Destruction of Printed Matter
Soviet government implemented mass destruction of pre-revolutionary and foreign books and journals from libraries. Only "special collections" (spetskhran), accessible by special permit from the KGB, contained old and politically incorrect material.
Soviet books and journals were also removed from libraries according to changes of Soviet history. Often Soviet citizens preferred to destroy politically incorrect publications and photos, because those connected to it were frequently persecuted.
After the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria all subscribers of the second edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia obtained a page to replace the one with Lavrentiy Beria article, instead containing Vitus Bering articles.
Read more about this topic: Censorship In The Soviet Union
Famous quotes containing the words destruction of, destruction, printed and/or matter:
“When one of us dies of cancer, loses her mind, or commits suicide, we must not blame her for her inability to survive an ongoing political mechanism bent on the destruction of that human being. Sanity remains defined simply by the ability to cope with insane conditions.”
—Ana Castillo (b. 1953)
“We may be witnesses to a Biblical prophecy come true. “And there shall be destruction and darkness come upon creation, and the beasts shall reign over the earth.””
—Ted Sherdeman. Gordon Douglas. Dr. Medford (Edmund Gwenn)
“I wish I had a man and not a dishrag printed over with big words like ‘constitutional rights’ and ‘progress’!”
—Christina Stead (1902–1983)
“No matter how much you feed a wolf, an elephant still has bigger balls.”
—Russian popular saying, trans. by Vladimir Ivanovich Shlyakov (1993)