I’m shocked. Skeptic about any good could come out of this monstrosity, even if “annotated”…
The Bavarian authorities seem to have lost their commonsense, for a start. Is this something posterity can’t live without?
What is YOUR opinion? Is it appropriate, given the racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic overtones felt like ripples following an evil earthquake, to still do this?
I’m open to any -decent- discussion…
http://rt.com/news/234179-hitler-mein-kampf-germany/
«Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ will be published in Germany for the first time since World War II, though scholars have heavily annotated the 2016 edition, turning the Nazi leader’s infamous manifesto into an “anti-Hitler” text.
Researchers at the Munich Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) have been preparing the edition since 2010 in anticipation of the expiration of the copyright deadline for the book, which comes 70 years after the author’s death.
Hitler shot himself on April 30, 1945 as advancing Soviet troops were engaged in street battles with Nazi forces just several blocks away from his bunker in Berlin.
IfZ deputy director, Magnus Brechtken, told The Local website that the new ‘Mein Kampf’ edition will consist of two volumes, totaling 2,000 pages.
Less than a half of those pages will be occupied by Hitler’s original 27 chapters, with the rest being made up of around 5,000 comments by the academics, an introduction and the index.
Last year, IfZ director Andreas Wirsching, said that the institute have turned its edition of ‘Mein Kampf’ into “an anti-Hitler text.”
The German State of Bavaria currently owns the rights for the book, but they expire at the end of 2015.
Bavarian authorities initially supported the republication of ‘Mein Kampf’, promising to invest €500,000 into the project in 2012.
State of Bavaria minister-president, Horst Seehofer, however, ultimately changed his stance on the project after a trip to Israel.
In 2014, justice ministers from all the German states ruled to prolong the ban on publishing non-annotated copies of “Mein Kampf” in the country.
Issuing an unedited copy of the book will result in prosecution for incitement to hatred, the ministers warned.
A spokeswoman for the Bavarian justice ministry said IfZ’s academic edition of Hitler’s work should be legal under certain conditions.
‘Mein Kampf’, which Hitler wrote while in prison after a failed coup attempt, was first issued in 1925, presenting the basics of his National Socialist ideology, which was later accepted by Nazi Germany.
The book is forbidden as extremist across the EU, in Russia, China, Argentina and many other countries.
Mein Kampf’ is available in most libraries in the US and is freely distributed, however, due to the country’s strong free speech protections. It sells around 15,000 copies annually.»
THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY 
A German Literature expert once said something really fitting about “Mein Kampf”: That it is the only book which is important because nobody read it. Which is absolutely true. Nobody cared to read the garbage and nobody owned the book before Hitler took over (well, some people did, but it was certainly not a hit). If people had read it, they might have realized how dangerous Hitler was before he was put in a position of power by people who didn’t realize how deep his fanaticism truly ran.
It’s not like copies of “Mein Kampf” are not available at all. Electronic copies have been floating around for years. Therefore a version with annotations might be the better solution instead of the outright ban which makes the book notorious and therefore interesting. Though this is obviously more about a publisher not wanting to loose a book to the public domain, I would prefer a version with commentary being sold than one which is unedited passed around under the table.
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Thank you SP. Excellent thought, never considered this from such an angle. To be honest -and I guess I might not be alone- the bit of academic rigour in me always wanted to know the exact truth, and I too believe that the annotations could be a real incentive to know the psychological infrastructure of what developed into a global tragedy. I really appreciate your input.
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I remember that I once wanted to throw away an advertising from an extreme right-wing party…but my parents told me, I should read it first, because it is important to understand what those people think, because otherwise, you can’t fight them. I think, they were right.
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I agree, once again. Just that fighting memories too painful, makes objective thinking difficult.
And I am afraid that if I allow too much rationalism to take over, forgetfulness comes, and with it a false forgiveness which may paint over monstrosities like they have never happened. I am especially thankful for the time you invest in discussing matters arriving from someone you obviously know to stand on a rather negative side towards Germany. I have myself german relatives -by association, but nevertheless…- yet I find it difficult to ignore the many decades I lived knowing that what we have lost, we’ve lost because we became trapped between interests too big to consider the lives of most of us. Meanwhile, I know too well that governments have never been the people, who were just as well instruments, assets to be used and discarded regardless of their true feelings. But I also know that silence has done as much wrong as willful cooperation. And it may take one individual at a time for me to be able to drive through Germany without the claw of bitterness gripping my chest.
I appreciate your time and patience.
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I think it is always important to remember that the Nazi regime didn’t kill “the Jews”, “the Homosexuals”, “the communists” – they killed mostly Germans who happened to have the “wrong” religion, the “wrong” sexual orientation, the “wrong” political opinion. My ancestors were part of the regime as well as victims of it. And I think it is important that people, including the ones outside Germany, understand that, because only if the mechanism behind what happened is understood, one can ensure that it will never happen again. The sad thing is, that it does. On a smaller, less organized scale, but it happens. It is important that enough people understand and cast their vote against this kind of thinking wherever and whenever they can.
I can’t in all honestly apologize for something which happened before my parents were born, and was too in any case too horrifying that a “sorry”, not matter how heartfelt it is would change something. But I can promise you that I’ll always vote and speak up against those who spread hatred. We can’t change the past, but we can shape the future.
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Thank you from the heart.
I am well aware of the enormous losses suffered by the German people, both military which didn’t have an option nor a choice, and civilians as well, dragged most of them into a war which wasn’t theirs, by a government which promised them a better future than the horrible past and the uncertain present.
My main concern though, which brings back dark memories, is a German government more and more interested in controlling a whole continent, both politically and financially, to their own interest, because as much as I can see, the German people are far from living the dream… I know that even after 20 years of the reunification the economic Iron Curtain still exists, with several millions of Germans living under poverty level, while frau Merkel goes around playing the Iron Lady. The German government played the coward at the time when Hungary and Austria defied the Warsaw Treaty and cut the barbed wire and let the Trabants and Wartburgs across. I know, I was there, in Hungary…
I’m weary of being always on the wrong side of history, with sometimes the same country’s government telling me, from different angles of the same pragmatism, what I should do, expecting me to always keep quiet and obey, like it would be in my own interest.
That’s my concern…
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I don’t think that Germany is interested in controlling anyone. And if you follow politic on Euro-level closely, you notice that Germany has to give into pressure more often than not. If not for France insisting in exchange for agreeing to Reunification in 1990, Germany wouldn’t even have the Euro. We gave up a really strong and stable currency in exchange for finding some sort of closure and being able to move forward as one folk again….and yes, the problems in what used to be Eastern Germany still exist. Especially Angela Merkel, who, after all, grew up there knows that very well. But it has gotten better. It is a slow process, but we are now at a point at which companies in what used to be Eastern Germany are advertising in order to find people to work for them.
It was a hard transition, and it will be ages before the problems are truly evened out.
Don’t think that I don’t feel for the common Greek, I truly do. But I also think that the Greek government is too corrupt and not able to make the reforms necessary. If they can come up with a realistic plan and follow through with it, all power for them. But I just don’t see it. Naturally it is difficult to restructure a system. After all, we had to do it twice, once after WWII and once after the reunification, and the last one is still a work in process. But it is better to solve the problems than taking bridge loans in order to hide them and allow them to fester.
I followed the discussion last week very closely, and read the different proposals of the Greek governments. They lacked hard numbers. They lacked a feasible plan. And I am convinced that saying “No” to vague promises was the right step. Now, if I see a proposal which has actually a chance to work (especially one which involves finally putting tax on the shipping industry…I honestly don’t get how the biggest business in Greece aside from tourism is allowed to get run tax free, but I am sure that the likes of Onassis are really happy about it), one which doesn’t look on the short term but on the long term consequences, and Merkel would block it (but I doubt that she would, plus, if enough countries can be convinced, Germany wouldn’t matter either way), than I would get the hatred. But giving the Greek government money which will immediately spend won’t help. To me it looks like Greece demands a lot of fish, when they should ask for a fishing rod.
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I readily agree about Greece’s corruption, rampant, inherited from a Byzantine a mentality which condones it…
What breaks my heart is the numbers which disregard the masses left to bear the imposed austerity measures. The average Greek is basically poor, happy to live a fairly simple life. He was happy with the drachma, and didn’t ask for the euro, which benefited not Greece, but the stronger economies.
So why does the average Greek need to tighten the belt for someone else’s sins? The Union wasn’t the idea of the small European countries. And the subsequent trade balance didn’t really work for us either.
I do understand your position, but it is still Germany and France pressing some ill-marriage’s agenda, and ultimately control, and none of the later comers. The Union is becoming an anachronism ever harder to control, with the euro a pain…, somewhere.
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You know, I would rather donate to a project which actually helps those people directly than give the money to a government which will squander it in a way that the people who really need it will see nothing of it. Or, to put it this way, if I have to give a fish, I would rather give it directly to the poor than to the leader of the workhouse who will eat most of it himself.
And regardless of what Germany and France demand, Greece has always the option to leave the Eurozone. Germany, btw, too. If I remember correctly, Germany still has Deutsche Mark in storage, just in case. But doing so, would cause an economic chaos in Europe which would in turn cause wars…what is going on in the Ukraine is bad enough. There is no need to add to it.
To be frank: I feel for the average Greek, but the average Greek also elected those parties who made promises which could only be realized by making more and more debt again and again, so at least the people who are now middle-aged or older are partly responsible for what happened, because they weren’t interested in what happened behind the scenes as long as they could have their comfortable life. It was a similar system which existed in Eastern Germany, in which everyone was employed, but in reality, most of those jobs were just a smokescreen. Eastern Germany survived so long because Western Germany paid the government off again and again in exchange for prisoners of the regime. And in the end, Western Germany picked up the bill, a bill which is still a strain on everyone.
Why should the average European tighten the belt for someone else’s sins? It is, at the end of the day, the Greek’s government, and first and foremost the responsibility of the people who elected said government.
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Hmm, but you know better than anyone that the always needy masses are easily lured into believing that their trust won’t be betrayed, because they still believe that governments are working for the electorate’s best interests.
And yes, the best would be to return to each country’s sovereign currency, but then goodbye free trade on behalf of the mighty?!
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Yeah, but I also know better than anyone that if it happens, your children and the children of you children might have to live with the consequences.
Germany had no trouble with trade before the Euro and won’t have trouble with it after it. The German economy is mostly based on producing high quality products in niche markets. It has to be, because labour costs are way too high to compete in eras in which the production cost is the important aspect. The label “Made in Germany” and the lack of competitors who produce quality on the same level is what holds Germany together. Those and a lot of patents, mostly in the era of environment protection and pollution control (since we have one party which is especially interested in protecting natural resources, a lot of money gets invested into this venue).
I am not so sure about Greece. On the one hand the Drachme is a very weak currency, and no one will lend Greece any money, leaving the country with a crushing debt. On the other hand, it would make travelling to Greece cheaper, which might ensure some cash flow. But I have the feeling that it would make the situation worse, not better. Because cheap labour hasn’t done countries like Bulgaria any good so far. But (correct me if I am wrong), Greece has a lot of mineral deposits, right? Which is currently not used at all because, I guess, a lack of investors. But nevertheless, mineral deposits combined with a big shipping industry? There has to be a way to use that for your own advantage. If I had any say in the Greek government, that is the venue I would use. And I think a lot of states in Europe would be happy to be less dependent on Russia for certain resources. But, again, to do that the Greek government needs a feasible plan.
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Yes, I agree that Made in Germany speaks for itself. And I may also venture to say that Germany could be mostly self-sufficient, so the whole chasing of extra profit through the Euro, doesn’t seem to fit the average German’s needs, so I would venture again on conservative vs labour issues if I would continue. There’s little wonder that socialism’s Marx and Engels understood something which combined with the British industrial revolution forever draw a line between necessity and plain greed.
On the other hand, the weakness of Drachma is a relative matter if compared to the infrastructure and needs of a agro-touristic economy, so diametrically opposed to the traditionally industrial economies of the first EU members. A national currency is bound to its resources and possibilities, none reflected in the utopic Euro…
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The Euro is a double-edged sword…always had been. But France pressured the German government into agreeing to it, so we now have to deal with it. If Germany pulls out of the Euro, the bad press it gets now is nothing compared to the bad press it gets then.
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But why would Germany had to give in, to France’s pressure? I know France has always some sort of “je ne sais quoi…” behind the apparent bonhomie, but it is now the second or third time you mention France as bullying Germany into doing some not truly wanted job…
I’m sorry to say, but the general acceptance is that Germany is wagging France as its tail, and not vice-versa…
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Because Germany still was an occupied country until 1990….to get France and the UK to agree to change this (well, and the US, but they were the smaller problem), a lot of deals were made, some official, some not so much. France wanted the Euro, so that was the price they demanded (and believe me, that the government agreed was NOT a popular decision in Germany…for a long time, the “Euro” was nicknamed the “Teuro” (from “teuer” which means expensive). I think Russia wanted Germany to officially agree to the current country borders. And the UK didn’t want a Germany Reunion at all, because they really, really didn’t like the idea of an “all powerful” Germany in the middle of Europe. But after France agreed, they didn’t have much of a choice.
The power balance might have shifted since then (it is really hard to tell, but it is the honest truth that Germany is overruled in the EU more often than not), but back in 1990, it was certainly not Germany who called the shots. Getting all those countries to give up their army bases on the German soil, wasn’t easy…and currently, there is a constant struggle, because on the one hand, the idea of Germany as military power doesn’t sit well with anyone (least of all most of the Germans), on the other hand, the other countries constantly expect Germany to intervene. Just recently the US practically blow a fuse because Germany refuses to attack Russia over the Ukraine. And that might be hard to understand, but for ages Germany went were the allies pointed, which makes is really difficult to say “no”, even if it is the right decision.
Currently Germany is in a stable position, but you shouldn’t forget that a lot of decisions which now cause problems were made 20 to 30 years ago.
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I’m quite confused at the moment, as it looks like what I thought so far, may not be accurate…
The one fact which remains, is being trapped again on the wrong side of history…
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Another hmm…
I visited your wp site, and your thorough knowledge of socio-economics and history is somewhat diametrical to your marvel, pixar etc. fan “side”, which makes me feel a bit more at ease, as I thought for a moment that a Valkyrie has passed by, my sometimes belligerent blog;-)
You are always welcome!
I myself a big animation and fantasy literature fan, especially Tolkien and Pullman…
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A Valkyrie?
I have a second blog which concentrates more an animated movies: https://swanpride3.wordpress.com/
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Hiding it doesn’t help. Publishing it allows it to be evaluated. The fastest way to make something popular is to say “You can’t read/do that.”
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I know with my mind that you are right, but it takes a Jew to understand what a generational fear is. A fear which made people falsify their birth records, change their religion, and even learning to hate themselves and other Jews just to make sure no one ends up in a cattle wagon anymore.
And when it comes to Mein Kampf, I can’t think of no lesser evil…
But once again, you are right, and we all need to confront our demons, otherwise there’s no chance to win…
I remeber having a stiudent who was a skinhead, openly racist and antisemitic. I sort of tolerated his rants, thinking he’ll stop, but he didn’t. One day I asked him: “have I ever done anything wrong against you?”, “No sir, he said, you are probably my favourite teacher; but why?”, “Because I am a Jew, you see…”
I became worried he will colapse, such was the shock he went through. Later on, he participated in one of the regular trips I organised to the Hungarian Holocaust Memorial, after whkch he simply gave up his skinhead mentality. He became one of the over 400 students I took on these trips, just to make sure the younger generation of a country being sadly one of the most ferociously involved in the Holocaust, shall never consider repeating history.
Thank you John for you thought.
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I know with my mind that you are right, but it takes a Jew to understand what a generational fear is. A fear which made people falsify their birth records, change their religion, and even learning to hate themselves and other Jews just to make sure no one ends up in a cattle wagon anymore.
And when it comes to Mein Kampf, I can’t think of no lesser evil…
But once again, you are right, and we all need to confront our demons, otherwise there’s no chance to win…
I remeber having a stiudent who was a skinhead, openly racist and antisemitic. I sort of tolerated his rants, thinking he’ll stop, but he didn’t. One day I asked him: “have I ever done anything wrong against you?”, “No sir, he said, you are probably my favourite teacher; but why?”, “Because I am a Jew, you see…”
I became worried he will colapse, such was the shock he went through. Later on, he participated in one of the regular trips I organised to the Hungarian Holocaust Memorial, after whkch he simply gave up his skinhead mentality. He became one of the over 400 students I took on these trips, just to make sure the younger generation of a country being sadly one of the most ferociously involved in the Holocaust, shall never consider repeating history.
Thank you John for you thought.
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A fear which made people falsify their birth records, change their religion, and even learning to hate themselves and other Jews just to make sure no one ends up in a cattle wagon anymore.
Yes, the stories of old Jews always having a bag packed (after the war), ready to flee on a moments notice, is sad beyond measure. I cannot fathom that kind of anxiety.
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My own grandmother never told me about our roots. She made sure nevertheless that I will read Dr. Miklos Nyiszli’s book of his time in Auschwitz as Joseph Mengele’s “assistant”. She wanted to make sure I’ll never forget. I read the book in my elementary school years, when I was about 11-12 year old. The book was as explicit and graphic as Auschwitz itself was. I learned about the truth about our family’s past when I was about 30 yo…
A legacy of memories I wish no one would ever have.
This blog is an effort to prevent such memories to become anyone’s…
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