Mein Kampf -Adolf Hitler
It has been out of print since its author’s death in 1945, but now one of the most controversial pieces of content ever written, Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, is to be reprinted in Germany.
According to media agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the state of Bavaria, which controls the copyright to Hitler’s estate, has decided to reprint the book (which is available in many other countries, including Australia) when its German copyright expires in 2015.
Hitler’s book, which translates as ‘My Struggle’ was published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, before he became German leader, set out his race theories in which he claimed Aryans were genetically superior to the likes of Jews.
The whole issue of Nazism remains a highly sensitive one in Germany, so making some its central ideologies readily available in content form is bound to be controversial. However, Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder said the new version, while complete, would have content warnings throughout, as well as annotations by historians warning against Hitler’s errors.
‘In all the editions [a separate version for schools is also planned], we want to make clear what nonsense the book contains as well as its fatal consequences,’ Mr Soeder said.
And in some ways, reprinting Mein Kampf is the ultimate way of repudiating Nazism, in which book-burning was commonplace. It shows that content is better being analysed and countered than suppressed.
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