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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Books Are Weapons in the War of Ideas
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Books Are Weapons in the War of Ideas

Artifact IDMO 2005.13.20.7.1
Object Type Poster
Artist (Canadian-American, 1906 - 1992)
Maker (American, founded 1861)
Issuing Body (American, 1942 - 1945)
Issuing Body (American, founded 1942)
Date1942
Mediumpaper, ink
Dimensionsoverall H 28 in x W 20 in (71.1 cm x 50.8 cm )
Physical DescriptionA color poster featuring an illustration of Nazi's throwing books onto a bonfire. Rising up in the background is a giant book on the cover of which is a quote in black text: 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. / Franklin D. Roosevelt [facsimile signature]. The artist’s facsimile signature is in the lower right of the illustration: S BRODER. Red text below the illustration reads: BOOKS ARE WEAPONS IN THE WAR OF IDEAS.

Small black text printed along the bottom edge of the poster reads: FOR ADDITIONAL COPIES WRITE DIVISION OF PUBLIC INQUIRY, OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. SPECIFY O.W.I. NO. 7 / U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1942-O-487131.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteDonated to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by the Adriance Memorial Library.
Credit LineGift of the Adriance Memorial Library
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesOriginal Posters from World War I and World War II (National Archives Identifier 739394)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
Not on view