Historian keen to republish Hitler’s book

A German historian is campaigning to get Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf published in Germany for the first time since World War Two, warning that a delay could turn the controversial book into a sensation.

But his drive has been criticised by Jewish groups, who say publishing the book too early would offend Holocaust survivors and send the wrong signal about Germany.

Hitler dictated the book while in prison in Bavaria following the failed Munich Beer Hall putsch of 1923. It outlines a doctrine of German racial supremacy and ambitions to annex vast areas of the Soviet Union.

First published in 1925, it was a standard text in German schools after Hitler won power in 1933.

Now only purchasers who can prove an academic purpose may secure a copy of the book, otherwise, it is not available in Germany as the copyright holder, the state of Bavaria, refuses to authorise the printing of new copies.

Bavaria’s copyright, assigned to it by the Allies after World War Two, expires in 2015, after which time anyone will be able to publish the book.

Professor Horst Moeller, director of the Munich Institute of Contemporary History, says waiting until that date is risky.

“You can be sure it will be sold as a sensation,” Moeller told Reuters.

“You could prevent that happening, if an academic edition of the book was already available,” he said, suggesting a new annotated edition which would include critical commentary on the text.

But Professor Salomon Korn, the vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told Reuters he was opposed to the historian’s plan.

Mein Kampf, which translates as My Struggle, is available online and published in most countries, including Israel.