Publishing Dilemma
Mein Kampf (My Struggle) is Hitler’s manifesto wrapped in a loose-fitting autobiography. The two volume, poorly written work was dictated to Rudolf Hess while Hitler was imprisoned for treason in the mid 1920s. Above all, it was a vile attack on non Aryan people, in particular the Jews. There is nothing mild about Hitler’s style; it is a full-bodied assault which is shocking and repugnant. So horrible that I am not quoting any of it here. It’s easily available on the net if you want to see for yourself. In the 1920s and ’30s the book sold twelve million copies making Hitler rich. It was even given as a wedding present by the Nazi Party.
Mein Kampf has not been republished in Germany since Hitler’s death in 1945. Publication has been banned by the copyright holders, the Bavarian government. As in the UK, copyright does not expire until seventy years after the author’s death. Yes, you’re doing the maths! From 1 January 2016 the book will be out of copyright and available for republication in Germany in German.
Publication could be prevented only by legislation. And here is the dilemma. To ban or not to ban.
First, I have to make clear that anyone who wants to read the book or extracts from it can easily do so online or get a hard copy perfectly simply. Second-hand bookshops all over the world have been selling it for fifty years. You may even have a largely unread copy on your shelves or in your attic. Availability is not the issue. The question is whether it should be available for republication. There are neo-Nazi groups who would no doubt see it as a major PR opportunity. The e-book has been an Amazon bestseller. Imagine the desire to cash in on a new hard copy anniversary edition. Imagine the horrific coverage it would get right across the political spectrum. The oxygen of publicity would pour in; attacks on the book would be counter attacked. Twitter would be buzzing. Neo-Nazis world-wide would sniff the rich air of recruitment.
Scholars’ Edition
A potential solution has been proposed. If a scholarly edition were printed, edited and annotated, putting the book in proper historical context, perhaps this could water down the publicity. And there is an argument that if you make the annotations long enough and boring enough the whole thing will quietly die in a dribble of academic reviews. Sadly, I have experience; this has been the fate of one or two scholarly tomes I have published and edited. Heady days!
The Decision
So the German government may decide on a blanket ban on publication: legislation. What then? Would the publicity surrounding censorship be less than that attaching to allowing publication? I don’t know. But I do know that I feel sickness and revulsion that Hitler’s filth should again be in the limelight. This book was Holocaust planning, the blueprint for the ugliness of Belsen, Auschwitz and the rest. And never underestimate how political swings have their turns and returns. Never again! Well, not until we’ve forgotten… And never underestimate the power of a book to stir vile thoughts.