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'Mein Kampf' will be published in an annotated edition by Bavaria

The German state, which holds the copyright to Adolf Hitler's book, will release a new edition in 2015.

The copyright on 'Mein Kampf' is due to expire in 2015. R: AP
  • By Molly Driscoll

“Mein Kampf,” the book written by Adolf Hitler, will be published in Germany in 2015, the first time it’s been released there since World War II.

The copyright on the book, which is held by Bavaria, a German state, would have expired in 2015. The new edition of “Mein Kampf” will include commentary, according to Bavarian finance minister Markus Söder.

“We want to make clear what nonsense it contains and what a worldwide catastrophe this dangerous body of thought led to,” Söder told The Independent.

The country of Bavaria will also be releasing the edition of the book as an audio book, an e-book, a school version, and an English-language translation.

Dieter Graumann, the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told the AFP that he believed publishing this new edition of “Mein Kampf” is a good idea.

“If it is going to be released, then I prefer seeing a competent annotated version from the Bavarian state than profit-seekers trying to make money with Nazis,” Graumann said.

However, Deidre Berger, the head of the Berlin office of the American Jewish committee, said she was uncomfortable with the plans for a new edition.

"I think we shouldn't underestimate the potential danger to this day of this book," she told the AFP. "This book presented a genocidal theory that was then enacted, and the book continues to exert a horrible attraction for many young people."

As we reported, the German magazine Zeitungszeugen had planned to publish excerpts of the book last January, but ultimately backed down after the Bavarian government began legal proceedings against the magazine.

Editions of the book exist in Germany – the book isn’t banned – but before now, reprinting or selling the book has not been allowed.

“Mein Kampf” has been available on the Internet and in other countries as well as in multiple languages.

Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.

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