[...] if there was something that gave more power than merely destroying the word, it was owning and controlling it. There was a power in books. Words could act as weapons, resounding long after the rumbling of artillery had stopped. They are weapons not only as propaganda, but also in the form of memories. Whoever owns the word has the power not only to interpret it, but also to write history.

But even the Nazis realized that if there was something that gave more power than merely destroying the word, it was owning and controlling it.

I realized that these memories are central, they were the very reason for the book plundering. Robbing people of words and narrative is a way of imprisoning them.

The book was an instrument of both repression and liberation