In some images, Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of the Third Reich, can be seen. That evening, he delivered a speech at the Berlin Opera Square (now Bebelplatz), in which he lamented the “decline of German literature” and portrayed the book burning as a symbolic act of “purification” of the German spirit. The photos show burning piles of books, cheering students, and Nazi officials — a chilling testament to the destruction of freedom of expression and intellectual diversity.