Uništenje Univerzitetske biblioteke u Luvenu u Prvom svetskom ratu i njena obnova u posleratnom period

1. Uvod

Posmatrajući kulturu kao “kompleks zajedničkih uverenja, vrednosti i pojmova koji omogućuju grupi da osmisli i usmerava svoj život”, kao i činjenicu da “postajući nosioci specifične kulturne tradicije ljudi stiču osnovu svog identiteta” (Fej 2002, 71), ne možemo da previdimo i zanemarimo čvrstu sponu i međusobni uticaj kulture i identiteta. Zbog toga ne čudi što su upravo biblioteke, kao mesta koja čuvaju individualna i kolektivna sećanja, svedočanstva, ideje, znanja i istine pohranjene u knjigama, rukopisima i dokumentima, oduvek bile razarane i spaljivane u mnogim ratovima i osvajačkim pohodima, jer se na taj način nastojao uništiti kulturni identitet jednog naroda, ili određene društvene grupe i zajednice.

Po rečima istaknutog francuskog savremenog mislioca Etjena Balibara “zahtev za identitetom ne proističe nikad iz normalne, mirne situacije: identitet se traži kao garancija od opasnosti uništenja koja dolazi od strane ‘drugog identiteta’ (stranog identiteta) ili od ‘brisanja identiteta’ (depersonalizacija)” (Balibar 2002, 59). Pun smisao pomenutih Balibarovih reči dolazi do izražaja imajući u vidu da uništavanje kulturnog nasleđa “znači pokušati modificirati, falsificirati, osakatiti, odstraniti i, in ultima linea, ubiti identitet određene društvene grupe kojoj ona pripada” (Sjekavica 2012, 57), a ciljano uništavanje pretpostavlja razumevanje njenog značaja i uloge u kolektivnom pamćenju. Međutim, devastacija kulturnog i istorijskog nasleđa jedne zajednice ne podrazumeva samo njeno fizičko uništavanje već i “svaki oblik i način dezavuiranja, negiranja, odbijanja, omalovažavanja i neprijateljstva spram drugačije i različite kulturne tradicije i neke njezine tekovine” (Zalokar 2012, 130).

Ipak, ljudi su posebno osetljivi na biblioteke uništene namerno i planski: opljačkane, bombardovane, spaljene, jer na to gledaju kao na “ugroženu budućnost” i reaguju “sa dubokim emocijama” (Knuth, 2003, 1).

Neposredno nakon što je jedan deo sveta iskusio sve blagodeti istorijskog razdoblja zvanog “belle epoque”, odnosno “lepo doba”, “doba napretka”, suočio se sa ratom koji je izazvao više pustošenja i stradanja nego ijedan pre njega, sa tzv. “totalnim ratom”. U pitanju je bio novi oblik rata, koji je obeležio prvu polovinu 20. veka, a čiji cilj nije bio samo vojnički poraz protivnika već i eksploatisanje njegovih materijalnih i ekonomskih resursa, ali i uništenje njegovog kulturnog nasleđa. Pojam “totalni rat” datira od Prvog svetskog rata i označava aspekt “kulturnog i intelektualnog miljea u kojem se traumatično, nesvrsishodno nasilje smatralo neizbežnim, u stvari, bilo je široko rasprostranjeno uverenje da je ono neophodno” (Black 2006, 5-6). Stvaranje takvog miljea značajno je uticalo na sunovrat svih pozitivnih civilizacijskih tekovina u Prvom svetskom ratu, kada ništa nije bilo nemoguće, pa ni to da pripadnici naroda koji se ponosio svojom izuzetnom kulturom, književnošću i filozofijom bezobzirno urušavaju kulturno nasleđe drugog naroda tokom ratova. Upravo to se dogodilo kada je uništena Univerzitetska biblioteka u Luvenu, kao i sam grad Luven, od strane nemačke okupacione vojske tokom Prvog svetskog rata, u noći između 25. i 26. avgusta 1914. godine, i tom prilikom izgorelo nekoliko stotina hiljada knjiga i raritetnih rukopisa.

2. Okupacija Belgije

Belgija je još u 19. veku bila jedna od najznačajnijih industrijskih sila sveta i glavni izvoznik proizvoda od čelika, uglja, tekstila i stakla, sa vrlo razvijenim bankarskim sistemom. Od 1831. godine bila je nezavisna i večito neutralna država. Pravni pojam večite neutralnosti nastao je 1815. godine i predstavlja “priliku neke države da se zauvek udalji i zaštiti od svakog oblika neprijateljstva” ( Lapradelle 1914, 847). Uprkos tome, Nemačka je 2. avgusta 1914. godine uručila ultimatum Belgiji, čiju je neutralnost i sama priznavala i garantovala od Prvog londonskog sporazuma (1839), zahtevajući neometan prolaz za svoju vojsku, u pohodu na Francusku. Belgijski kralj Albert I odbio je ultimatum, a belgijska vojska počela je da diže u vazduh mostove i železničke saobraćajnice koje su iz Nemačke vodile u Belgiju.

Nemačka vojska je izvršila invaziju na belgijsku teritoriju 4. avgusta 1914. godine, u 8 časova ujutro. Napad Nemačkog carstva na neutralnu Belgiju je bio “trenutni casus belli, a ‘Belgija’ je postala skraćenica za moralna pitanja rata” (Schaepdrijver 2010, 386). Belgija je bila nepripremljena za rat, imala je skromnu vojničku tradiciju i slabo naoružanje (opšta vojna služba uvedena je tek 1913. godine), ali nemačku vojsku je iznenadila jakim otporom – iako je nemački Generalštab očekivao brz i lak prodor kroz Belgiju – držeći mali deo neokupirane belgijske teritorije severno od Ipra, zajedno sa francuskom i engleskom vojskom, sve do sklapanja primirja 1918. godine.

Stradanja belgijskih civila su posebno potresla svet, toliko da je okupacija nazvana silovanjem Belgije. Više od 5.500 ljudi je ubijeno: izbodeno, utopljeno, nasmrt pretučeno, streljano u masovnim pogubljenjima, belgijski gradovi su pljačkani i paljeni, a više od milion Belgijanaca je izbeglo u Holandiju, Francusku i Englesku. Belgija je pretrpela i ogromnu materijalnu štetu: stotine hiljada kuća i farmi je uništeno, a industrija je razorena. U godinama koje su usledile, praktično nakon što je cela država ostala u rukama osvajača, status Belgije u diskursu Antante je od “od heroja promenjen u amblem žrtve”; došlo je do “promene alegorijskog predstavljanja Belgije od herojske, preko mučeničke do viktimizirane” (Schaepdrijver 2018, 19). Činjenica je da je međunarodni ugled Belgije porastao i da je za mnoge upravo ona označavala borbu između civilizacije i varvarstva.

3. Istorijat Univerzitetske biblioteke u Luvenu do 1914. godine

Najveću osudu i gnev međunarodne javnosti izazvalo je uništenje i paljenje grada Luvena i njegovog izuzetno značajnog srednjovekovnog univerziteta i dragocene Univerzitetske biblioteke. Grad Luven osnovan je u 9. veku oko utvrđenja koje su izgradili nemački carevi da bi ga zaštitili u borbi protiv Normana, a dva veka kasnije je postao važna rezidencija grofova (kasnije vojvoda) Brabanta, vojvodstva Svetog rimskog carstva. Do početka Prvog svetskog rata bio je imućan univerzitetski grad sa 40.000 stanovnika i bogatim arhitektonskim nasleđem kasnog srednjeg i ranog modernog doba, poznat po gotičkoj arhitekturi. Crkva Svetog Petra iz 15. veka, Gradska većnica i Univerzitetska biblioteka su bili primeri brabantske gotike (Kramer 2007, 6). Po rečima Larija Cukermana, njegovi stanovnici su zarađivali za život proizvodeći pivo, čipku, izrađujući crkvene ornamente i predajući na Katoličkom univerzitetu (Zuckerman 2004, 30).

Univerzitet u Luvenu osnovan je 9. decembra 1425. godine papskom bulom “Sapientie Immarcessibilis”, izdatom od strane pape Martina V nakon što je grad Luven zatražio dozvolu za njegovo osnivanje, uz podršku Žana IV Burgundskog, vojvode od Brabanta, i gradskog sveštenstva. Jedan je od najstarijih univerziteta u Evropi, a najstariji i najznačajniji u zemljama Beneluksa. Univerzitet se u početku sastojao od četiri fakulteta: humanističkih nauka, kanonskog prava, građanskog prava i medicine, da bi 1432. godine bio osnovan i teološki fakultet. Sedište Univerziteta se nalazilo u monumentalnom zdanju, danas poznatom kao Univerzitetska sala, izgrađenom 1345. godine. U sklopu Univerziteta, 1636. godine osnovana je univerzitetska biblioteka koja se nalazila u spomenutoj Univerzitetskoj sali. Prvi bibliotekar bio je Valerijus Andreas (1636–1655) koji je objavio prvi katalog bibliotečke zbirke – bibliografske opise 60 rukopisa. U početku, biblioteka je imala skroman fond od 2.630 naslova, uglavnom knjiga iz teologije, medicine i matematike. U prvoj polovini 18. veka bibliotečki fond je već posedovao više od 8.000 knjiga, od kojih su većina bile donacije znamenitih ličnosti tog vremena. Naročito značajna godina u istoriji biblioteke je 1755. kada je bibliotekar Kornelijus Frensis Nelis uspeo da znatno uveća prihode biblioteke i izdejstvuje osnivanje zakonskog depozitnog fonda. Po rečima Jana van Impea “kratkotrajno zlatno doba osvanulo je kada je 1772. godine Jan Frans van de Velde (1743–1823) imenovan za glavnog bibliotekara” (Impe 2012, 56). On je bio veoma aktivan i ažuran u nabavci novih knjiga, pa se fond biblioteke značajno povećao – na skoro 40.000 publikacija.

Nakon ukidanja Univerziteta od strane Francuske Republike 1797. godine – Kampoformijskim mirom iz oktobra 1797. godine Belgija je pripala Francuskoj – deo bibliotečke kolekcije je prebačen u Centralnu školu ( École centrale) u Briselu, ali su mnoge vredne knjige i rukopisi zaplenjeni i odneti u Nacionalnu biblioteku u Parizu. To je bio prvi put da se biblioteka suočila sa ozbiljnom devastacijom svog fonda. Tek 1806. godine bivša Univerzitetska biblioteka je ponovo otvorena, ali sada kao gradska biblioteka. Biblioteka je nastavila sa svojom prvobitnom funkcijom 1817. godine, sada u okviru novoosnovanog Državnog univerziteta u Luvenu (Rijksuniversiteit) koji je rasformiran 1835. godine, kada se biblioteka opet našla u vlasništvu grada koji ju je odmah ustupio novoosnovanom Katoličkom univerzitetu. Od tada, pa sve do spaljivanja 1914. godine, Biblioteka je konstantno bogatila svoju kolekciju, te se broj knjiga povećao na čak 150.000 početkom 20. veka. Do 1912. godine biblioteka je “organizaciono zaostajala za trendovima u akademskom bibliotekarstvu” (Ovenden, 2020) pa je univerzitetski bibliotekar Pol Delanoj započeo proces modernizacije biblioteke i uređenja kataloga 1913. godine, samo godinu dana pre nego što su je nemački vojnici zapalili, a paradoks je da su upravo nemački tehničari konstruisali nove metalne police za biblioteku. Nakon požara, samo nekoliko spaljenih stranica i određen broj ugljenisanih knjiga su rekonstruisani. Oni su danas izloženi u muzeju Valerius Andreas Room kao relikvije “neshvatljive drame” (Impe 2012, 58).

O značaju samog Univerziteta u Luvenu, koji je je vremenom postao intelektualni centar zemalja Beneluksa, svedoči i to što su na njemu studirali i predavali neki od najznamenitijih umova svoga vremena. Erazmo Roterdamski je upravo u Luvenu otkrio tekstove koji su bili od suštinskog značaja za njegov istraživački rad i doprineo objavljivanju knjige “Utopija” njegovog prijatelja Tomasa Mora. Takođe, Erazmo je jedan od osnivača Collegium Trilingue – Koledža tri jezika: latinskog, grčkog i hebrejskog, koji je postao centar humanističkih istraživanja. Na Univerzitetu u Luvenu je studirao i Andreas Vezalijus, flamanski lekar, koji je 1543. godine objavio čuvenu anatomsku studiju De humani corporis fabrica libri septem. Takođe, studenti Univerziteta u Luvenu bili su i flamanski geograf i kartograf Gerhard Merkator, filozof i filolog Justus Lipsijus, a na njemu je predavao i čuveni španski humanista i pedagog Huan Luis Vives.

Univerzitetska biblioteka u Luvenu, osim istorijskog značaja, predstavljala je važan segment “belgijskog kulturnog identiteta” i dragocen “nacionalni resurs” (Ovenden, 2020), te je njeno uništenje bio svojevrsan atak na uspostavljene civilizacijske tekovine, u suprotnosti sa vodećim tendencijama epohe napretka.

4. Uništavanje Luvena i Univerzitetske biblioteke

Nakon što je belgijska vojska napustila grad dan ranije, nemačke trupe ušle su u Luven bez otpora, u sredu, 19. avgusta, u jutarnjim časovima, a “stanovnicima se činilo da je to dugačka, nepregledna kolona, koja nosi ‘omražene šiljaste kacige’, okružena ‘elegantnom i oholom konjicom’” (Kramer, 7). U noći između 25. i 26. avgusta nemački vojnici su zapalili deo grada, kao odmazdu za navodni snajperski napad još uvek naoružanih stanovnika Luvena, kojom prilikom je ubijeno nekoliko desetina nemačkih vojnika. Više od dve hiljade kuća je spaljeno i isto toliko opljačkano, ubijen je 251 civil, a 831 civil deportovan u logore u Nemačkoj, dok je 42.000 stanovnika nasilno evakuisano u okolna sela. Nemci su osudili Luven na to da “postane pustoš”, a sa “nemačkim sistemom i ljubavi prema temeljitosti, ostavili su Luven poput prazne i pocrnele ljušture” (Davis, 1914). Razaranje Luvena je učinjeno sa namerom da se civili zastraše terorom i uništavanjem kulturnog identiteta i da ih navedu na lojalnost i saradnju, ali “umesto očekivanog poštovanja, Nemačka nije izazvala ništa osim ogorčenja širom sveta”, a “od Kopenhagena do Rima, protesti su preplavili nemačke ambasade” (Derez 2016, 26).

Posebnu pažnju međunarodne javnosti izazvalo je spaljivanje Univerzitetske biblioteke, u kojoj se čuvala i Osnivačka povelja Univerziteta u Luvenu. Uništavanje je počelo u noći između 25. i 26. avgusta, kada su nemački vojnici kroz prozor ubacili zapaljivu tečnost i ispalili nekoliko hitaca, prouzrokujući snažnu eksploziju i požar. Biblioteka je gorela nekoliko dana, ali do jutra, od same biblioteke i njene kolekcije ostali su samo pocrneli zidovi, kameni stubovi i zapaljene knjige. Pol Delanoj, profesor i bibliotekar Univerziteta u Luvenu, u svom članku iz 1915. godine, objavljenom u časopisu Nineteenth Century, ostavio je slikovito svedočanstvo: “Ruševine Biblioteke sam video osam dana nakon požara, i čak i tada sam mogao da ih posmatram samo sa razdaljine i uz priličan rizik”, i da je njeno spaljivanje prouzrokovalo “dva nenadoknadiva gubitka: gubitak istorijskog spomenika, dragulja najlepše arhitekture dva različita perioda – četrnaestog i osamnaestog veka – i gubitak kolekcije rukopisa, knjiga i relikvija Univerziteta u Luvenu” (Delannoy, 1915).

Prilikom spaljivanja Luvenske biblioteke izgorelo je između 200 i 300.000 knjiga, uključujući i kolekciju od 1.000 inkunabula, 300 rukopisa, dragoceni Livre d’ Heures, privatne biblioteke tridesetak univerzitetskih profesora, 68 beleški sa predavanja, 158 portreta luvenskih profesora, kao i kolekcije mapa, medalja i dr. Na sreću, sačuvana je korespodencija humaniste Fransa Kranvelta sa njegovim savremenicima Erazmom Roterdamskim, Tomasom Morom i Huanom Luisom Vivesom, ukupno 385 pisama iz perioda 1520–1528. godine, a koja predstavljaju “bogat izvor informacija o političkom i intelektualnom životu u 16. veku” (Smets 2016, 169).

Postoje indicije da je u požaru stradala i veoma vredna kopija na velumu (vrsti pergamenta) čuvenog traktata Andreasa Vezalijusa posvećenog ljudskoj anatomiji De humani corporis fabrica libri septem, koji je biblioteci poklonio car Karlo V (Steeno and Biesbrouck 2012, 215). Takođe, dva dragocena latinska srednjovekovna rukopisa, tekstovi iz kanonskog prava, uništena su u požaru, a stigla su u Luven 7. jula, u međunarodnoj, međubibliotečkoj pozajmici rukopisa koja je samo tri nedelje pre rata bila “sasvim uobičajena u akademskom svetu: ‘za istraživačke svrhe’ bio je moćan argument” (Fabian 2016, 58).

Već spomenuti Pol Delanoj u istom članku navodi najznačajnija dela bogate kolekcije Luvenske biblioteke i ističe da je najpoznatiji rukopis bio Sermones triginta ad novicios regulares et vitam S. Lidewigis à Thoma à Kempis conscriptam, napisan rukom Tome Kempijskog, a da je posebno značajna bila zbirka rukopisa koja se odnosi na istoriju Belgije i Brabanta. Istom prilikom, Delanoj je istakao i vrednost drevne teološke zbirke koju je Biblioteka posedovala, a koja je sadržala mnogobrojna pisma, radove i doktrinarne rasprave o reformaciji (Dellanoy, 1915).

Iako Luvenska biblioteka nije bila “riznica na nivou velikih nacionalnih biblioteka” (Derez 2016, 28), u domenu kulturne istorije bila je veoma značajna za zemlje nekadašnje Nizozemske. Reakcije intelektualaca i kulturne javnosti bile su snažne: francuski akademik Frederik Mason izjavio je da je ovaj napad “isključio Nemačku iz civilizacije” (Fabian 2016, 55), a jedan od vodećih britanskih intelektualaca Arnold Tojnbi smatrao je da su Nemci namerno ciljali intelektualno srce univerziteta. Čak je i nemačka vlada reagovala i imenovala bibliotekara Riharda Elera da štiti belgijske biblioteke kao centre kulturnog nasleđa. Takve reakcije su bile opravdane, jer Luvenska biblioteka nije bila “razmatrana kao vojna meta” i stoga je njeno uništenje bilo doživljeno kao “kulturno zverstvo” (Derez 2016, 25).

Nemačka politička i kulturna javnost pravdala je uništenje Luvena i ubistva civila navodnim ubistvima svojih vojnika od strane belgijskih naoružanih civila-snajperista, tzv. franc-tireurs, te su u oktobru 1914. godine 93 značajna nemačka naučnika i umetnika potpisali javni manifest – Apel kulturnom svetu!, u kojem su odlučno odbacili optužbe za nemačke zločine u okupiranoj Belgiji. Ovakva reakcija nemačkih intelektualaca nije bila iznenađujuća, imajući u vidu da je, po njihovom mišljenju, rat imao viši smisao jer je “percipiran kao borba za očuvanje vrednosti nemačke kulture, osobenog državnog uređenja i sveukupnog načina života ugroženih, kako se po široko rasprostranjenom mnjenju verovalo, od strane materijalističke civilizacije Velike Britanije i Francuske kao i varvarstva ‘azijatskog ruskog carstva’” (Antolović 2016).

Uprkos nastojanjima nemačkih intelektualaca da opravdaju zločine nemačke vojske, Belgija je širom sveta izazivala saosećanje i sažaljenje, a ime grada Luvena je postalo slavno, pa su čak i devojčice rođene u Engleskoj u to vreme dobijale ime Luven po njemu, a naziv jednog popularnog vojnog marša u Engleskoj glasio je: “Luven! Biće naš bojni poklič.” Belgijska vlada je poslala delegaciju u Vašington, koja je primljena uz sve državničke počasti i, iako je američki predsednik Vudro Vilson “možda ostao neutralan i želeo da sačuva sve opcije otvorenim, američki narod nije imao sumnje ko su ‘dobri momci’, a ko ‘loši momci’” (Derez 2016, 26).

5. Obnova Univerzitetske biblioteke

Ubrzo nakon uništenja srednjovekovne Univerzitetske biblioteke u Luvenu javila su se nastojanja da se pomogne u obnovi njene izgorele kolekcije i samog zdanja biblioteke, kao “signal koji izražava želju za novim početkom” (Fabian 2016, 58). Već krajem 1914. godine biblioteka Džon Rajland iz Mančestera odlučila je da izdvoji 200 knjiga iz svog fonda, kao osnovu buduće biblioteke u Luvenu, uputivši javni apel pojedincima i institucijama u Velikoj Britaniji da poklone knjige za stradalu biblioteku.

Kako se rat završavao, međunarodni napori za obnovu biblioteke u Luvenu su se intenzivirali, da bi pitanje njene obnove bilo razmatrano i na mirovnoj konferenciji u Parizu 1919. godine – po članu 247. Versajskog ugovora Nemačka se obavezala da Univerzitetu u Luvenu, u roku od tri meseca nakon zahteva dostavljenog intervencijom Reparacione komisije,1 preda rukopise, inkunabule, štampane knjige, mape i predmete iz kolekcije, koji odgovaraju broju i vrednosti onih koji su uništeni u paljenju Luvenske biblioteke od strane nemačke vojske. Otežavajuća okolnost je bila ta što je Luvenska biblioteka imala jedinstvenu kolekciju rukopisa usko povezanih sa nastavom i istraživanjima na samom Univerzitetu u Luvenu, pa nabavku odgovarajućih zamenskih rukopisa nije bilo moguće u potpunosti ostvariti. Ipak, grupa uglednih nemačkih bibliotekara, angažovanih od strane nemačkog Ministarstva kulture, u postupku reparacije uspela je da identifikuje rukopise koji su bili na dostupni na tržištu (pregledali su rukopise i inkunabule iz brojnih biblioteka, antikvarnica i privatnih kolekcija i zbirki), a koji bi bili značajni za biblioteku u Luvenu u budućnosti, i ovakav pristup se pokazao kao uspešan i adekvatan (Fabian 2016, 58). Takođe, sastavljena je lista duplikata istorijske građe i inkunabula iz nemačkih biblioteka, a zatim su dela otkupljena po tržišnoj ceni i predata luvenskoj biblioteci.

Ideja o rekonstrukciji biblioteke u Luvenu nastala je u Parizu, u okviru Instituta za Francusku, ali najkonkretnije poteze povukao je Nacionalni komitet Vlade Sjedinjenih Američkih Država za obnovu Univerziteta Luven. Obnova zdanja biblioteke otpočela je 1921. godine i trajala sedam godina. Sjedinjene Države su svesrdno podsticale međunarodne inicijative da se Luvenu pomogne da obnovi svoju biblioteku, ne samo kao znak solidarnosti već i kao priliku da ojača svoju ulogu i “meku moć” u Evropi. Analizirajući posleratnu rekonstrukciju luvenske biblioteke u kontekstu šireg internacionalnog pokreta i međuratnih pokušaja da se nacionalizam zameni internacionalizmom kao garancijom trajnog mira, Stiven Vit zaključio je da se rekonstrukcija može posmatrati kao “izraz sve veće uloge Sjedinjenih Američkih Država u Evropi i kao rani primer razvoja njene spoljne politike” (Witt 2020, 23). Finansiranje i izgradnja nove biblioteke bili su izrazito američki projekat, a obnavljanje uništenog bibliotečkog fonda nastavljeno je kao međunarodna saradnja sa evropskim bibliotekama i univerzitetima, koju je koordinisao Međunarodni komitet za obnovu biblioteke u Luvenu. Centar prikupljanja knjiga bio je ogranak pomenutog komiteta u Parizu. Sam rektor Univerziteta u Luvenu je odgovornost za obnovu biblioteke prepustio američkom Nacionalnom komitetu, opravdavajući ovu odluku lošom finansijskom situacijom na Univerzitetu (Witt 2020, 12). Osim vlade SAD, izgradnju Luvenske biblioteke pomogla je i Karnegijeva zadužbina za međunarodni mir donirajući 100.000 dolara, ali i druge američke institucije: prestižni univerziteti poput Harvarda, Jejla i Kolumbija univerziteta, kao i zadužbina DŽ. P. Morgan. Univerzitetska biblioteka u Luvenu, izgrađena u neorenesansom stilu, prema projektu uglednog američkog arhitekte Vitnija Vorena, svečano je otvorena 4. jula 1928. godine, uz prisustvo belgijskog princa Leopolda I, budućeg američkog predsednika Herberta Huvera, koji je ličnim zalaganjem pomogao izgradnju, kao i nekoliko stotina predstavnika vodećih svetskih univerziteta.

Nažalost, Biblioteka je teško oštećena i u Drugom svetskom ratu, 16. maja 1940. godine, tokom britansko-nemačke razmene artiljerijske vatre. Sačuvano je svega 15.000 od više od 900.000 knjiga i petnaestak rukopisa, uprkos podrumima dobro zaštićenim od bombi i požara. Tek 1951. godine ona je iznova nastavila sa radom, nakon rekonstrukcije samog zdanja, ali i obnove ponovo nastradalog knjižnog fonda, da bi 1987. postala zaštićeni spomenik kulture.

6. Zaključak

Grad Luven danas predstavlja važan deo evropskog kolektivnog sećanja i kulturnog identiteta. U 2014. godini obeležio je stotu godišnjicu od razaranja koncertom koji je simbolizovao zajedničko evropsko kulturno nasleđe, tokom kojeg je prikazana projekcija fotografija Univerzitetske biblioteke u plamenu i predstavljeno “kako kultura može da isceli i ujedini ljude razjedinjene ratom” (Williams 2018, 44).

Istovremeno, Luven predstavlja traumu i opomenu koja upozorava koliko nesagledive mogu biti posledice “totalnog rata” koji je imao za cilj, između ostalog, i uništavanje kulturnog identiteta vojnog protivnika. Vrlo brzo se ispostavilo da uništenje Univerzitetske biblioteke u Luvenu nije bio svojevrsni presedan i incident, već samo uvod u predstojeća nacistička spaljivanja knjiga nepodobnih autora, a zatim i čitavih biblioteka u Drugom svetskom ratu. Biblioteke su tendenciozno uništavane, ne samo kao nosioci kulturnog identiteta određenog naroda već i kao riznice njegovog kolektivnog pamćenja.

Nažalost, nije izvesno da i u savremenim društvima postoji dovoljno jasna svest o značaju biblioteka, kao što se ni njihovoj zaštiti u mogućim novim ratnim sukobima ne posvećuje dovoljna pažnja. Ovo tim pre, budući da se u prošlosti ispostavilo da međunarodne konvencije o zaštiti materijalnog i kulturno-istorijskog nasleđa nisu bile prepreka da se ono sistemski uništava, kao što se dogodilo 1992. godine, kada je granatirana i zapaljena Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka u Sarajevu, pa se čini opravdanom bojazan da one to neće biti ni u budućnosti.

Međutim, pravovremene i delotvorne inicijative i aktivnosti za obnovu spaljene biblioteke u Luvenu jasan su pokazatelj da je u istoriji civilizacije, ipak, uvek postojao spiritus movens koji je pokretao, podsticao i realizovao sve pozitivne i altruistične ljudske ideje i zamisli. Jedan od najočiglednijih primera koji potvrđuju ovo zapažanje su upravo Univerzitetska biblioteka u Luvenu, koja je danas zaštićeni spomenik kulture, kao i Univerzitet u Luvenu, koji će 2025. godine obeležiti 600 godina postojanja.

1. Introduction

Considering culture as a “complex of shared beliefs, values and concepts that enable a group to design and direct its life”, as well as the fact that “by becoming bearers of a specific cultural tradition, people acquire the basis of their identity” (Fay 2002, 71), we cannot overlook and ignore the strong bond and mutual influence of culture and identity. Therefore, it is not surprising that libraries, as places that preserve individual and collective memories, testimonies, ideas, knowledge and truths stored in books, manuscripts and documents, have always been destroyed and burned in many wars and conquests, because that is the sought way to destroy the cultural identity of one nation, or certain social group and community.

In the words of Étienne Balibar, the eminent French contemporary thinker, “the demand for identity never arises from a normal, peaceful situation: identity is sought as a guarantee of the danger of destruction posed by a ‘second identity’ (foreign identity) or by ‘erasure of identity’ (depersonalization)” (Balibar 2002, 59). The full meaning of the mentioned Balibar’s words come to the fore having in mind that the destruction of cultural heritage “means trying to modify, falsify, mutilate, remove and, in ultima linea, kill the identity of a certain social group to which it belongs” (Sjekavica 2012, 57), and targeted destruction presupposes an understanding of its significance and role in collective memory. However, the devastation of the cultural and historical heritage of a community does not only mean its physical destruction, but also “every form and manner of disavowal, denial, rejection, belittling and hostility towards different and diverse cultural traditions and some of its achievements.” (Zalokar 2012, 130).

However, people are especially sensitive to libraries destroyed intentionally and deliberately: robbed, bombed, burned, because they see it as a “threatened future” and react “with deep emotions.” (Knuth, 2003, 1).

Immediately after a one part of the world has experienced all the benefits of the historical period called the “belle epoque”, i.e. the “beautiful age”, the “age of progress”, it faced a war that caused more devastation and suffering than any before, with the so-called “Total war”. It was a new form of war, which marked the first half of the 20th century, and whose goal was not only the military defeat of the enemy, but also the exploitation of its material and economic resources, but also the destruction of its cultural heritage. The term “total war” dates back to the First World War and refers to an aspect of the “cultural and intellectual milieu in which traumatic, pointless violence was considered inevitable, in fact, there was a widespread belief that it was necessary.” (Black 2006, 5-6). The creation of such milieu significantly influenced the downfall of all positive civilization achievements in the First World War, when nothing was impossible, not even that members of a nation proud of its exceptional culture, literature and philosophy ruthlessly destroyed the cultural heritage of another nation during the wars. This is exactly what happened when the University Library of Leuven, as well as the city of Leuven, was destroyed by the German occupation army during the First World War, on the night between 25 and 26 August 1914, where several hundred thousand books and rare manuscripts were burned.

2. Occupation of Belgium

Back in the 19th century, Belgium was one of the most important industrial powers in the world and a major exporter of steel, coal, textile and glass products, with a highly developed banking system. Since 1831, it has been an independent and eternally neutral state. The legal notion of eternal neutrality originated in 1815 and represents “an opportunity for a state to distance itself forever and protect itself from any form of hostility.” ( Lapradelle 1914, 847). Despite this, on August 2, 1914, Germany handed an ultimatum to Belgium, whose neutrality they also recognized and guaranteed from The First Treaty of London (1839), and demanding unhindered passage for its army, in the campaign against France. King Albert I of Belgium refused the ultimatum, and the Belgian army began to blow up bridges and railways leading from Germany to Belgium.

The German army invaded Belgian territory on August 4, 1914, at 8 o'clock in the morning. The attack of the German Empire on neutral Belgium was “the current casus belli (occasion for war), and ‘Belgium’ became an abbreviation for the moral issues of war.” (Schaepdrijver 2010, 386). Belgium was unprepared for war, had a modest military tradition and weak armament (general military service was introduced only in 1913), but surprised the German army with strong resistance – although the German General Staff expected a quick and easy incursion through Belgium – holding a small part of the unoccupied Belgian territory north of Ypres, together with the French and British armies, until the armistice agreements in 1918.

The suffering of Belgian civilians especially shook the world so much that the occupation has been called the rape of Belgium. More than 5,500 people were killed: stabbed, drowned, beaten to death, shot in mass executions, Belgian cities were looted and set on fire, and more than a million Belgians fled to the Netherlands, France and England. Belgium also suffered enormous material damage: hundreds of thousands of houses and farms were ruined and industry was destroyed. In the years that followed, practically after the whole country remained in the hands of the conquerors, the status of Belgium in the Entente discourse was “changed from a hero to the emblem of a victim”; it went to the “change in the allegorical representation of Belgium from heroic, through tortured to victimized” (Schaepdrijver 2018, 19). The fact is that the international reputation of Belgium has grown and that for many it marked the struggle between civilization and barbarism.

3. History of the Leuven University Library until 1914

The greatest condemnation and anger of the international public was caused by the destruction and burning of the city of Leuven and its extremely important medieval university and the valuable University Library. The city of Leuven was founded in the 9th century around a fortification built by German emperors to protect it in the fight against the Normans, and two centuries later it became an important residence of the Counts (later Dukes) of Brabant, Duchy of the Holy Roman Empire. Until the beginning of the First World War, it was a wealthy university city with 40,000 inhabitants and a rich architectural heritage of the late Middle and Early Modern Ages, known for its Gothic architecture. St. Peter's Church from the 15th century, the City Hall and the University Library were examples of Brabantine Gothic (Kramer 2007, 6). According to Larry Zuckerman, its residents made a living by producing beer, lace, making church ornaments, and teaching at the Catholic University (Zuckerman 2004, 30).

The University of Leuven was founded on December 9, 1425 by the papal bull “Sapientie Immarcessibilis”, issued by Pope Martin V after the city of Leuven requested permission for its establishing, with the support of John IV of Burgundy, Duke of Brabant, and the city clergy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe, and the oldest and most important in the Benelux countries. The university initially consisted of four faculties: humanities, canon law, civil law and medicine, and in 1432 the faculty of theology was founded. The headquarters of the University were located in a monumental building, today known as the University Hall, built in 1345. Within the University, in 1636 a university library was established, which was located in the mentioned University Hall. The first librarian was Valerius Andreas (1636–1655) who published the first catalogue of the library collection – bibliographic descriptions of 60 manuscripts. Initially, the library had a modest collection of 2,630 titles, mostly books on theology, medicine, and mathematics. In the first half of the 18th century, the library fund already owned more than 8,000 books, most of which were donations from famous people of that time. A particularly significant year in the history of the library was 1755, when the librarian Cornelis Franciscus Nelis managed to significantly increase the library’s income and establish a legal deposit fund. By the words of Jan Van Impe, “short golden age dawned when, in 1772, Jan Frans van de Velde (1743–1823) was appointed chief librarian” (Impe 2012, 56). He was very active and prompt in purchasing new books, so the library fund increased significantly – to almost 40,000 publications.

After the abolition of the University by the French Republic in 1797 – with the Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797, Belgium has been given to France – part of the library collection was transferred to the Central School ( École centrale) in Brussels, but many valuable books and manuscripts were confiscated and taken to the National library in Paris. It was the first time that the library faced a serious devastation of its holdings. It was not until 1806 that the former University Library was reopened, but now as a city library. The library continued its original function in 1817, now within the newly established State University of Leuven (Rijksuniversiteit) which was disestablished in 1835, when the library has found itself in the possession of the city which immediately ceded it to the newly established Catholic University. From then until the burning in 1914, the Library constantly enriched its collection, and the number of books increased to as many as 150,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. Until 1912, the library “organizationally has fallen behind the trends in academic librarianship” (Ovenden, 2020) so university librarian Paul Delannoy began the process of the library modernization and arranging of the catalogue in 1913, just a year before it was set on fire by German soldiers, and the paradox is that German technicians constructed new metal shelves for the library. After the fire, only a few burned pages and a number of charred books were reconstructed. They are on display today at the museum Valerius Andreas Room as relics of an “incomprehensible drama” (Impe 2012, 58).

The importance of the University of Leuven itself, which over time became the intellectual center of the Benelux countries, is evidenced by the fact that some of the most famous minds of their time studied and taught there. It was in Leuven that Erasmus of Rotterdam discovered the texts that were essential for his research work, and contributed to the publication of the book “Utopia” by his friend Thomas More. Also, Erasmus is one of the founders of the Collegium Trilingue – College of Three Languages: Latin, Greek and Hebrew, which became a center of humanistic research. Andreas Vesalius, a Flemish physician, also studied at the University of Leuven, that published in 1543 the famous anatomical study De humani corporis fabrica libri septem. Also, the students of the University of Leuven were the Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator, the philosopher and philologist Justus Lipsius, and the famous Spanish humanist and educator Juan Luis Vives also taught there.

The University Library in Leuven, in addition to its historical significance, was an important segment of “Belgian cultural identity” and a valuable “national resource” (Ovenden, 2020), and its destruction was a sort of the attack on established civilizational achievements, contrary to the leading tendencies of the era of progress.

4. Destruction of Leuven and the University Library

After the Belgian army left the city the day before, German troops entered Leuven without resistance, on Wednesday, August 19, in the morning, and “the inhabitants thought it was a long, endless line, wearing ‘hated pointed helmets’, surrounded by ‘elegant and haughty cavalry’ (Kramer, 7). On the night of August 25–26, German troops set fire to part of the city in retaliation for an alleged sniper attack by still-armed residents of Leuven, which killed several dozen German soldiers. More than 2,000 houses were burned and looted, 251 civilians were killed and 831 civilians deported to camps in Germany, while 42,000 residents were forcibly evacuated to surrounding villages. The Germans condemned Leuven to “become a wasteland”, and with the “German system and love of thoroughness, they left Leuven like an empty and blackened shell” (Davis, 1914). The destruction of Leuven was done with the intention of intimidating civilians with terror and destroying cultural identity and leading them to loyalty and cooperation, but “instead of the expected respect, Germany caused nothing but outrage around the world”, and “from Copenhagen to Rome, protests flooded German Embassy” (Derez 2016, 26).

The special attention of the international public attracted the burning of the University Library, which also housed the Founding Charter of the University of Leuven. The destruction began on the night between August 25 and 26, when German soldiers threw flammable liquid through a window and fired several shots, causing a powerful explosion and fire. The library was burning for several days, but by morning, only blackened walls, stone pillars and burning books remained of the library and its collection. Paul Delannoy, a professor and librarian at the University of Leuven, left a pictorial testimony in his article in Nineteenth Century from 1915: “I saw the ruins of the Library eight days after the fire, and even then I could only observe them from distances and at considerable risk”, and that its burning caused “two irreparable losses: the loss of a historical monument, a jewel of the most beautiful architecture of two different periods – the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries – and the loss of a collection of manuscripts, books and relics of the University of Leuven” (Delannoy, 1915).

The burning of the Leuven library burned between 200 and 300,000 books, including a collection of 1,000 incunabula, 300 manuscripts, the precious Livre d'Heures, the private library of some thirty university professors, 68 lecture notes, 158 portraits of Leuven professors, as well as a collection of maps, medals, etc. Fortunately, the correspondence of the humanist Francis Cranevelt with his contemporaries Erasmus of Rotterdam, Thomas More and Juan Luis Vives has been preserved, a total of 385 letters from the period 1520–1528 which represent a “rich source of information on political and intellectual life in the 16th century” (Smets 2016, 169).

There are indications that a very valuable copy on the vellum (type of parchment) of the famous treatise of Andreas Vesalius dedicated to human anatomy De humani corporis fabrica libri septem, which was donated to the library by Emperor Charles V (Steeno and Biesbrouck 2012, 215), was also destroyed in the fire. Also, two precious Latin medieval manuscripts, texts from canon law were destroyed in a fire, and arrived in Leuven on July 7, in an international, interlibrary loan of manuscripts that was only three weeks before the war “quite common in academic world ‘for research purposes’ was a powerful argument” (Fabian 2016, 58).

In the same article, Paul Delannoy mentions the most important works of the rich collection of the Library of Leuven, and points out that the most famous manuscript was Sermones triginta ad novicios regulares et vitam S. Lidewigis à Thoma à Kempis conscriptam, written by Thoma Kempis, and that especially important manuscript collection relates to the history of Belgium and Brabant. On the same occasion, Delannoy emphasized the value of the ancient theological collection that the Library possessed, which contained numerous letters, works and doctrinal discussions on the Reformation (Dellanoy, 1915).

Although the Leuven Library was not a “treasury at the level of large national libraries” (Derez 2016, 28), in the field of cultural history it was very important for the countries of the former Netherlands. Reactions from intellectuals and the cultural public were strong: French academic Frederick Mason said the attack “excluded Germany from civilization” (Fabian 2016, 55), and one of Britain’s leading intellectuals, Arnold Toynbee, believed the Germans were deliberately targeting the university’s intellectual heart. Even the German government reacted and appointed librarian Richard Oehler to protect Belgian libraries as cultural heritage centers. Such reactions were justified, because the Leuven Library was not “considered a military target” and therefore its destruction was perceived as a “cultural atrocity”. (Derez 2016, 25).

The German political and cultural public justified the destruction of Leuven and the killing of civilians by the alleged killings of their soldiers by Belgian armed civilian snipers, the so-called franc-tireurs (free shooters), and in October 1914, 93 important German scientists and artists signed a public manifesto – Appeal to the Cultural World!, in which they resolutely rejected the accusations of German crimes in occupied Belgium. This reaction of German intellectuals was not surprising, bearing in mind that, in their opinion, the war had a higher meaning because it was “perceived as a struggle to preserve the values of German culture, special state system and overall way of life, as widely believed, of the endangered by the materialist civilizations of Great Britain and France as well as the barbarism of the ‘Asian Russian Empire’” (Antolović 2016).

Despite the efforts of German intellectuals to justify the crimes of the German army, Belgium provoked sympathy and compassion around the world, and the name of the city of Leuven became famous, and even girls born in England at that time were named Leuven, and the name of a popular military march in England was “Louvain shall be our battle cry.” The Belgian government sent a delegation to Washington, which was received with all-state honors, and although US President Woodrow Wilson “may have remained neutral and wanted to keep all options open, the American people had no doubt who were the ‘good guys’ and who were ‘bad guys’” (Derez 2016, 26).

5. Renovation of the University Library

Shortly after the destruction of the medieval University Library in Leuven, efforts were made to help restore its burned-out collection and the library building itself, as “a signal expressing a desire for a new beginning” (Fabian 2016, 58). As early as the end of 1914, the John Rylands Library in Manchester decided to set aside 200 books from its collection as the basis for a future library in Leuven, sending a public appeal to individuals and institutions in Great Britain to donate books for the damaged library.

As the war ended, international efforts to renovate the Leuven library intensified, and the issue of rebuilding it was discussed at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 – under Article 247 of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany committed to give within a period of three months after the request submitted by the intervention of the Reparation Commission,2 manuscripts, incunabula, printed books, maps and objects from the collection, which correspond to the number and value of those destroyed in the burning of the Leuven Library by the German army. The aggravating circumstance was that the Leuven Library had a unique collection of manuscripts closely related to teaching and research at the University of Leuven itself, so the purchase of appropriate replacement manuscripts could not be fully realized. Nevertheless, a group of eminent German librarians, hired by the German Ministry of Culture, managed to identify manuscripts that were available on the market (they reviewed manuscripts and incunabula from numerous libraries, antique shops and private collections), which would be significant for the Leuven library in the future, and this approach has proven to be successful and adequate (Fabian 2016, 58). Also, a list of duplicates of historical materials and incunabula from German libraries was composed, and then the works were purchased at the market price and handed over to the Leuven library.

The idea for the reconstruction of the library in Leuven originated in Paris, within the Institute for France, but the most concrete moves were made by the National Committee of the United States Government for the Reconstruction of the University of Leuven. Renovation of the library building began in 1921 and lasted for seven years. The United States has wholeheartedly encouraged international initiatives to help Leuven rebuild its library, not only as a sign of solidarity, but also as an opportunity to strengthen its role and “soft power” in Europe. Analyzing the post-war reconstruction of the Leuven Library in the context of the wider international movement and interwar attempts to replace nationalism with internationalism as a guarantee of lasting peace, Stephen Witt concluded that the reconstruction could be seen as “an expression of the growing role of the United States in Europe and as early example of its foreign policies” (Witt 2020, 23). Funding and construction of the new library was a distinctly American project, and the restoration of the destroyed library fund continued as an international collaboration with European libraries and universities, coordinated by the International Committee for Library Restoration in Leuven. The book collection center was a branch of the mentioned committee in Paris. The rector of the University of Leuven left the responsibility for the renovation of the library to the American National Committee, justifying this decision by the poor financial situation at the University (Witt 2020, 12). In addition to the US government, the construction of the Leuven Library was helped by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace by donating $ 100,000, but also other American institutions: prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale and Columbia University, as well as the J. P. Morgan Endowment. The University Library in Leuven, built in the Neo-Renaissance style, according to the project of the renowned American architect Whitney Warren, was inaugurated on July 4, 1928, in the presence of Prince Leopold I of Belgium, future US President Herbert Hoover, who with personal commitment helped construction and several hundred representatives of the world’s leading universities.

The library was severely damaged in World War II, on May 16, 1940, during the British-German exchange of artillery fire. Only 15,000 of the more than 900,000 books and fifteen manuscripts have survived, despite well protected cellars from bombs and fires. It was not until 1951 that it has continued its work, after the reconstruction of the building itself, but also the renovation of the again damaged book fund, and in 1987 it became a protected cultural monument.

6. Conclusion

Today, the city of Leuven is an important part of Europe’s collective memory and cultural identity. In 2014, city marked the 100th anniversary of the destruction with a concert symbolizing the common European cultural heritage, during which a projection of photographs of the University Library in flames was shown, and presented “how culture can heal and unite people divided by war” (Williams 2018, 44).

At the same time, Leuven presents a trauma and a reminder that warns how incalculable consequences of a “total war” can be, aiming, among other things, to destroy the cultural identity of a military adversary. It quickly turned out that the destruction of the University Library in Leuven was not a kind of precedent and incident, but only an introduction to the upcoming Nazi burning of books by unsuitable authors, and then entire libraries in World War II. Libraries were tendentiously destroyed, not only as bearers of the cultural identity of a certain nation, but also as treasures of its collective memory.

Unfortunately, it is not certain that there is a sufficiently clear awareness of the importance of libraries in modern societies, just as not enough attention is paid to their protection in possible new wars. All the more so, since in the past it turned out that international conventions on the protection of material and cultural-historical heritage were not an obstacle to its systematic destruction, as happened in 1992, when the National and University Library in Sarajevo was shelled and set on fire, so the fear that they will not be protected in the future seems justified.

After all, timely and effective initiatives and activities for the restoration of the burned library in Leuven are a clear indication that in the history of civilization, and yet, there has always been a spiritus movens that initiated, encouraged and realized all positive and altruistic human ideas. One of the most obvious examples that confirm this observation is the University Library of Leuven, which is today a protected cultural monument, as well as the University of Leuven, which will in 2025 mark 600 years of existence.

7. Literatura / Bibiography