electronic copy in return for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member cygnet81
Well researched but dry.
LibraryThing member dono421846
Rydell describes in engaging detail the massive displacement of Europe's book collections by the Nazis--the who, the why, and the where. Unlike the attention given to dramatic repatriation of stolen art treasures, the fate of books, many of which are worth less than the postage to return them to
Though many were destroyed, "a greater, immeasurable destruction took place a consequence of dispersal. Even if some scattered books still exist on the shelves of other libraries here and there, they have lost their context. They were a part of libraries that had a value in their own right--collections in which the parts became a greater whole.... The books also said something about the people who owned and treasured them: what they read and what they thought and what they dreamed.... Each collection in its own right took form in a unique culture, a depiction of its creator's world, which was lost when the library was broken up. The books are fragments of a library, of a world that once existed."
The books themselves were often not unique, and had little economic value. But it was their participation in a collection that transformed them into a reflection of its users, who in turn left their mark on the library. The destruction of the libraries, even if the books still exist, signals the dissolution of that record of the lives that formed the collection. The loss is catastrophic. This book performs a great service to remind us of this fact.
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identified heirs, receives less notice. Still, it is vitally important to remind ourselves why these books matter. Though many were destroyed, "a greater, immeasurable destruction took place a consequence of dispersal. Even if some scattered books still exist on the shelves of other libraries here and there, they have lost their context. They were a part of libraries that had a value in their own right--collections in which the parts became a greater whole.... The books also said something about the people who owned and treasured them: what they read and what they thought and what they dreamed.... Each collection in its own right took form in a unique culture, a depiction of its creator's world, which was lost when the library was broken up. The books are fragments of a library, of a world that once existed."
The books themselves were often not unique, and had little economic value. But it was their participation in a collection that transformed them into a reflection of its users, who in turn left their mark on the library. The destruction of the libraries, even if the books still exist, signals the dissolution of that record of the lives that formed the collection. The loss is catastrophic. This book performs a great service to remind us of this fact.
Show Less
LibraryThing member CheryleFisher
A NON-FICTION BOOK TRACING SOME OF THE LITERATURE AND ART THAT WAS STOLEN FROM JEWS DURING WWII AND IS NOW BEING RESTORED TO FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO WERE THE ORIGINAL OWNERS.
LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35
Like most familiar with the narrative of the Second World War, I knew that the Nazis had gone on the warpath through Europe, plundering and rounding up Jews to be sent to concentration camps. I also knew about the book burnings they sponsored in their war against all ideologies but their own. I did
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not know - or realize - that among the plunder they collected were valuable books or that the Nazis made an effort to collect in a special library Jewish texts - for the express purpose of preserving those texts in order to prove how incorrect Judaism was. All of which made for fascinating reading - this book is definitely for WWII history buffs and those who enjoy books about books. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaSHarvey
THE BOOK THIEVES:
The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance
Anders Rydell
MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PUBLISHER PENGUIN GROUP Viking
PUBLISHED February 7, 2017
SUMMARY
THE BOOK THIEVES is much more than the story of the Nazi pillaging of Europe's
"What is more frightening, a totalitarian regimes destruction of knowledge or it's hankering for it?"
THE BOOK THIEVES gives us a glimpse into some of the treasures of the greatest library collections of Poland, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Greece. By The end of the war millions upon millions of books had been destroyed or confiscated. Trains overflowing with crates of books from all over Europe were transported to Germany. And only a short time later these books were appropriated by the Soviet Trophy Brigades. The looted library collections were repeatedly sorted, divided, and scattered, never to be reassembled again.
Rydell shares the many challenges of library reclamation and restitution. He tells us some of the unique deals and exchanges that have been brokered by various countries to get back even small segments of their collections. Rydell personally visits many of the places where books are being catalogued, and he introduces us to the people who attempt to find the descendants of these orphaned books. Rydell even plays a part in the return of a small green book which had been plundered from a family apartment in Berlin.
REVIEW
I loved THE BOOK THIEVES, but it broke my heart. It is the story of lost intellect and memories. You may think you know what happened, but Rydell makes it real. The book is about the treasures that were lost between 1933 and 1945. As you read you can almost feel the half-inch bullet hole in the top left corner of the small light-brown leather-bound book, or smell the millions of damp and rotting books found in a church attic in 1990.
THE BOOK THIEVES gives us an understanding of the number of books that were destroyed, stolen and lost and it will knock you off your feet. THE BOOK THIEVES gives us an understanding of the plans for the confiscated books and it will scare you. THE BOOK THIEVES gives us an understanding of the politics behind the reclamation and it will make you mad.
The breadth of background that this book covers is very impressive and enlightening. The book contains over 400 footnotes. It appears to be well documented by Rydell's interviews, his research and his personal visits.
Fans of the Monuments Men would love this book. This book should be read by anyone with a passion for books, or for books about books.
"But it was not solely a war of physical extermination, it was also a battle for memory and history."
Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Viking and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of The Book Thieves in exchange for an honest review.
The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance
Anders Rydell
MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PUBLISHER PENGUIN GROUP Viking
PUBLISHED February 7, 2017
SUMMARY
THE BOOK THIEVES is much more than the story of the Nazi pillaging of Europe's
Show More
libraries. Anders Rydell explores the evolution of the Nazi ideology and the men behind the destruction of the literary culture of the Third Reich's "internal enemies". Rydell explores how and why the German mandate shifted from destruction to the confiscation of valuable books for the purpose of ideological research and evaluation. "What is more frightening, a totalitarian regimes destruction of knowledge or it's hankering for it?"
THE BOOK THIEVES gives us a glimpse into some of the treasures of the greatest library collections of Poland, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Greece. By The end of the war millions upon millions of books had been destroyed or confiscated. Trains overflowing with crates of books from all over Europe were transported to Germany. And only a short time later these books were appropriated by the Soviet Trophy Brigades. The looted library collections were repeatedly sorted, divided, and scattered, never to be reassembled again.
Rydell shares the many challenges of library reclamation and restitution. He tells us some of the unique deals and exchanges that have been brokered by various countries to get back even small segments of their collections. Rydell personally visits many of the places where books are being catalogued, and he introduces us to the people who attempt to find the descendants of these orphaned books. Rydell even plays a part in the return of a small green book which had been plundered from a family apartment in Berlin.
REVIEW
I loved THE BOOK THIEVES, but it broke my heart. It is the story of lost intellect and memories. You may think you know what happened, but Rydell makes it real. The book is about the treasures that were lost between 1933 and 1945. As you read you can almost feel the half-inch bullet hole in the top left corner of the small light-brown leather-bound book, or smell the millions of damp and rotting books found in a church attic in 1990.
THE BOOK THIEVES gives us an understanding of the number of books that were destroyed, stolen and lost and it will knock you off your feet. THE BOOK THIEVES gives us an understanding of the plans for the confiscated books and it will scare you. THE BOOK THIEVES gives us an understanding of the politics behind the reclamation and it will make you mad.
The breadth of background that this book covers is very impressive and enlightening. The book contains over 400 footnotes. It appears to be well documented by Rydell's interviews, his research and his personal visits.
Fans of the Monuments Men would love this book. This book should be read by anyone with a passion for books, or for books about books.
"But it was not solely a war of physical extermination, it was also a battle for memory and history."
Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Viking and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of The Book Thieves in exchange for an honest review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bemislibrary
People will prose lovingly about their favorite book, but it seems pale in comparison to how a common practically valueless book can be the only tangible memory of a family nearly exterminated by the Nazis during World War II. Authors written many books and the movie “Monument Men” made about
This well researched book reaches beyond the pictures of massive book burnings to the hoarding of volumes seized for the Nazi elitists and for general distribution to favored libraries.
Librarians use Nazi meticulous records, bookplates and acquisition records to return stolen books found within their collection to their owners or in most cases their heirs. The author researches which libraries and private collections were confiscated and what most likely happened to the books, manuscripts and related material. In some cases identify marks are not enough to trace the previous owner. In other cases, the libraries refuse to recognize how the material was acquired.
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the return of looted art to owners or heirs, but the theft of millions of books has gone unnoticed until now.This well researched book reaches beyond the pictures of massive book burnings to the hoarding of volumes seized for the Nazi elitists and for general distribution to favored libraries.
Librarians use Nazi meticulous records, bookplates and acquisition records to return stolen books found within their collection to their owners or in most cases their heirs. The author researches which libraries and private collections were confiscated and what most likely happened to the books, manuscripts and related material. In some cases identify marks are not enough to trace the previous owner. In other cases, the libraries refuse to recognize how the material was acquired.
Show Less
LibraryThing member phoenixcomet
I read this book in 2 phases with about a year off in between because the story is so sad, so dramatic, and so devastating the destruction that humans perpetrate and perpetuate against one another. Hitler's solution to the Jewish question was to kill off millions of people and destroy their culture
1945.
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- one way of so doing was to loot their libraries, confiscate and destroy millions and millions of books. The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance, takes you across Europe and Russia to some of the locations that major libraries were located at and tells the stories of those libraries and of the effort to restore books stolen by the Nazi regime and then also by the Stalin regime to their rightful owners. Heart-breaking and vital to understand what happened in 1939 -1945.
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LibraryThing member AlanGilbert
This is a fascinating, detailed and absorbing history of Nazi Germany's theft of 100's of millions of books during WW2, and the almost total lack of attempts to make restitution of them to the descendants of the victims of the thefts.
LibraryThing member EricCostello
A new angle on an oft-reported story. There are other books that look at the masses of artworks stolen by the Nazi regime and its allies, but this book focuses on the millions upon millions of books stolen by the Nazi regime. The rationales (such as they were) behind these thefts, the process by
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which the thefts were carried out, attempts by the victims to evade the fate, and the occasionally tragic results of missing and destroyed books are all discussed. The only reason I don't give this book full marks is because, in spots, information is repeated unnecessarily, indicating a slight bit of sloppiness in either translation or editing. In some respects, a depressing book (especially if you are a book lover), but one that should be read. Show Less
LibraryThing member georgee53
A very important book that should be brought to the attention of younger people, especially those not born in the bloodiest century in human history, the 20th.
LibraryThing member Bodagirl
It as very informative, but the chapters were very repetitive: the Nazis went here and took this amazing collection of books and documents, and then they went here and did a very similar thing. The most interesting thing was learning about how the Nazis were using these materials to build their
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propaganda. Show Less
LibraryThing member GennaC
"A human being can endure hunger, poverty, and pain, but she cannot endure isolation. Then, more than ever, the need for books and reading is at its greatest."
While the subtitle of this book includes "the race to return a literary inheritance," the emphasis here is not a Monuments Men-esque hunt
The looting of personal and public libraries is a more subtle crime against humanity than art pillaging, as it lacks the flash of stolen multi-million dollar paintings and artworks. And yet, robbing a society of their literature, regardless of its monetary value, is a way of systematically destroying a culture. In addition to huge swaths of unique populations being eviscerated, their history was often also successfully wiped off the map. And, unlike with valuable art, the books of the general population lack distinguishable provenance, making their return nearly impossible.
Rydell visits crimes against Jewish populations in areas I was previously unfamiliar with, such as Greece, where a Jewish community once thrived but now, due to the actions of the Nazis and the majority Greek population, now numbers only a few hundred. He travels Europe and comments briefly on how successful particular communities have been at recovering their literary heritage. The findings are often dismal. A majority of the materials that were not outright destroyed were transported to collection depots to aid in the Nazi "research" effort on finding a solution to "the Jewish question." While it may seem fortunate that these particular items were salvaged, their origins often remains a mystery. The books have commonly been absorbed by libraries and other collections where the librarians and officials are unable, or periodically unwilling, to locate their origins.
Images of communities sobbing and pleading as their libraries and religious texts are burned and pulped are mournful and haunting, but mixed with the horror and devastation are pockets of heroism by communities and individuals who sacrificed literally everything to preserve a trace of their history for the future. Rydell's chronicle in The Book Thieves is fascinating, heartrending, and palpably well-researched.
While the subtitle of this book includes "the race to return a literary inheritance," the emphasis here is not a Monuments Men-esque hunt
Show More
for lost artifacts, but actually an in-depth chronicling of Nazi era looting and systematic destruction of literary materials. Taking this into account, Rydell's detailed exploration of this era of history may not be the romanticized adventure that some readers are anticipating, but his storytelling is stunning nonetheless.The looting of personal and public libraries is a more subtle crime against humanity than art pillaging, as it lacks the flash of stolen multi-million dollar paintings and artworks. And yet, robbing a society of their literature, regardless of its monetary value, is a way of systematically destroying a culture. In addition to huge swaths of unique populations being eviscerated, their history was often also successfully wiped off the map. And, unlike with valuable art, the books of the general population lack distinguishable provenance, making their return nearly impossible.
Rydell visits crimes against Jewish populations in areas I was previously unfamiliar with, such as Greece, where a Jewish community once thrived but now, due to the actions of the Nazis and the majority Greek population, now numbers only a few hundred. He travels Europe and comments briefly on how successful particular communities have been at recovering their literary heritage. The findings are often dismal. A majority of the materials that were not outright destroyed were transported to collection depots to aid in the Nazi "research" effort on finding a solution to "the Jewish question." While it may seem fortunate that these particular items were salvaged, their origins often remains a mystery. The books have commonly been absorbed by libraries and other collections where the librarians and officials are unable, or periodically unwilling, to locate their origins.
Images of communities sobbing and pleading as their libraries and religious texts are burned and pulped are mournful and haunting, but mixed with the horror and devastation are pockets of heroism by communities and individuals who sacrificed literally everything to preserve a trace of their history for the future. Rydell's chronicle in The Book Thieves is fascinating, heartrending, and palpably well-researched.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Smits
It is obvious how much research has gone into this book and how important it is for the world to know about the records that exist concerning stolen books from WWll.
However, I was disappointed that this book was short on personal stories. It reads a bit dry with an emphasis on historical accuracy
However, I was disappointed that this book was short on personal stories. It reads a bit dry with an emphasis on historical accuracy
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at the expense of being interesting. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Augustpriset (Nominee — 2014)
Language
Original publication date
2015
Physical description
xiii, 352 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
9780735221222