New version of Mein Kampf becomes German bestseller
BERLIN — Mein Kampf has become a bestseller in Germany once again, 92 years after it was first published.
Published by the Munich-based Institute for Contemporary History, which spent years adding comments to the original text in an effort to highlight Hitler’s propaganda and mistakes, the new, heavily annotated academic edition has sold more than 85,000 copies since it was published last year.
However, the sales are unlikely to be a sign of a resurgent German far-right or a rehabilitation of the racist text, but more to do with the fact that it is the first time Mein Kampf has been published in German since 1945.
The rambling screed, which contains Adolf Hitler’s thoughts on everything from eugenics and race theory to syphilis and the movies, continues to attract a morbid fascination and remains a bestseller in several countries.
But while it sold in translation around the world, publication of the original German text was blocked by German authorities for 70 years.
So dangerous was the book considered to be that copies in the Bavarian state library were kept in a “poison cabinet” and readers had to be vetted before gaining access. Mein Kampf was never officially banned in Germany but publication was prevented by the Bavarian government, which had the copyright.
That copyright expired a year ago. Only 4,000 copies were originally printed, but the publisher has now had to order a sixth print run.
While the German authorities agreed to publication for academic purposes, the Bavarian justice ministry has said it will prosecute anyone who tries to publish the text without the critical annotations under hate speech laws.
Levi Salomon, a spokesman for Germany’s Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against anti-Semitism, called it a “book of hatred.” Florian Sepp, the Bavarian state librarian, said the book was “too dangerous for the general public.”
But the Institute for Contemporary History denied its edition had made Hitler’s ideology more socially acceptable.
“On the contrary, discussion about Hitler’s world view and how to deal with his propaganda has offered the opportunity to look at its disastrous roots and consequences at a time when authoritarian political ideas and right-wing slogans are once again gaining followers,” said Andreas Wirsching, the institute’s director.