271: The Empty Library
What I Learned During My Summer Vacation - Part 4
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” — attributed to Mark Twain
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The Takeaway
In this episode, I travel to Berlin, Germany, and the Bebelplatz, a large square in the city's heart. A university borders one side, a church another, and the opera another. Behind me is one of Berlin’s main libraries. Sitting atop one of the buildings is an outdoor bar with large colorful umbrellas to shield the patrons.
The Bebelplatz today
As calming as the setting is today, it was anything but on the night of May 10, 1933. There, a mob of Nazis, Nazi-leaning students, and citizens gathered to burn an estimated 20,000 books the Nazi regime had deemed culturally and spiritually unfit.
The Bebelplatz as it was on the evening of May 10, 1933
The only visual evidence of that event is a subterranean memorial with enough empty library shelves to hold an estimated 20,000 books. As a former history teacher, it wasn’t a huge leap to think about the book banning, curriculum restrictions, and rewriting of history taking place in the U.S. today.
“The Empty Library” memorial
Social Media
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_book_burnings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Empty_Library#:~:text=The%20Empty%20Library%20(1995)%2C,Germany%20on%20May%2010%2C%201933.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebelplatz
Referenced
For other parts of “What I Learned During My Summer Vacation”:
Part 1 – The Calamity of the Battle for the Hurtgen Forest
Part 2 – Confronting the Remnants of Hate on the Path to Remembrance
About Jeff
Jeff Ikler is the Director of Quetico Leadership and Career Coaching. He works with leaders in all aspects of life to identify and overcome obstacles in their desired future. “Quetico” (KWEH-teh-co). He came to the field of coaching after a 35-year career in educational publishing, where he served as an editor, marketer, and eventually the head of all publishing disciplines. There, he was first exposed to coaching – as a client – and the concepts of self-awareness and servant leadership. Prior to his career in educational publishing, Jeff taught high-school U.S. history and government.
Jeff hosts the “Getting Unstuck—Cultivating Curiosity” podcast – for 5 years running. Curiosity sits at the intersection of creativity, effective human interactions, problem-solving, and purposeful change. Unfortunately, the pace of life — at home, work, and school — often sidetracks our natural curiosity. The guests and topics he explores are designed to help us think differently about the familiar and welcome the new as something to consider. he is also the co-host of the “Cultivating Resilience – A Whole Community Approach to Alleviating Trauma in Schools.
He co-authored Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change. Shifting integrates leadership development and change mechanics in a three-part change framework to help guide school leaders and their teams toward productive change.
Show Credits
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"Getting Unstuck" theme music: Original composition of "Allegro ben ritmato e deciso" by George Gershwin. Arrangement and recording courtesy of Bruno Lecoeur.