Burning books
Many people associate the practice of burning books with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, but this method of destroying “ideologically wrong” literature has been used in various countries at different times. The USSR is no exception. As early as the 1920s, the Union of Militant Atheists, with the support of the Party, implemented a policy of burning religious books. This practice was often behind the scenes, and the destruction of key texts was disguised as accidents. Sixtiers writer and historian Valeriy Shevchuk, in a conversation with Chytomo, recalls the year 1964. During the Taras Shevchenko holidays in May, the largest Ukrainian library collection of old prints and manuscripts in the Kyiv Public Library disappeared in a fire. The collection housed ancient and rare books, manuscripts, and archives of famous Ukrainian cultural figures. Its destruction caused irreparable damage to Ukrainian history and literature.