Question

During the Nazi occupation of Germany, countless books were burned, including many by Jewish authors. Among those writers whose works were destroyed was Heinrich Heine, whose famous play, "Almansor," includes the following line: “Where they burn books, they will also ultimately burn people.” In the context of this poem and the events of history, what are the dangers of censorship? Are these dangers more or less important than the dangers Stafford writes about?

Answer 1

The dangers of censorship are that ultimately the people end up being ruled, manipulated, ans brainwashed by certain individuals that have power. ''Where they burn books,they burn people'' is a very nice line, as it describes perfectly what is the purpose, and what will happen, when someone is destroying the knowledge. People who are stripped from knowledge end up in a situation where they are easily manipulated, but also find themselves in danger of even being dead, be it in a psychological or physical manner. That was easily seen in Germany while Hitler was in charge, in the Soviet Union while Stalin was in charge, and numerous other examples. Compared to the dangers Stafford writes about, these dangers are equally, if not more important, as they are the basis of the human development, and once they are taken away, everything goes downwards, or rather backwards.