Mein Kampf hits stores in tense Germany

[Little Tich]

Source: BBC

It's one of the most talked about publications of the year. It's not a new book. And it's not even a well-written book. But Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, which hits German bookshops for the first time in 70 years on Friday, is certainly attracting attention.

Hitler's anti-Semitic tirade is seen as the forerunner to the Holocaust. But that is also why historians want it republished.

Hitler wrote it mostly while in prison in the mid-1920s, and academics say it helps explain the Nazis' crazed ideology when they came to power less than a decade later.

As such, they say, it's a crucial academic text. Not pleasant reading, but essential to understanding the Holocaust and Hitler's brutal rule.

Surprisingly, some Jewish groups have also supported this edition.



Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35242523

[Purveyor]

1. Considering the current situation in Germany, you just can't

make this stuff up.

[NightWatcher]

2. Little known fact: he almost titled it "The Art of The Deal"

Why we give outlets to the manifestos of madmen is totally beyond me.

[Nye Bevan]

3. You're in favor of banning certain books?

Or encouraging booksellers not to stock them?

[Journeyman]

4. Far more useful, and much more valuable for understanding, to read Hannah Arendt's work instead. . .

Hitler gives us a stunted view of life and reality. Arendt lifts us up to comprehension and shows a path forward through the isolation and loneliness that still plague our times.

[Dr. Strange]

5. Mein Kampf and The Diary of Anne Frank both hit public domain this year.

Quirky thing, though: the Anne Frank Foundation is trying to keep The Diary of Anne Frank out of public domain.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160103/22095533233/anne-franks-diary-hitlers-mein-kampf-both-hit-public-domain-europe-despite-concerns-about-both.shtml

Of course, in the US, we didn't get shit this year.

[msongs]

6. tried to read it once ages ago. the beginning part was ok, readability wise not for content,

bogged down and became excruciatingly tedious after that. not a page turner in any way

[Initech]

7. Great! Just what Germany needs right now!

[Art_from_Ark]

8. I hear Donald Trump has dibs on the first one off the press

[applegrove]

9. A creepy looking dude came into a used books store i used to work at. Asked if we had Mein-Kampf.

I said not and was cool. I hid my disgust. Years later I found out I had a psychopath stalker in my life at that time. Maybe the psycho put the creepy looking guy up to it. To see which way I rolled. As if anyone normal likes Hitler. As if that is actually a thing for non skinheads. Why I am totally against the Germans publishing the book again. Don't know what it is about but seems to me the only thing publishing will do is let people get ahold of that book on the down low if they are Hitler curious. And only psychopaths and academics would want to go deep into Hitler's mind. Any scholar has had access to it at anytime I'm sure. If banning its publication will save a life, by keeping monsters in the dark over the next 70 years, then great.