How ideologies can distort reality: The power of disinformation

In 1933, it was not only soldiers or officials who threw books into the fire – it was, above all, students. The German Student Union brought the book burnings to a head with its campaign “Against the Un-German Spirit”. They did not see themselves as destroyers of culture, but as defenders of a “truth” that had been instilled in them through ideological indoctrination.

What took place in public spaces at that time was the culmination of targeted information control. Before the books were burned, the literary scene was systematically reorganised along ideological lines and the myth of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ books was created. These manipulations served to reinterpret literature in such a way that it aligned with the interests of those in power. Skillfully, they played on social fears and widespread enemy stereotypes to prevent people from forming independent judgements.

Examples of well-known authors whose books were classified as “degenerate” and approved for destruction include Bertolt Brecht, Erich Kästner and Heinrich Mann. Their works are available at the ULB.

There are no longer any book burnings, but the mechanism remains. Manipulated new editions of well-known books are being produced, and terms and content deemed ‘harmful’ or now considered taboo are arbitrarily removed. At the same time, ideas of schools or cultural institutions being brought into line are circulating. This is being amplified on a previously unimaginable scale by the ability of online media to disseminate false or cleverly reinterpreted facts (‘fake news’) en masse and at breakneck speed. Taken together, this hinders unbiased education and the ability to distinguish between facts and misinformation – opinions are at risk of being lost.

History shows that when people stop critically questioning claims, freedom is put at risk. However, whilst in 1933 it was almost impossible to escape the state-imposed narrative, today there are effective tools for resistance: free access to all fields of knowledge in libraries.

However, information literacy requires more than just a few quick clicks – it requires sound background knowledge. The ULB supports this through its range of literature.

• Die uninformierte Gesellschaft
• Alternative Fakten : was darf ich noch glauben?
• Moderne Rattenfänger : Querdenker, Marsstürmer und Social-Media-Helden – wie falsche Propheten uns manipulieren und unserer Gesellschaft schaden
• Denkt mit! : wie uns Wissenschaft in Krisenzeiten helfen kann
• Fake-Mafia in der Wissenschaft : KI, Gier und Betrug in der Forschung
• Verschwörung : eine kritische Betrachtung
• Verschwörungstheorien als Waffe : wie man die Tricks der Verschwörungsgauner durchschaut und abwehrt