In a time of war, librarians wielded books against ignorance, terror, inhumanity (Your Letters) – syracuse.com

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May 26, 2026

American paratroopers, heavily armed, sit inside a military plane as they soar over the English Channel en route to the Normandy French coast for the Allied D-Day invasion of the German stronghold during World War II, June 6, 1944. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944. AP File Photo

Opinion

In a time of war, librarians wielded books against ignorance, terror, inhumanity (Your Letters)

Published: May. 25, 2026, 8:30 a.m.

Remembering D-Day: Key facts, timeline of invasion that changed course of World War II — American paratroopers, heavily armed, sit inside a military plane as they soar over the English Channel en route to the Normandy French coast for the Allied D-Day invasion of the German stronghold during World War II, June 6, 1944. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944. AP File Photo

By Your Letters

To the Editor:

This moment is an opportunity to reflect on our history. We celebrate and commemorate those men and women who fought to support our freedom during its darkest hour. During the runup to World War II, Nazi Germany used terror and ignorance as a tool. The war wasn’t only fought at the front.

Working in support of our military during the Second World War were librarians. Outraged by the Nazi burning of books beginning in May 1933, and the sacking and destruction of libraries, they mounted a campaign to send books to our troops. The goal was to keep their minds active, relieve loneliness and boredom, while also reminding them of the freedom they were fighting for. In her book “When Books Went to War,” Molly Guptill Manning described the monumental effort to send more than 100 million books to soldiers to carry into the theater of war.

One of the most poignant reactions described in the book was from a 20-year-old U.S. Marine. “Ever since the first time I struggled through knee-deep mud … carrying a stretcher from which my buddy’s life dripped away in precious blood and I was powerless to help him, I have felt hard and cynical against this world and have felt sure I was no longer capable of loving anything or anybody.”

“It was only as he read ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ (by Betty Smith) that something inside him began to stir,” Manning writes in the book’s introduction. The Marine said, “I can’t explain the emotional reaction that took place, I only know that it happened and that this heart of mine turned over and became alive again.”

Smith received many appreciative letters from troops, including some tear-stained.

There are many instances since World War II where underground libraries sustained combatants. Syria’s Underground Library is one example.

Let us reflect and never forget the men and women who faced the military threats, especially the many that never came home and lie in military cemeteries throughout the world. We also remember the power of the written word and the stewards of libraries.

E. Kochian, Syracuse

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