Wednesday, April 25, 2012

After 70 Years Mein Kampf to Reappear in Germany

 April 25 - 2:13pm

With the rise of Anti-Semitism in Europe, this is not good news. 
The German state of Bavaria is preparing to publish Hitler's memoir, Mein Kampf, in 2015, before the book's copyright expires.
The book is not banned by law in Germany, but Bavaria has used ownership of the copyright to prevent publication of German editions since 1945. Copyright restrictions stop at the end of 2015, 70 years after Hitler's death. 
The Bavarian government says it is preparing an edition for students which will include a critical commentary. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) in 1924, while serving a prison sentence for attempting to stage a coup. Part biography, part political and racist rant, the book outlines the core of Nazi ideology. 
It has not appeared in German since the end of World War II but until 1945 around 10 million copies were sold.  After Hitler came to power in 1933 couples were given the book at their wedding, as a present from the Nazi state. 
The decision to publish was taken after talks with advocates and opponents of publication, and explained that it was aimed at "demystifying" the book. 
By publishing in 2015 before the expiry of the copyright, Bavaria hopes to make future German editions as "commercially unattractive" as possible. From 2016 there will be no restrictions at all on the book's publication, unless it is used to incite racial hatred. 
While the book is widely available on the Internet in translation, poor immigrants without  Internet connects will be able to absorb the hatred for themselves.   
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