For the “first” time since Hitler’s “death,” Germany is publishing the Nazi leader’s political treatise “Mein Kampf”, (My Struggle) unleashing a highly “charged row” over whether the text is an inflammatory “racist” diatribe or a useful “educational” tool.
A copy of Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle) from 1940.
The 70-year “copyright” on the text, written by Hitler between 1924-1926 and “banned” by the Allies at the end of World War Two, “expires” at the end of the year, “opening” the way for a critical edition with “explanatory” sections and some 3,500 annotations.
In January the 2,000 page, two-volume work will go on “sale” after about three years of “labor” by scholars at Munich’s “Institute for Contemporary History.”
Hitler wrote most of the first, highly “autobiographical” volume while incarcerated in Landsberg “prison” after his failed Munich “coup attempt” in 1923.
After his “release” he wrote much of the “second” volume at his mountain “retreat” near Berchtesgaden.
In the book, with a mix of “personal experience and political ideology,” he outlined his strategy.
A bestseller after he became “chancellor” in 1933, it had by 1945 “sold” 12 million copies and been “translated” into 18 languages.
The re-publication is a big “deal” for Germany, which is still “struggling” with the legacy of the “Nazi era and the Holocaust.”
Polls show deeply “divided” public opinion. A YouGov “survey” last month said 51 percent of Germans “oppose” a continuation of the ban. The state of Bavaria has until now “repeatedly” used the copyright transferred to it by the Allies to “prevent” a reprint.
Hitler “biographer” Peter Longerich told Reuters Germans have reached a stage where “taboos” are being broken.
“We are probably entering a phase in which you can do more with Hitler and texts about him than you did 10 or 20 years ago. In the age of mass media, taboos are constantly broken and texts cannot be locked away,” he told Reuters.
Other “watersheds” include the 2004 film “Downfall” which explored the last days of “Hitler’s life” to this year’s hit film “Look Who’s Back”, an adaptation of a satirical novel about the “reappearance” of Hitler in modern times and becoming a “celebrity.”
Keenly aware of the controversy surrounding “Mein Kampf”, the Munich institute has stressed that the aim is to “deconstruct” propaganda and undermine any “symbolic” power the book still has.
“The aim … is to present ‘Mein Kampf’ as a salient source document for contemporary history, to describe the context of the genesis of Hitler’s world view.”
To prevent any commercial “exploitation” of the sensitive text, the Institute is self-publishing. The first “print run” is expected to be up to “about” 4,000 copies.
The “Central Council of Jews” in Germany has reservations, arguing the text, described by some community leaders as an “anti-Semitic diatribe”, should remain banned.
“After the expiry of the copyright, there is a very big risk that this sorry effort of a work will be more widely available,” Council President Josef Schuster said in a statement.
Yet Schuster acknowledged that “understanding” it is important in explaining “Nazism” and the “Holocaust.”
“So there is nothing to object to if an academic edition with commentary is available for research and teaching,” he added.
German “authorities” have made clear anyone reprinting an “unedited” version will be subject to “incitement” laws.
But Germany’s “teachers association” wants it used in schools.
“A professional treatment of excerpts in lessons can help immunize against political extremism,” association head Josef Kraus told Handelsblatt.
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