---
title: Books are weapons in the war of ideas
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/books-are-weapons-in-the-war-of-ideas-1942/
description: A giant open book stands over a street where uniformed men in Nazi-era dress feed books into a bonfire; a quotation signed 'Franklin D. Roosevelt' fills
section: Collection
---

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3. Books are weapons in the war of ideas

**Content note:** Shows uniformed men burning books on a street, with blood-red smoke and a swastika-era setting, as printed. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Books are weapons in the war of ideas, 1942 US poster: A giant open book stands over a street where uniformed men in Nazi-era](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/books-are-weapons-in-the-war-of-ideas-1942.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/books-are-weapons-in-the-war-of-ideas-1942.jpg)

# Books are weapons in the war of ideas

A giant open book stands over a street where uniformed men in Nazi-era dress feed books into a bonfire; a quotation signed 'Franklin D. Roosevelt' fills the page, and a red-tinted sky frames the scene. The signed quotation from a head of state is the testimonial, and the burning scene carries the fear-appeal.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/) [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Books cannot be killed by fire.
People die, but books never die. No man and no force can put thought in a concentration camp forever. No man and no force can take from the world the books that embody man's eternal fight against tyranny. In this war, we know, books are weapons.
[signature: Franklin D. Roosevelt]
BOOKS ARE WEAPONS IN THE WAR OF IDEAS
[imprint: illegible small print, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C.]
```

[← Bomber Distances](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bomber-distances-1942/) [Bowl them over: more production →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bowl-them-over-more-production-1942/)

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