Setting fire to the Square

Abstract

Considerations of an historical event are hereafter understood through a Western Judeo Christian perspective of religious conflict transformation. The book burning that set fire to square on May 10, 1933, in Berlin was not an isolated phenomenon; rather it bled into the romance of war. Similar events occurred across Nazi Germany and well before the twentieth century. This paper addresses the book burning in Berlin’s Opernplatz for its relevance toward the development of a restorative leadership role in the modern university, the route of seminarians. Details of the academy show that, while educational initiative was once a resource for violence, reevaluation of knowledge ethics provides meaningful purpose in the task of cultural preservation. Literature is the product of great civilizations; and so by conserving the stories of Jewish authors in light of the Holocaust, we find a theological trauma witness to faith and destruction. Conflict transformation requires due acknowledgement of responsibility by all parties. In this case, after the fire extinguished, the responsibility is vested in active memory and forever questioning what remains for humanity