Dear reader, please forgive me for the title of this article: I, too, got a huge fright when I heard on the news these days that Western forces are considering burning the works or books of the important Russian writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

As a German, a parallel to the dark past of Hitler’s fascism involuntarily suggests itself. Back then, too, it began peu à peu – and ended in a cultural rupture. This German history must not be repeated! Therefore, please understand my comment as a cry for help and a reminder to all fellow citizens that reason must never capitulate to public opinion.

Resentment against everything Russian

The resentment against Russia, all Russian presidents and Russian citizens that has been “cultivated” since the Second World War has been erupting for weeks from the mouths of Western politicians and Western mass media quite openly and with a ferocity that takes one’s breath away. I will not list the unbelievable sanctions, measures and proposals in detail; they can be read in all media by now.

The sentence by Heinrich Heine quoted in the headline comes from his tragedy “Almansor”.  It was published and premiered in 1823. There, a certain Hassan comments on the burning of 5000 books of Islamic theology in 1499 as follows:

“That was a prelude only, where you burn books, you end up also burning people.” (1)

This sentence was later interpreted as a prophetic statement by Heinrich Heine with regard to the burning of books in Germany in 1933.

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Dr. Rudolf Lothar Hänsel is a teacher (retired headmaster), doctor of education (Dr. paed.) and psychologist (specialising in clinical, educational and media psychology). As a retiree, he worked for many years as a psychotherapist in his own practice. In his books and educational-psychological articles, he calls for a conscious ethical-moral values education and an education for public spirit and peace.

Notes

(1) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almansor…(Heine)

Featured image is from Penguin Random House

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