Drittes Reich
This volume deals with the most problematic period of the book trade – the period of the Nazi dictatorship. The first part of the volume covers the deprivation of rights and expulsion of Jewish and opposition publishers, the “Gleichschaltung” [alignment] of the book trade and its organizations in the “Reichsschrifttumskammer” [Chamber of Literature of the Reich]. It also illuminates the authors' situation between conformity and inner emigration as well as the indoctrination of readers. The volume also discusses book design and looks at the publishers of literature and the scientific, specialized and lexicon publishing houses in close detail.
Part 3/2 concludes the history of the book trade in the Third Reich. It addresses publishers like the Eher corporation, party and institutional publishers, Jewish and confessional publishers, and art and architecture publishers, followed by a discussion of the retail and secondhand book trade, side markets, book lenders and associations, libraries, the foreign book trade, and the provision of books on the front and at home in World War II.
This volume is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of German-speaking émigré publishing activities around the world after 1933. The book covers the diverse range of publishing houses as well as the extensive network of booksellers involved. The result was a fully reconstituted publishing industry that included all critical components, from small lending libraries to international literary agencies.
Several hundred antiquarians, booksellers and publishers were victims of political and racist persecution after the Nazis took power in 1933. They were forced to close their businesses or permit them to be “aryanized” before they fled the country. With over 900 entries, this handbook explores these peoples' lives to provide new insights into this neglected area of émigré studies.
