6. a small strip of coloured cloth signifying membership of an order or award of military decoration, prize, or other distinction. 7. a small, usually looped, strip of coloured cloth worn to signify support for a charity or cause: a red AIDS ribbon.
The books burned were Jewish, Marxist, Bolshevik, or other disreputable or non-German books. These included the works of Heinrich Heine, Sigmund Freud, Thomas Mann, Erich Maria Remarque, Albert Einstein, Walter Benjamin, Karl Marx, Jack London and Margaret Sanger.
Before the printing press. During ancient times, and for most of the Middle Ages, books were hand-written by scribes or monks and many people did not learn how to read. Most books were written in Latin, a language which only the most educated people could understand. This was before the printing press revolutionised the world of literature.