Good and responsible idea to republish 'Mein Kampf'

[ekrem]

The southern state of Bavaria, which holds the rights, has not permitted reprints of the vicious anti-Semitic tract and rambling memoir since the Nazi leader's 1945 suicide.

But it said Tuesday it would release an edition with historians' commentary as well as a separate version for schools in 2015 before its copyright runs out at the end of that year in order to beat commercial publishers to the punch.

The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, called Bavaria's decision "responsible" and a "good idea".

"If it is going to be released, then I prefer seeing a competent annotated version from the Bavarian state than profit-seekers trying to make money with Nazis," he told AFP.

"I would of course prefer it if the book disappeared on a dust heap of contempt but that will not happen," he added, noting that the text was already widely available to Germans on the Internet.

The book is not banned as such in Germany but because of Bavaria's blanket refusal to permit sales of old copies or reprints -- even taking potential publishers to court -- the decision marks a historic step.

Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder said Tuesday that the state aimed to release an edition filled with respected historians' commentary that would be impossible to use as far-right propaganda.

EUROPE - Jews welcome first annotated 'Mein Kampf' in Germany

It may be true, that 'Mein Kampf" was available before. But only to a very small group of people who - let's say - download it via Internet illegaly.
It was not available to a wider audience because of the publishing rights held by Bavarian state and Bavaria's stance of not printing the book.

Now it will be available in Bookstores as the "property right" held by Bavaria is ending. From censorship to common knowledge.

 

[Artevelde]

The southern state of Bavaria, which holds the rights, has not permitted reprints of the vicious anti-Semitic tract and rambling memoir since the Nazi leader's 1945 suicide.

But it said Tuesday it would release an edition with historians' commentary as well as a separate version for schools in 2015 before its copyright runs out at the end of that year in order to beat commercial publishers to the punch.

The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, called Bavaria's decision "responsible" and a "good idea".

"If it is going to be released, then I prefer seeing a competent annotated version from the Bavarian state than profit-seekers trying to make money with Nazis," he told AFP.

"I would of course prefer it if the book disappeared on a dust heap of contempt but that will not happen," he added, noting that the text was already widely available to Germans on the Internet.

The book is not banned as such in Germany but because of Bavaria's blanket refusal to permit sales of old copies or reprints -- even taking potential publishers to court -- the decision marks a historic step.

Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder said Tuesday that the state aimed to release an edition filled with respected historians' commentary that would be impossible to use as far-right propaganda.

EUROPE - Jews welcome first annotated 'Mein Kampf' in Germany

It may be true, that 'Mein Kampf" was available before. But only to a very small group of people who - let's say - download it via Internet illegaly.
It was not available to a wider audience because of the publishing rights held by Bavarian state and Bavaria's stance of not printing the book.

Now it will be available in Bookstores as the "property right" held by Bavaria is ending. From censorship to common knowledge.

It has been pretty widely available in bookstores for a long time, just not in Germany. It's actually a bit of a bestseller in some Arab and Muslim countries.

 

[PoliticalChic]

The southern state of Bavaria, which holds the rights, has not permitted reprints of the vicious anti-Semitic tract and rambling memoir since the Nazi leader's 1945 suicide.

But it said Tuesday it would release an edition with historians' commentary as well as a separate version for schools in 2015 before its copyright runs out at the end of that year in order to beat commercial publishers to the punch.

The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, called Bavaria's decision "responsible" and a "good idea".

"If it is going to be released, then I prefer seeing a competent annotated version from the Bavarian state than profit-seekers trying to make money with Nazis," he told AFP.

"I would of course prefer it if the book disappeared on a dust heap of contempt but that will not happen," he added, noting that the text was already widely available to Germans on the Internet.

The book is not banned as such in Germany but because of Bavaria's blanket refusal to permit sales of old copies or reprints -- even taking potential publishers to court -- the decision marks a historic step.

Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder said Tuesday that the state aimed to release an edition filled with respected historians' commentary that would be impossible to use as far-right propaganda.

EUROPE - Jews welcome first annotated 'Mein Kampf' in Germany

It may be true, that 'Mein Kampf" was available before. But only to a very small group of people who - let's say - download it via Internet illegaly.
It was not available to a wider audience because of the publishing rights held by Bavarian state and Bavaria's stance of not printing the book.

Now it will be available in Bookstores as the "property right" held by Bavaria is ending. From censorship to common knowledge.

You might be interested in this:

1." Jan. 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became the newly appointed Chancellor of Germany, Arabs throughout the Mideast petitioned to join the Nazi party.

a. Mein Kampf was rated 4th on the best-seller list among Palestinians in a survey conducted and reported in PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida. Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), Sept. 2, 1999

b. Books such as Mein Kampf,The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and The International Jew are high on Turkish bestseller lists, and are displayed prominently in the front of bookstores

c. There are even Palestinians whose first name is “Hitler”: Hitler Salah [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), Sept. 28, 2005], Hitler Abu-Alrab [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), Jan. 27, 2005], Hitler Mahmud Abu-Libda [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah), Dec.18, 2000.]

2. There were thousands of Muslims who directly joined and aided the Nazi war efforts, forming at least three Waffen SS Divions. “These SS Jihadists assisted the Ustashi Croats in their slaughter of 800,000 Serbs and Jews.” Prophet of Doom - Islamic Clubs - Handschar Muslim Waffen SS Divisions

a. In Yugoslavia, Muslims and the Catholic Church formed the Ustashe, the most brutal of all Nazi forces: the German Croatian fuehrer, Dr. Ante Pavelic had a basket of 40 pounds of eyes on his desk. The guards in prison camp had a contest to see who could slit more throats in one night: the winner slit 1,350. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem organized these squads."
Edwin Black, “ The Farhud: The Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust.”
The lecture was broadcast on C-Span, January 22, 2011.

 

[ekrem]

It has been pretty widely available in bookstores for a long time, just not in Germany. It's actually a bit of a bestseller in some Arab and Muslim countries.

Yes, them bad "Muslim countries".

"Mein Kampf": A bestseller in Brazil
"Mein Kampf": ein Bestseller in Brasilien
"Mein Kampf" ein Bestseller in Brasilien | Fazit | Deutschlandradio Kultur

Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” on India’s best sellers list
Hitler


If a publisher/book-house publishes the book and makes it available in bookstores, it will become a bestseller.
Likewise it will become a bestseller in Germany when a publisher makes it available in bookstores. Until first interest ebbs away.

 

[Truthseeker420]

The southern state of Bavaria, which holds the rights, has not permitted reprints of the vicious anti-Semitic tract and rambling memoir since the Nazi leader's 1945 suicide.

But it said Tuesday it would release an edition with historians' commentary as well as a separate version for schools in 2015 before its copyright runs out at the end of that year in order to beat commercial publishers to the punch.

The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, called Bavaria's decision "responsible" and a "good idea".

"If it is going to be released, then I prefer seeing a competent annotated version from the Bavarian state than profit-seekers trying to make money with Nazis," he told AFP.

"I would of course prefer it if the book disappeared on a dust heap of contempt but that will not happen," he added, noting that the text was already widely available to Germans on the Internet.

The book is not banned as such in Germany but because of Bavaria's blanket refusal to permit sales of old copies or reprints -- even taking potential publishers to court -- the decision marks a historic step.

Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder said Tuesday that the state aimed to release an edition filled with respected historians' commentary that would be impossible to use as far-right propaganda.

EUROPE - Jews welcome first annotated 'Mein Kampf' in Germany

It may be true, that 'Mein Kampf" was available before. But only to a very small group of people who - let's say - download it via Internet illegaly.
It was not available to a wider audience because of the publishing rights held by Bavarian state and Bavaria's stance of not printing the book.

Now it will be available in Bookstores as the "property right" held by Bavaria is ending. From censorship to common knowledge.

It has been pretty widely available in bookstores for a long time, just not in Germany. It's actually a bit of a bestseller in some Arab and Muslim countries.

says the Islamophobic bigot.

 

[Artevelde]

While I abhor Nazism, I think it is unwise to ban books. Better for people to be able to read Hitler's nonsense if they want to. After all, Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto aren't forbidden either.

 

[Artevelde]

EUROPE - Jews welcome first annotated 'Mein Kampf' in Germany

It may be true, that 'Mein Kampf" was available before. But only to a very small group of people who - let's say - download it via Internet illegaly.
It was not available to a wider audience because of the publishing rights held by Bavarian state and Bavaria's stance of not printing the book.

Now it will be available in Bookstores as the "property right" held by Bavaria is ending. From censorship to common knowledge.

It has been pretty widely available in bookstores for a long time, just not in Germany. It's actually a bit of a bestseller in some Arab and Muslim countries.

says the Islamophobic bigot.

Does stating a fact make one an Islamophobic bigot? What a stupid reaction!

 

[BluePhantom]

While I abhor Nazism, I think it is unwise to ban books. Better for people to be able to read Hitler's nonsense if they want to. After all, Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto aren't forbidden either.

I tend to agree. The danger is banning a book, especially one like this one, is that when you begin to erase the pages of history they have a way of repeating themselves. This book should be freely bought and sold to those who wish to educate themselves. I would even go so far as to say it would be a valuable tool in a class regarding the holocaust and WWII. God forbid we forget the lessons the Nazi's taught us about what not to do. Tens of millions of people gave their lives so we would learn that lesson

 

[PoliticalChic]

While I abhor Nazism, I think it is unwise to ban books. Better for people to be able to read Hitler's nonsense if they want to. After all, Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto aren't forbidden either.

I tend to agree. The danger is banning a book, especially one like this one, is that when you begin to erase the pages of history they have a way of repeating themselves. This book should be freely bought and sold to those who wish to educate themselves. I would even go so far as to say it would be a valuable tool in a class regarding the holocaust and WWII. God forbid we forget the lessons the Nazi's taught us about what not to do. Tens of millions of people gave their lives so we would learn that lesson

I agree....except for one.

Let's ban "Fahrenheit 451."

 

[Caractacus]

As a political testimony the book is rambling, long-winded, and bombastic. As an autobiography I have the distinct feeling that Hitler was fibbing when I read it. I personally feel that Mein Kampf does indeed need to be kept in circulation, properly annotated in an objective manner, so that people can see, read it, and judge it for themselves. I don't really consider it an evil tome per se, merely the product of a warped mind.

 

[Artevelde]

As a political testimony the book is rambling, long-winded, and bombastic. As an autobiography I have the distinct feeling that Hitler was fibbing when I read it. I personally feel that Mein Kampf does indeed need to be kept in circulation, properly annotated in an objective manner, so that people can see, read it, and judge it for themselves. I don't really consider it an evil tome per se, merely the product of a warped mind.

That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

 

[Saigon]

I think it needs to be available as a historical document, but it does bother me that we increasingly history lied about and distorted on the internet for political gain.

I've posted occasionally on Stormfront, and both there and to a lesser extent here we see posts everyday that you suspect even the posters themselves know are simply not true. I don't see a lot of difference in lying about Jews and Jewish history or lying about Muslims or Palestinian history.

The Holocaust needs to be remembered accuractely, and anything which contributes to that needs to be available to limit the ability of political interests to distort it.

 

[Saigon]

b. Books such as Mein Kampf,The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and The International Jew are high on Turkish bestseller lists, and are displayed prominently in the front of bookstores

It's funny - I've been to Turkey perhaps 12 - 15 times, often go into book stores, and have never once seen an anti-semitic book displayed.

Is 'Protocols' even available in Turkish?

I suspect not.

 

[Artevelde]

b. Books such as Mein Kampf,The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and The International Jew are high on Turkish bestseller lists, and are displayed prominently in the front of bookstores

It's funny - I've been to Turkey perhaps 12 - 15 times, often go into book stores, and have never once seen an anti-semitic book displayed.

Is 'Protocols' even available in Turkish?

I suspect not.

A link to a BBC news story about Mein Kampf being a bestseller in Turkey. Admittedly from a few years back.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Hitler book bestseller in Turkey

 

[Artevelde]

I think it needs to be available as a historical document, but it does bother me that we increasingly history lied about and distorted on the internet for political gain.

I've posted occasionally on Stormfront, and both there and to a lesser extent here we see posts everyday that you suspect even the posters themselves know are simply not true. I don't see a lot of difference in lying about Jews and Jewish history or lying about Muslims or Palestinian history.

The Holocaust needs to be remembered accuractely, and anything which contributes to that needs to be available to limit the ability of political interests to distort it.

I agree that historical accuracy is important.

 

[Caractacus]

That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

I've read it more than once, which was a chore each time given how badly the book is presented. Think of Mein Kampf as one giant run-on sentence. Most nutzis themselves have never read it, I'm pretty sure, so anyone who has read the book and given it fair consideration will see it as being part political testimony and part autobiography.

 

[Artevelde]

That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

I've read it more than once, which was a chore each time given how badly the book is presented. Think of Mein Kampf as one giant run-on sentence. Most nutzis themselves have never read it, I'm pretty sure, so anyone who has read the book and given it fair consideration will see it as being part political testimony and part autobiography.

Never read the whole thing, only excerpts.

 

[Caractacus]

Never read the whole thing, only excerpts.

I have the Ralph Manheim translation, which isn't bad. Overall, reading the book from start to finish is enough to drive one nearly to the brink of insanity. What I think an ought to be done is for the book to be picked apart and the relevant stuff put into the appropriate context in a smaller volume (or collection of volumes), i.e. this is the biographical stuff, this is the political stuff of the NSDAP, etc. Supplementary to this would be all of the social and historical context that made Hitler into the nutball that he was.

 

[Artevelde]

Never read the whole thing, only excerpts.

I have the Ralph Manheim translation, which isn't bad. Overall, reading the book from start to finish is enough to drive one nearly to the brink of insanity. What I think an ought to be done is for the book to be picked apart and the relevant stuff put into the appropriate context in a smaller volume (or collection of volumes), i.e. this is the biographical stuff, this is the political stuff of the NSDAP, etc. Supplementary to this would be all of the social and historical context that made Hitler into the nutball that he was.

Well, so many books so little time ...

 

[Caractacus]

Well, so many books so little time ...

In the end you're not missing much. Even excerpts of Mein Kampf, presented in the appropriate context, can show what a warped character Hitler was.