In some pictures, Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of the Third Reich, can be seen. He gave a speech that evening at Berlin’s Opernplatz (now Bebelplatz), in which he lamented the “decline of German literature” and portrayed the book burning as a symbolic act for the “cleansing” of the German spirit. The photos show burning piles of books, cheering students, and Nazi officials – a frightening testament to the destruction of freedom of expression and intellectual diversity.