Western Front

‘Remarque’s novel detailed the physical and mental stress of German soldiers during the war as well as the detachment from civilian life felt upon returning home. With its realistic depictions of trench warfare and the emphasis placed on the young soldiers’ experience, All Quiet on the Western Front provoked many of the war’s survivors. As such, Remarque became spokesman for a generation that had been “destroyed by war, even though it might have escaped its shells.”

When the Nazis rose to power in 1933 — just five years after the publication of the novel — Remarque’s writing was declared “unpatriotic” by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Any and all copies of Remarque’s writing were removed from libraries and prohibited from being sold or published anywhere in the country. Then, on May 10, 1933 the first large-scale demonstration of book burnings occurred in front of the University of Berlin. In addition to 25,000 volumes written by Jewish authors, All Quiet on the Western Front was one of the first books to be publicly burned.

Remarque’s novel saw censorship outside of Germany as well. In the United States, the English translation was banned in Boston on grounds of obscenity; and in Chicago, U.S. customs had seized any volumes which had not been expurgated. Austrian soldiers were forbidden to read the novel, Czech military libraries removed copies from their shelves, while Italy banned the novel entirely due to its anti-war, pacifist agenda.’

“Books unite us, censorship divides us!”

From: https://blog.lib.utah.edu/banned-all-quiet-on-the-western-front/