17 Speech at the opening of the Reich Chamber of Culture on 14th November 1933, quoted by Horkenbach, 1933. In one of the first reports on the work of the Reich Chamber of Literature on 6th December 1934, Goebbels explained:
'The first duty of the Reich Chamber of Literature was a mopping-up operation throughout all branches of literature. The Jewish contribution to German literature alone represented no less than 40 per cent. Further, it meant creating a common status of consciousness on the part of the German writers and bringing home to them their great responsibility to the state and the nation. Also, the book trade and lending library system had to be cleansed of elements which possessed perhaps commercial but not cultural qualifications to be employed in these responsible spheres' (Das Archiv, November/December 1934); cf. Strothmann, Nationalsozialistische Literaturpolitik.