Hitler's Mein Kampf will return to Germany's bookshelves

by: Garry Pierrepont (29 January 2014)

It gave me pause for thought when I saw that Mein Kampf is about to hit German bookshelves once again.

A cold shiver ran through me when I read that Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf is to be published in Germany for the first time since the Second World War in the state of Bavaria.

All previous attempts for re-publication of the book in Germany had been blocked for fear that it might encourage a far-right resurgence in the country.

In December 2013 plans to republish the book in 2016 with an academic commentary were dropped following complaints from survivors of the Holocaust, with Bavaria declaring the book as "seditious" and that it should never appear in German again.

Now, however, Bavaria has reversed that opinion. Bavarian Minister of Culture, Ludwig Spaenle, said: "We have changed our minds." Bavaria would not, he went on to say, oppose the book's republication because it was in the interests of "freedom of science".

Bavaria is not supporting the project financially, however, with publication expected via Munich’s Institute of Contemporary History.

The proposed publication has actually been met with some backing from Germany's Central Council of Jews. General secretary Stefan Kramer said: "It is very important that young people should see the critical version when they click on to Mein Kampf on the web." Outside Germany the book has been available for many years and I have seen it on British bookshelves.

Mein Kampf ("My Struggle") was written by Hitler in 1924 while he was in prison. It contains his views on racial purity and he makes clear his hatred for Jews and communists.

If publication means Germans can take lessons from history, then who could say it was a bad thing?

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